Eat Your Colors

I apologize for such a belated post. As you can imagine, the past week of finishing up work in time for vacation can be quite hectic and to be honest, I just did not have time to finish this post. But, here it is--Eat Your Colors!

You have probably heard it before--eat as many colors of fruits and vegetables as possible. Eat a rainbow. Sure it may sound silly, but this motto has merit. Different colors mean different nutrients. Each color helps your body in a unique way. For example, red fruits and veggies help your heart and blood system, whereas green fruits and veggies help your bones. Do you see where I'm going with this? That perhaps it is a good idea to eat a variety of colors of fruits and veggies? Well it is. Remember what you learned in elementary school...you want your plate to look like a rainbow (or to have at least three different colors present at all times). During the holiday season, it is especially difficult to eat healthfully. But, if you try to keep as many different colors of fruits and veggies on your plate, then at least you'll be giving your body some of the TLC it needs during a time of cookies, cakes, and other not-the-best-foods-for-us. 

In need of some recipes to make the rainbow on your plate complete? I have orange, yellow, green, and purple recipes below! 

Harvest Medley (from Southern Cooking)
Serves 6
Ingredients:
-1 winter squash (I used a sugar pumpkin, but you could use butternut, acorn, delicata, et.), cut into chunks
-2 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
-2 tablespoons canola oil
-1 apple, chopped

-3 tablespoons butter, melted

-1/4 cup honey

-1/4 cup orange juice

-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

-1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

-1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted (if desired)

-canola oil spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. 

2. Combine winter squash and 1 tablespoon oil in a bowl and mix. Spread onto a baking sheet. 

3. Combine sweet potatoes and 1 tablespoon oil in a bowl and mix. Spread onto another baking sheet.

4. Bake squash for 10-15 minutes; bake sweet potatoes for 15-20 minutes (should be able to easily pierce with a fork).

5. Meanwhile combine melted butter, OJ, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30-60 seconds, until mixture starts to bubble and is hot to touch. 

6. Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with spray oil. Combine the squash and sweet potatoes in the baking dish. Pour the butter mixture evenly over. 

7. Bake for 15 minutes and then sprinkle chopped apple on top. 

8. Serve warm and sprinkle with walnuts. 

Roasted Squash and Brown Rice Casserole with Lemon-Tahini Sauce (adapted from Bon Appetit)
Serves 2
Ingredients:
-1 winter squash, cut into small chunks (I used butternut, but again you can use whatever type you want!)
-1 tablespoon canola oil
-juice from 1 lemon
-1 tablespoon tahini (sesame seed paste...it's what you use to make hummus)
-1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (or any other grain you want--barley, bulgur, quinoa)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit; cook rice according to package
2. Combine squash with oil and spread on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, checking every 15 minutes to give the mixture a stir.
3. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and tahini. Mix well. 
4. When squash is done roasting, drizzle the tahini sauce on top and mix well. 
5. In a bread pan, layer the brown rice on the bottom and top with the squash mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven.
6. Serve warm!

Brasicca Oleracea Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:
-1 head of romanesco, cauliflower, or broccoli chopped into chunks
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
-8 black oil-cured olives, pitted and chopped
-1 tablespoon capers
-1/4 cup parsley, chopped (you can add more or less parsley, depending on your taste) 
-2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. 
2. Combine romanesco/cauliflower/broccoli with oil and ground pepper in a medium bowl. Coat well. 
3. Spread mixture onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes (check every 10 minutes and once the veggie starts to brown, it's done).
4. Combine remaining ingredients with roasted veggie in a bowl. Serve at room temperature


Red Cabbage and Apple Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients:
-1 red cabbage, thinly sliced

-2 apples (I recommend honey crisp, gala, fuji, or golden delicious), thinly sliced

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-2 1/2 teaspoons salt 

-1 teaspoon fennel seeds

-4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

-ground pepper

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat
2. Add the sliced cabbage and cook for about 10 minutes--stirring constantly--until cabbage starts to wilt and turns a deep purple color
3. Add the apples, fennel seeds, salt, and cider vinegar. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes--stirring occasionally--until apples are soft 
4. Top with freshly ground pepper and serve warm

Got Milk?

The milk in my fridge had a sell-by date of December 1. So yesterday--December 2--I decided to take a whiff and make sure the milk was still okay. Thankfully it was fine (there's nothing worse than smelling sour milk), but I knew I needed to use up the milk because you only a get a few days of good milk after the sell-by date. For those of you thinking "ew, but the date said December 1!" a tad bit of info: the sell-by date is just the date that the grocery store must sell the product; it is not the same thing as an expiration date. 

Anyways, I was trying to think of a way to use the 3+ cups of milk I had lingering in my fridge when I had a genius idea...macaroni and cheese! Not the boxed stuff with the bright orange "cheese" (term used loosely). Real homemade mac & cheese (which thankfully uses a couple cups of milk to make). 

I also have a few sugar pumpkins sitting on my counter and so I thought, why not add some pumpkin to my mac and cheese? Pumpkin...good. Cheese...good. It's settled...Pumpkin Mac & Cheese for Sunday night dinner.

I modified Michael Bittman's "Baked Macaroni and Cheese" recipe from his cookbook How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. The result...absolutely phenomenal macaroni and cheese. I am talking prize worthy. Sure, I am biased, but seriously this stuff tastes amazing. The recipe makes about 8 servings, so you can expect to have leftovers for lunch and another dinner or two. And you can always freeze some of it if you've had too much (what a silly statement...too much mac & cheese? HA!).

No, the recipe did not use all of the milk in my fridge. But it used most of it. So, if you are looking for a great way to use up some about-to-go-bad milk (or you are just in the mood for some damn good mac & cheese), then follow the recipe below: 

Pumpkin Macaroni & Cheese
Serves 8

Ingredients:
-1 sugar pumpkin, seeded, peeled and cubed
-2 tablespoons canola oil
-2 1/2 cups low-fat milk (I used 2%)
-2 bay leaves (if you don't have bay leaves, just skip this ingredient)
-4 tablespoons butter
-1 red onion, chopped
-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
-1/2 pound of pasta...aka half a box (I used gemelli, but you can use elbows, penne, or whatever kind of pasta you like!)
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
-1/2 - 1 cup fresh bread crumbs (really it is more like chunks of bread than crumbs. this is an optional ingredient)
-parsley, chopped (as garnish)

Directions:
1. Roast the pumpkin: preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Combine pumpkin cubes and canola oil in a bowl; make sure pumpkin is coated. Spread pumpkin onto baking sheet (may need to use 2 baking sheets) and bake for 25-30 minutes. Check and stir every 10 minutes. 
2. Cook the pasta according to package. I recommend heating the pasta pot while you do step #3. The pot should be boiling by the time you're done with step #4, at which point you can cook the pasta. 
3. Heat the milk: in a medium saucepan, combine the milk and bay leaves. Heat for about 5 minutes, until bubbles start to form on side of saucepan. Keep your eye on the saucepan and be careful not to burn the milk. Once bubbles form, transfer milk to a metal bowl. Remove bay leaves. 
4. Make the sauce: rinse out the saucepan you used to heat the milk. Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the red onion. Sautee for about 5 minutes, until onion begins to soften. Using a whisk, add the flour to the saucepan. Once flour and butter have started to clump, slowly whisk in about 1/3 cup of milk. Continue to whisk, until mixture is creamy, then add more milk. Continue whisking and slowly adding milk until it is all in the saucepan. Stir in the cheddar cheese. 
5. Combine it all together: in a big bowl combine the roasted pumpkin, pasta, and cheesy sauce. Add the parmesan cheese and pepper. 
6. Grease a 9x13 baking dish (or two 8x8 baking dishes) and pour in the pasta mixture. 
7. Top with fresh bread crumbs and bake for 15 minutes (should be bubbling)
8. Serve and garnish with parsley!

**For a spicier version add 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper to pumpkin before roasting, then another teaspoon when combining all the ingredients!