The Start of Winter Goodness

The snow has started to fall. The weather is consistently below 40°F. Holiday songs have taken over the radio. Winter has arrived. And so, the time has come for hearty meals full of winter goodness: squashes, potatoes, beets, cabbage, & carrots...not to mention holiday sweets and treats. This week Brendan and I are eating a wonderful winter compilation: squash minestrone, beef stew, and maple-bacon roasted vegetables. The squash soup is super easy to make (the way I made it, not the Bon Appetit directions) and the roasted veggies are insanely good. The beef stew is yummy, but it takes a long time to make (upwards of 3 hours); so I'm not going to bother posting that recipe (if you're truly interested in it you can always email me).  I have also started the inevitable holiday baking marathon. First in the oven: the cranberry-chip cookies I made for last year's New Year's Eve party. These are my go-to cookies--decadent, delicious, and pleasing to the masses. Is anybody else feeling the need to make scrumptious winter recipes or bake all the time? 

Butternut Squash Minestrone (adapted from Bon Appetit)
Serves 4

Ingredients:
-4 bacon slices, chopped
-1/2 onion, chopped
-1 leek, rinsed well and chopped
-2 celery stalks, chopped
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1/2 butternut squash, sliced and cut into 1/2" cubes
-1 cup frozen peas, thawed
-4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
-2 cups water
-1 can 15oz. navy beans (no salt added), drained & rinsed
-1/4 cup parsley, chopped
-1 bunch kale, chopped

Directions:
1. In a soup pot, cook the chopped bacon over medium heat until it starts to crisp. 
2. Add the onion, leeks, celery, and garlic. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for an additional 15 minutes, until veggies start to soften.
3. Add squash to pot and cook for 2 minutes. 
4. Add the peas, broth, water, and beans. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes until squash is tender. 
5. Add the parsley and kale. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, until kale is wilted. 
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
*This tastes great with parmesan cheese on top and a side of rustic bread

Maple-Bacon Roasted Vegetables (adapted from Eating Well)
Serves 6

Ingredients:
-1/2 butternut squash, cut into 1" cubes
-2-3 small celeraic (i.e. celery root), cut into 1" cubes
-2 apples, cut into cubes
-1/2 onion, cut into 3 chunks
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-4 bacon slices
-1/4 cup maple syrup
-2 teaspoons dried rosemary

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. In a medium bowl, combine squash and celeraic with olive oil. Spread veggies on a baking sheet. 
3. Place onion chunks in the bowl and rub them with the leftover olive oil. Place onion on the baking sheet. 
4. Roast for 15 minutes, stirring the veggies halfway through. After 15 minutes, add the apple chunks and roast for another 7 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, cook bacon slices in a pan over medium-high heat, until crispy and browned. Line a plate with paper towels and place cooked bacon on top. 
6. Measure 2 teaspoons of bacon fat--keep this in the pan--and pour remaining fat into a glass container (use the leftover fat for a later time).  
7. Over low heat, add maple syrup and rosemary to pan with bacon fat. Cook for 2 minutes--mixture will bubble and create a syrup.
8. Add cooked squash, celeraic, & apples to the pan. Coat with maple-bacon syrup. Pour veggies back onto baking sheet (along with any leftover syrup) and roast for an additional 5 minutes. 
9. While they roast, slice the roasted onion into chunks and crumble the bacon. 
10. Remove veggies from oven and toss with chopped onion and bacon bits. 
*Tastes great as a side dish or as a salad with some quinoa and greens. 

Grad Student Soup Nights

I am now a graduate student, which means that there are certain weeks where I do not have the time to make dinner during the week. So, I have gotten back into the swing of making a couple of dishes over the weekend--that way, all I have to do when I get home from school is take 10 minutes to reheat dinner and maybe make a side salad. Stew, lasagna, casseroles, and chili are all excellent one-pot wonders that can easily be reheated for dinner. Recently I have enjoyed making one or two hearty soups on Sunday that Brendan and I can enjoy throughout the week. Our dinners are increasingly becoming soup nights...grad student soup nights, as I would like to call them. I already posted the recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with Apples--a really simple soup that tastes great with a side salad and slice of rustic bread. Here are some additional soups I have made over the last couple of weeks:

·      Turkey Meatball Soup with Greens

·      Vegetarian Chili

·      Butternut Squash Soup with Poblano Peppers

·      Chicken Curry with Vegetables

·      Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausages & Lentils

All of these dishes are relatively easy to make, except for the Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausages & Lentils—that soup has a lengthy list of ingredients and takes much longer to make. However, it is TOTALLY worth the time and effort, and is legitimately one of the best soups I have ever made (or tasted for that matter). And though it takes dedication to make it, the end result is enough soup for a few nights of dinner, plus some left to freeze! Happy soup making!

Turkey Meatball Soup with Greens (from Cooking Light)

I followed directions almost exactly as written from the magazine! My only change: I used beet greens and broccoli rabe as the "greens", because that's what I had laying around my kitchen. Click on the link for directions. 

Vegetarian Chili  (from Fight Back with Food)

Serves 4

Ingredients

-2 x 15oz. kidney beans, canned & low-sodium

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 onion, chopped

-3 garlic cloves, minced

-1 red bell pepper, chopped

-1 green bell pepper, chopped

-1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1-inch chunks

-2 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)

-1 tablespoon light brown sugar

-1 teaspoon dried oregano

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 ½ cups canned crushed tomatoes, no salt added

-1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (plus extra if you like your chili spicy!)

Directions

1. In a soup pot heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic for 7 minutes, until onion is translucent.

2. Add the bell peppers and butternut squash. Cook for 8 minutes, until peppers are tender.

3. Stir in the cocoa powder, brown sugar, oregano, and salt, and make sure the veggies are coated.

4. Add the beans, 1 cup water, tomatoes, and chipotle pepper. Bring to a boil.

5. Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until all veggies are cooked through (particularly the butternut squash).

6. Serve hot with shredded cheddar cheese on top and a side of corn bread.

Butternut Squash with Poblano Peppers Soup (from Love Soup)

Serves 6

The reason I made this soup is because we received a TON of poblano peppers in our CSA and I was running out of ideas for how to use them. I ran across this recipe and thought “bingo!”

Ingredients:

-1 large butternut squash, sliced in half and seeded

-1 sweet potato

-4 poblano peppers

-2 onions, chopped

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-4 cups vegetable broth or water

-1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

-1 lemon, seeded and juiced

-salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Lay the squash, flesh side down, on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Pierce holes throughout the sweet potato (whole) and place it on the same baking sheet as the squash.

3. Bake for 1 hour, until you can easily pierce through the squash skin and sweet potato.

4. Scoop out the flesh from the squash into a bowl. Halve the sweet potato and scoop out the flesh into the same bowl.

5. Turn on the broiler in the oven. Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet (I just used the same one that the squash was on) and broil the peppers for about 15-20 minutes, until skin is charred.

6. Take peppers out of oven, place them in a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the peppers “sweat” for about 5-10 minutes, until they are cool to the touch and you can easily peel off their skin. Chop the peppers.

7. While the peppers are in the oven, heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes.

8. Add the squash, sweet potato, cilantro, and 2 cups of water + broth (or just 6 cups of water).

9. Bring soup to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

10. Using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree the soup until perfectly smooth. You may need to add a bit of water, if the soup is too thick for your taste.

11. Once the soup is pureed, stir in the chopped pepper and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

12. This soup tastes great with some pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top.

Chicken Curry with Vegetables (from Fight Back with Food)

Ok, so this is not technically soup, but it is damn good!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks

-2 teaspoons olive oil

-1 onion, cut into thick slices

-4 garlic cloves, minced

-3 carrots, thinly sliced

-1 pound red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks

-2 teaspoons peanut butter

-1 large head of broccoli, cut into large chunks

-1/2 teaspoon salt

Spice Mixture

-1 tablespoon turmeric

-1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

-1/2 teaspoon sugar

-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine the spice mixture with the chicken. Toss to coat.

2. In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent.

3. Add ½ cup water, the carrots, potatoes, peanut butter, and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add the chicken and stir it until chicken is no longer pink (about 5 minutes).

5. Stir in 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Add broccoli and cook for another 5 minutes, until broccoli is tender.

7. Serve warm

Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausages & Lentils (from Flour Too Cookbook)

Serves 10

*Since this soup makes SO much, I suggest freezing at least half of it. It will last for about 1-2 months in the freezer.

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon vegetable oil

-3 sweet Italian sausages, casing removed

-1 onion, chopped

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-1 carrot, chopped

-2 celery stalks, chopped

-1 small potato, peeled and chopped

-1 parsnip, peeled and chopped

-1 leek, well rinsed and chopped

-8 baby bella mushrooms, cut into quarters

-1 turnip, peeled and chopped

-1/4 butternut squash, peeled and chopped (about 1-2 cups)

-2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock (if using store bought, try to get low-sodium)

-1 cup canned crushed tomatoes, no salt added

-3/4 cup lentils

-2 cups greens (kale, Swiss chard, etc.), chopped

-2 tablespoons tomato paste

-2 bay leaves

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Spice Mixture:

         -1 tablespoon paprika

         -1 teaspoon thyme, dried

         -1 teaspoon turmeric

         -1 teaspoon oregano,

dried

         -3/4 teaspoon cumin

         -1/2 teaspoon fennel

seeds, finely chopped or ground

         -1/2 teaspoon curry

powder

         -1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat and sauté the sausage. Split up the large chunks with a wooden spoon and cook until the meat is mostly cooked through (about 5 minutes).

2. Remove sausage from pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.

3. Sauté onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in soup pot for about 4 minutes. Be sure to scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan (from the sausage) because it adds a lot of flavor!

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomato paste, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 bay leaves. Stir to make sure everything is covered by paste (about 1 minute)

5. Add spice mixture. Stir for 2 minutes, making sure all veggies are coated with this mixture. 

6. Add the reserved sausage, potato, parsnip, leek, mushroom, turnip, and squash. Raise heat to medium-high and stir for 3 minutes.

7. Add the stock, canned tomatoes, and ground black pepper. Raise the heat and bring the pot to a boil.

8. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

9. Add the lentils and simmer for an additional 40 minutes.

10. Add winter greens and simmer for another 1 minute.

11. Find the bay leaves and discard them (this can be a bit tricky, but make sure you take them out because you don’t want to accidentally chew on a stiff bay leaf!).

12. Serve warm with a additional salt/pepper for garnish and a nice slice of bread on the side.

One-Bowl-Wonders

Making a meal with various side dishes can be fun and enjoyable (albeit, time intensive). And sometimes making a meal that is a one-bowl-wonder is just as satisfying. A one-bowl meal is nothing to feel ashamed or embarrassed by; and making this type of meal is not a sign of laziness, nor is it due to lack of creativity. Some meals just taste better in a bowl! Plus...these types of meals are usually quick to make and require far less clean-up than a multi-dish meal. 

The reason I am even writing this post is because over the past couple of days I found myself cooking one-bowl meals, for no real rhyme or reason. The recipes were incredibly delicious, easy to make, and perfect meals for those looking for relatively simple cooking. So I figured, why not share these recipes with you all? Try 'em out and let me know your thoughts!

Do you ever make one-bowl-wonder meals? If so, what are they? 

Spaghetti Squash Scampi
Serves 2
*this recipes only uses half of the spaghetti squash, but I recommend cooking the whole thing and using the remaining half for another dish!

Ingredients:
-1 spaghetti squash, cut in half (lengthwise) and seeds discarded 
-1 leek (or onion), chopped - be sure to clean the leeks
-1 tablespoon butter
-1 tablespoon olive oil

-4 garlic cloves, minced
-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

-2 tablespoons capers
-6 black cured olives or kalamata olives
-1/2 cup white wine
-2 cups frozen shrimp, scallops, and/or squid, thawed (I used the frozen seafood mix from Trader Joe's which consists of all three: scallops, shrimp, and squid)
-dash of ground black pepper
-handful of parsley, chopped
-Parmesan cheese, as topping

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Place squash (cut side down) in a 9x13 baking dish and add 1 cup of water. Bake for 35 minutes or until a fork can easily pierce through the squash skin. Wait for squash to cool, then scrape out insides of one half of squash into a bowl (it looks like spaghetti...hence the name of the squash). 
2. Heat oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for 5-7 minutes, until translucent & just beginning to becoming a golden color.
3. Add garlic and red pepper flakes to skillet; stir for another 1 minute. 
4. Add the capers, olives, and white wine. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add seafood to skillet and simmer for additional 5-8 minutes, until shrimp starts to curl & become pink, and/or other seafood is cooked through (goes from translucent color to solid white). Add ground black pepper. 
5. Stir in parsley and mix well. Serve in a bowl and top with cheese.

Quinoa, Sweet Potato, & Kale Bowl
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooking For Health cookbook
Serves 4

Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 red onion, chopped
-1 hot pepper (like jalapeno or chile) or 2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 sweet potato, diced
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed & drained according to package
-1 1/2 cup water
-1 bunch kale, leaves thinly sliced, and stems separated & chopped
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-3 tablespoons dried currants, raisins, or dried cranberries
-2 scallions, minced
-1/2 lemon, juiced
-ground black pepper
-3 tablespoons crumbled cheese (such as gorgonzola, feta, or goat cheese)

Directions:
1. Warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the red onion and hot pepper (or garlic), and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. 
2. Add sweet potato, salt, and a dash of ground black pepper to saucepan; stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add quinoa and water to saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, until water is absorbed and sweet potato is tender.
4. As saucepan simmers, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, chopped kale stems, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes, until kale stems start to soften. 
5. Add kale leaves to skillet and sauté until leaves are wilted, but still bright green. You may need to add 1/4 cup of water to help steam the leaves a bit. 
6. In a large bowl combine quinoa mixture with kale. Add the dried currants, scallions, and lemon juice. Mix well. 
7. Serve in a bowl and top with crumbled cheese.