Bountiful Fall Harvest

Savory Stuffed Squash

It's turkey season, and the stuffed birds with all of the trimmings are upon us!  I LOVE Thanksgiving, I think it's one of my favorite holidays really.  To be able to sit at the table with loved ones and stuff your faces with lots of good food that you wait all year for; how can you not be thankful and love this holiday?  I'm looking forward to it as always.  With this season also come the wonderful bounty of fall harvest foods; squashes of all kinds, apples, oranges from the south, persimmons (one of my absolute favorite fruits), beautiful jeweled pomegranates, figs, sweet potatoes, I could go on but I will spare you. I know most of these are available year-round with the way we are able to import and ship foods now, but I really try to shop within season for my area and I love having the savory change of season and I look forward to all the time.

As I became more comfortable in the kitchen and I started to experiment more, I've come to love squash and the vast varieties as one of my staples for the fall & winter months.  I love making squash soups, apple crisps, sweet potato bakes and adding the pomegranates to champagne toasts or making a sweet sauce for dessert. It's a nice change of pace really, with that in mind;  Have you ever stuffed a squash for dinner? I remember stuffed squash when I was a kid. I wasn't a huge fan of it, but then again, I was a kid and my dad was not the best of cooks.  My grandma had given me some of her recipes many, many years ago but the older I get, the less meat I realize I need or want and her recipes are made with pork and ground beef and such. Not to say that I'm a vegetarian (I do still partake and love the carnivorous meal once in awhile) but I really don't eat it much or crave it much anymore.  So I started to think about what I could stuff my pretty white acorn squash with this evening, and it hit me.  I had some left over sprouted rice & quinoa blend by tru Roots in my fridge and I could make a type of rice stuffing for it.  My mind was set and I was ready to proceed. Now please note that I had de-seeded and pre-cooked my squash (350 degrees) yesterday night in the oven for at least an hour and had it in the fridge ready for tonight.

I had on-hand: 

• Spinach, about three handfuls
• Cooked Spouted Rice & Quinoa, about 3/4 cup
• Onion (Chopped), 
• Cherry Tomatoes, a handful or two
• Brussel Sprouts (sliced), at least 6
• Better than Bouillon (Chicken base, but regular broth or bouillon will do instead), 1 teaspoonful
• Parmesan Cheese Shred
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Garlic Powder, 1-1.5 teaspoons
• Thyme (dried), generous sprinkle

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, took out my fry pan to saute the onions and brussel sprouts with the salt and pepper and garlic powder. Once they become more tender/translucent (for the onions), I added the spinach and the cherry tomatoes.  When the spinach starts to wilt and the tomatoes have warmed up, I crush them with the back of my spoon and add the thyme and Better than Bouillon with some warm water, at least 1/2 a cup to dilute the base. Then I add the rice and quinoa and simmer for a few minutes.  Have your acorn squash ready in a baking dish, once the flavors have mingled a touch, spoon the filling into the two acorn halves and top with parmesan cheese and put it into the oven for at least 35 minutes.  The cheese becomes a wonderful crunchy topping that adds a great nutty flavor. One half is enough to share with my son and have a completely satisfying meal. This would be a very good side dish as well.

Enjoy!

Carrot Soup with Roasted Peppers

When I got home today, I found my husband in a foul disposition, for good reason.  To begin my story:  This past week, Alaskan Salmon was on sale, $4.99/lb whole fish.  Amazing deal right? So I bought a fish, weighing in at over 5 pounds.  It was frozen when I purchased it, because they ran out of the thawed fish so quickly.  So it has been thawing in my fridge since Saturday, well over four days.  Well, my fish leaked, fish juice all over my beautiful veggies in the drawer (luckily, they were all in bags, but still.  Precautions must be taken).  So now I need to cook them.  I had over three pounds of baby carrots, almost a full bunch of celery, four bell peppers and my wonderfully large Costco bag of peeled garlic.  What is a girl to do?  Since I had the most carrots, I thought a soup would be good.  So, as we speak, I'm cooking up a wonderful batch of roasted pepper and carrot soup.  Doesn't that sound good?

Roasted peppers out of the oven

To roast the red peppers, you need to halve them and take out the seeds.  Take a baking sheet and line it with foil (I only do this so that I don't have to clean it up after). Spray it with some cooking oil (I used canola) and place them cut side down on the foil.  Your oven should be heated to 450,  cook them for approximately 30 minutes, turning them halfway through, until they start to char on the skin.  When you bring them out, allow them to sweat by covering them for about 10 minutes.  This makes the skin easier to take off, you can peel the skin either by hand or with a paring knife.  Once you have done that, dice them and set them aside.

Peeled roasted peppers

What you will need: 

1 medium onion, chopped

10 (or less) cloves, peeled and diced garlic

3-5 lbs Carrots (baby or regular), chopped

1/2 bunch celery, chopped

4 bell peppers, halved and seeds cleaned out

6 1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon (or two cubes) vegetable bouillon

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

1 Tablespoon minced ginger

While your peppers are cooking, you can begin the soup.  I chopped up all of my carrots, celery and the garlic.  I love garlic, so by all means, feel free to use less.  I took an onion and chopped that up too.  

• Heat up about two teaspoons of oil in a tall pot.  I used olive oil but you can use butter or canola, which ever you have on hand.  Place the onions and garlic in the pot after it has heated and simmer until they start to brown a little.  
• Add your carrots then celery and about two teaspoons of kosher salt.  Stir around for a few minutes, the moisture will have left the pan, so add a little water into the pan, about 1/4 cup so that you don't burn your veggies.  Simmer for about  5-10 minutes.  
• Add about 4 cups of water to the pot.  I also took a heaping teaspoon of vegetable bouillon and added it to two cups of hot water to liquify, add to the pot.  
• Throw in about two teaspoons of kosher salt, ground black pepper, minced ginger, and the bay leaves.
• Simmer on medium low for approximately 1.5-2 hours or until the carrots are tender enough to smash with a fork
• When your peppers are done, add them to the pot to, to mix and mingle with the soup

The soup is thick, so if you want it thinner, add some more water or broth to thin it out.  Once the carrots are tender enough, remove the soup from heat and blend it in a blender or food processor.  Serve hot or chilled with a dollop of sour cream.  You could even sprinkle some croutons on top or serve with some warm crusty bread.  It's so good!