Butternut!

Hello again!

The best season of all is here, and the best soup of all is here:

Curried Butternut Squash

I think butternut squash soup is this decade's Italian marinara sauce... everyone has their own recipe and swears it's superior to all others. Well, here is my recipe, and yep, I think it's awesome. You can agree or disagree, and I'll still share! Curry and cinnamon give it warmth and sweetness. We enjoyed this batch over a French film rented from the library.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped (~3 cups)
• 3 apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1 15-oz can coconut milk
• ½ tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ tablespoon curry powder
• ½ tablespoon salt
• Black pepper, to taste
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add olive oil and saute onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Add squash, apples, sweet potatoes, vegetable broth, coconut milk, cinnamon, curry, pepper, and cayenne. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until squash is soft. Let stand 10-15 minutes to cool slightly. Puree with immersion blender. Bring back to a simmer, adding salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, swirl of pumpkinseed oil, and maybe some toasted coconut!

A new favorite seasonal recipe we've been into recently is my pumpkin smoothie. Mark even said, and I quote, "This is as good as pumpkin pie." (Did you know one of his top-5 favorite foods is pumpkin pie?) Now whip this up:

Pumpkin Power Smoothie

• 1/2 banana, frozen in slices
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tbsp cashew butter
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (alternatively, 1/2 cup plain yogurt and a tsp of stevia or honey)
• 1 cup unsweetened almondmilk
• Lots of cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg

Blend. Eat!

I can't believe we will be celebrating our 1-year anniversary next weekend! We are off to upstate New York for a long weekend to enjoy the gorgeous season.

Until next time, eat well!

Lentil Apple Walnut Loaf

Sweet, savory, and satisfying... Lentil Apple Walnut Loaf!

If you have seen only some of my little foodie blog, you surely know by now that I love lentils. These tiny, versatile legumes are quick-cooking and nutrient-rich with protein, fiber, and iron.  I have worked hard at making this recipe just the way I want it before sharing... which is why I am tickled to offer it here today!

This particular recipe is a bit involved- (be prepared to use multiple pots and pans) but I promise it is worth it. It's a great meal to make on the weekend or day off and enjoy for the week ahead. Having dinner ready to reheat on a weeknight is much appreciated for this (now!) working couple! :-)

Lentil Apple Walnut Loaf
Recipe adapted from Terry Walters' Clean Food

Ingredients
For loaf:
1 cup dried lentils
3 cups vegetable broth
3 tbsp ground flax seed
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, grated
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 apples, peeled, grated, and mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 cup breadcrumbs
(*Note- Substitute brown rice breadcrumbs if making the recipe gluten-free)

For glaze:
2 tbsp organic ketchup
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp corn starch

Directions
Preparing lentils
Rinse lentils, place in a pot, and cover with vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed and lentils are tender, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preparing loaf
In a small bowl, combine ground flax seed with water and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onion and carrot in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add rice vinegar and saute 3 minutes more until soft. Add grated apple, walnuts, and garam masala and saute another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in cooked lentils, breadcrumbs, and soaked flax seed until evenly mixed. Press mixture firmly into lightly oiled loaf pan and set aside.

Preparing glaze
In a small saucepan over no heat, combine all glaze ingredient until smooth. Place over medium heat and stir continuously until thick (about 2-3 minutes). Spread evenly over loaf and bake, uncovered, 40 minutes.

Serve with sauteed greens and brown rice for a lovely meal!

Happy eating!

Dinner Party: Secret Ingredient-Style

Last weekend we celebrated the birthdays of two wonderful friends and fellow newlyweds, Lauren and Jeremy. (Aren't fall birthdays the best?) We invited L&J to our apartment for a dinner party in their birthday honor. The twist: they each got to choose 2 ingredients to be incorporated into the meal.

After days of deliberation, the secret ingredients were chosen...

She picked:

1. Apples
2. Sweet potatoes 

He picked:
     3.  Butterscotch
     4.  Fish

Apparently ingredient-choosing was particularly difficult for Jeremy, who, inspired by the show Chopped, also considered- quail eggs, goat brains, preserved duck eggs, sweet tea vodka, rack of wild boar, frozen waffles, hot dogs, and watermelon. What helped him decide was the realization that he should probably choose something he actually wants to eat.

Choosing this menu was too fun! The fish threw me the most... when it comes to fish, I only know what I like, which is basically exclusively salmon. But what better time to try something new! The best of friends are the best audience for recipe experiments. Especially on their birthdays.

With the inspiration of multiple cookbooks from my library (Giada, Moosewood, Clean Food) as well as a favorite website (CookingLight.com), the final menu came to be:

First Course:

Autumn Salad

fresh apple, dried mission figs, gorgonzola cheese with maple balsamic vinaigrette

Entree:

Dill and Mustard-Encrusted Wild Haddock

with a yogurt-chive sauce

Sweet Potato Fries 

with curry ketchup

Sauteed Zucchini

Dessert:

Butterscotchies 

with Vanilla Ice Cream 

Happy Birthday to you two!

First, the salad dressing... THE cure to salad boredom... guaranteed! You can even add it to roasted veggies like I did, here.

Maple-Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette
Shake up these ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

baby arugula with fresh pink lady apple, dried black mission figs, gorgonzola cheese and of course, maple-dijon balsamic vinaigrette

For the fish, I chose haddock, a firm white fish, which the experts say is great for breading. I went with wild-caught for sustainability, and the kind gentleman at the Wegman's fish counter even took the skin off for me! (Without a snobby fish-filleting knife, skinning it myself would not have ended well. Ask my dad about filleting whole fish, it's his favorite hobby.) About 6 oz of fish per person. I dipped each fillet in egg whites (2 total), and then a seasoning mixture of 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon dried dill, 1 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard, 1 tsp paprika, 3 cloves minced garlic. I lined up those bad bad boys in a baking dish and baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.



A chive and yogurt sauce complemented the fish.

Giada says, mix together the following-
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp dijon
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chive.

It was a little different for me, but it was worth a shot. It's always good to have some curry ketchup from Germany on hand, too!

This was a meal we got so into eating up, I almost forgot to photograph it. You'll get the picture from these snapshots of my half-eaten plate.


Now, onto dessert... Butterscotch Bars! I used a Cooking Light recipe, so sweet and delicious. I made them the day before, but popped them into the warm oven before serving with vanilla ice cream.

This little butterscotchie just got smothered right before the picture was taken.

Having our friends choose ingredients was such a fun way to inspire a dinner party. I encourage you to do the same! Just be willing to follow through if they choose quail eggs... but I'm glad I didn't have to. Thanks Lauren and Jeremy... and happy birthday!

Spring Eats

Wow, March came and went... I can't believe we are well into April already! I also can't believe that I am in my second week of clinical! I am a bit sad to have my long community rotation behind me now. Many presentations, work site wellness seminars, cooking demos, and counseling sessions later, my 8+ hour days at the hospital plus commute is quite a change of pace. So far, so good... we'll see if I'm singing the same tune in a few months. Nevertheless... a girl's gotta EAT!

This past weekend I made two scrumptious recipes perfect for spring. Salmon with Dijon Dill Sauce and Massaged Kale Salad. (Not a typo... yes, you massage it. Keep reading!)

First, the salmon. Or should I say, the dill sauce. This little recipe is a favorite in my family... I've requested salmon with dill sauce for many birthday dinners growing up. It's all about the sauce! My grammy first tried it at a restaurant a few decades ago, and convinced the head chef to give her the recipe. And he did! And here it is. (That story is vague, I know, it's because the details don't matter... only the sauce matters.) I have tried several other dill sauces in my long life, and none are quite as good as this one. Here's how to make it... 

Dijon Dill Sauce for Salmon
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
1/2 tablespoon dill weed

Shake well! You can make it in advance, it completely emulsifies. Drizzle this liquid gold atop a lovely piece of wild salmon- cooked to you liking- baked, grilled, pan-seared, poached... I kept it simple and baked mine at 350 for about 12 minutes.

Next, a new recipe with my new FAVORITE leafy green: Massaged Kale Salad. Let me tell you one of my favorite parts of the Keene State College Dietetic Internship... the interns! My intern class is 16 girls who came from all over the country, all bringing their unique way of food to this sweet little town in rural New Hampshire. We love to cook and we love to eat... and we had a wonderful time doing so in Cape Cod last weekend... quick, here's a picture, I can't resist...

Darling!

Anyway, everyone is always making kale. Kale chips, steamed kale, kale stir-fry, kale pesto (okay, no one has made that, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time). Back in the fall, Fionna (in the center) made this fantastic recipe which we all loved. It's a fun take on a dark leafy green... something you can really not get enough of, health-wise. Instead of cooking the kale, you sprinkle it with salt and massage it for 2-3 minutes. The salt breaks down some of the enzymes in the greens to make it more tender and less bitter. (Although, I hardly find kale bitter at all!) It also reduces the volume. See below!

1 bunch of kale, washed and chiffonaded

Yes! The same kale... massaged!

Fionna (or Fionner, as some New Hampshire natives like to call her) got this recipe from Cookus Interruptus, a cute blogger from Seattle who teaches viewers how to cook fresh, healthy foods amidst "life's interruptions". She also includes a video of herself making the dish in real time, which is helpful, if you have never, um, massaged kale before. The recipe is also versatile, so feel free to use what you like!

Massaged Kale Salad with Apples and Gorgonzola
Ingredients:

• 1 large bunch kale
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (I used slivered almonds... next time, pumpkin seeds)
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/3 cup currants (I used chopped dried plums)
• 1 apple, diced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or any vinegar you like!)
• 1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled   

Directions:

1. Destem kale by pulling leaf away from the stem. Wash leaves and spin or pat dry.
2. Stack leaves, roll up, and cut into thin ribbons (chiffonade).
3. Put kale in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, and massage salt into kale with your hands for 2-3 minutes. The volume of kale should be reduced by 1/3.
4. Transfer to a fresh bowl and discard any leftover liquid.
5. Stir in onion, currants, apple, and nuts/seeds.
6. Dress with oil and vinegar, and stir in cheese. 

The original recipe says this yields 6 servings. I am going to say... for me, it was 3. The girl loves kale!

Wishing you many delicious spring vegetables in the coming month!