Fabulous Fall Flavors

As some of you know, I love summer. That said, I am also an avid fan of fall. Predominantly because the foods are all so enjoyable...pumpkins, apples, and baking...fantastic! Thus far, I have taken full advantage of fall flavors, but last week I went to a whole new level of fall fun. You may recall that I am subscribed to a couple of food magazines (remember: make use of magazines). Over the past two months I giddily accumulated this year's fall-themed editions and slowly made my way through a few recipes. And last week I binged...I went on a cooking spree of recipes from these magazines. SUCH a good use of time...for me, anyways. All the recipes are scrumptious, easy to make, and great for your health. Enjoy these fabulous fall flavors...I sure did!

Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese (adapted from Bon Appetit)
I won't bother rewriting the recipe, since I only made one modication: I used low-fat milk instead of heavy cream, otherwise the recipe is super easy and insanely delicious! My grilled cheese was country bread from Iggy's Bread with some sharp cheddar cheese (grated).

Warm Salad of Bulgur and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Walnuts

(modified from Vegetarian Times)

Serves 4

Ingredients: 

-1 lb. Bussels sprouts, quartered lengthwise

-3 tablespoons canola oil

-1 cup bulgur

-1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

-1/2 cup dried cranberries

-1/4 cup parsley, chopped

-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

-1 tablespoon maple syrup

-1/2 lemon, juiced

-lemon zest from 1 lemon

-salt & pepper

Optional:

-1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

-1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees fahrenheit. Bring bulgur and 1 3/4 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed.

2. Combine 2 tablespoons of oil and Brussels sprouts in a bowl. Arrange in a 9x13 inch baking dish in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes until brown and crispy.

3. To make dressing: whisk together vinegar, maple syrup, lemon juice, zest, and 1 tablespoon of oil. 

4. Combine bulgur, sprouts, walnuts, cranberries, parsley, pomegranate seeds & cheese (if using), in a medium bowl. Add dressing and mix well. Season with salt & pepper.

Pumpkin-Pear Bread (from Vegetarian Times)

Makes 16 servings

Ingredients: 

-3/4 cups sugar

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-1 cup whole-wheat flour

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1/2 cup vegetable oil

-1 large egg

-1/2 cup low-fat milk

-3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

-1 teaspoon

-1 15oz. can pears (canned in 100% juice!), chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Coat 8 or 9 inch bread loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. Whisk together sugar, flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. 

3. Whisk together oil and egg in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in milk, pumpkin, and vanilla. 

4. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Fold in pears. 

5. Spread batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Butternut Squash & Broccoli Rabe Lasagna (modified from Bon Appetit)

This recipe is more of a commitment. But the flavor is SO spectacular, that I highly recommend taking the time to make this recipe. If you follow the ingredient amounts from the original Bon Appetit recipe (but still use low-fat milk instead of cream!), then the lasagna will make 10-12 servings...freeze half of it for another time!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Filling

-1 butternut squash, cut into 1/4 inch slices

-2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra

-1 lb. broccoli rabe, tough stems removed

-crushed red pepper flakes

-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

-2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese

-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-2 teaspoons fresh sage, minced

-1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced

-salt & pepper

Bechamel Sauce & Assembly

-2 tablespoons unsalted butter

-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

-2 cups low-fat milk

-pinch of ground nutmeg

-1 bay leaf

-1/2 lb. lasagna noodles

-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Mix squash, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl together; place squash on a baking sheet and bake in oven for about 15 minutes.

2. Quickly blanch broccoli rabe, about 1-2 minutes. Drain, briefly cool under running cold water, and coarsely chop. Transfer to bowl, season with salt & pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and a drizzle of olive oil. 

3. In a bowl: mix together mozzarella, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, sage, and rosemary. 

4. Bechamel: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir until slightly thickened (make sure mixture doesn't turn brown), about 2-3 minutes. Increase heat slightly and slowly add milk. Add nutmeg and bay leaf. Simmer and stir constantly until shake-like consistency, about 10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

5. Cook lasagna noodles according to package. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

6. Ladle 2 tablespoons bechamel into an 8x8 pan. To layer: line with single layer of noodles (cut noodles as fit), add 1/3 of butternut squash on top, followed by 1/3 of broccoli rabe, then dollop 1/3 of mozzarella-ricotta mixture randomly on top. Drizzle 1/4 cup of bechamel sauce. Repeat process 2 more times (total of 3 layers). 

7. Finishing layer should be noodles, topped with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. 

8. Bake lasagna uncovered until bubbly and starting to brown, approximately 45-55 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Cookies For Breakfast?!

Thanks to one of my favorite bitches I now receive Bon Appetit magazine - this means I have even more recipes and ideas from which to choose. Yay! I'll admit, some of the magazine's recipes can be a bit too high-tech and fancy for me (aka they require rather expensive ingredients and/or equipment...I don't own an ice cream maker, nor do I have walnut, truffle, and hazelnut oil...sorry). However, the majority of recipes look simple enough that I'll give 'em a try, delicious enough that I'm 99% sure I'll enjoy 'em, and interesting enough that I think "I've gotta give this a go". 


After skimming the first magazine that arrived in the mail, I knew immediately which recipe I'd be trying to make ASAP because it was entitled "Hallelujah: Cookies for Breakfast". Excuse me? Did you say cookies for breakfast? The recipe looked fairly simple, all the ingredients were fortuitously in my pantry, and I was fairly certain the result would be nothing short of yummy...how can you go wrong with a cookie? So I decided to try out the recipe. To my delight, the cookies fell nothing short of fantastic. 


Like I said, the recipe - Almond-Cranberry Quinoa Cookies - is pretty basic to follow. The cookies are made with white whole wheat flour (c'mon, it's a cookie for breakfast, so obviously you can't use regular all-purpose-stripped-of-important-nutrients flour), old-fashioned rolled oats, cooked quinoa, dried cranberries, and almonds, in addition to some regular baking ingredients - sugars, butter, eggs, etc. If you're not a quinoa fan, you may not like these cookies, as they definitely have a quinoa taste. In this case, try substituting brown rice, barley, or even doubling the amount of rolled oats, for the cooked quinoa. And if you don't have some of the baking ingredients required (baking powder, vanilla extract, brown sugar, to name a few), bite the bullet and purchase them - guaranteed I'll have more baking recipes and it never hurts to keep your pantry well stocked with baking supplies!


Below I've listed the adjustments that I made to the recipe, but I'm sure if you follow the recipe "as written" it will come out just as good. On Sunday I ate one of the cookies for breakfast, along with some scrambled eggs; but mostly I've been eating one or two of the cookies as my mid-morning snack (you know that time of day to which I am referring - it's around 11am, when you start to get hungry again after breakfast, but you are not quite ready for lunch). Not quite a muffin, but definitely not a dessert, these cookies are perfect for breakfast and/or as a snack if you want something quick to grab that is healthy and satisfying to eat. Who would've guessed? Cookies, for breakfast!

Almond-Cranberry Quinoa Cookies

1. I used 1/2 cup of Smart Balance instead of butter - either one works.

2. I only used 2 tablespoons of honey, because there's already 1/2 cup of sugar (white & brown combined). Next time I may use less white sugar and 1/4 cup of honey, because I like the flavor of honey better.

3. I used 1/2 cup whole almonds (unsalted) that I then chopped, using a food processor

4. I used 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup dried cherries, because that's what I had in my pantry.

5. My batch of cookies yielded 32, even though the recipe says it only makes about 24.

What do you think of cookies for breakfast?