Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Spaghetti covered in meat sauce was such a staple for me growing up. One of my favorite meals, actually! Though I eventually realized that the reason why I loved it so much was that the noodles acted as a vehicle to shovel delicious, flavorful sauce into my belly.

Enter the spaghetti squash.

This fantastic winter squash has a comforting pasta-like texture but grain-free, gluten-free, all-natural, sugar-free, low-fat, oh friggin' yeah that was just 5 health buzzwords in a row! (I'm playin' to win, my friend). But on that note, it is so important to remember that organic fruits and vegetables are the true health generators. A head of lettuce or bunch of radishes doesn't need advertising or marketing dollars - you just know that it's good for your body.

(I know, it's not the most appetizing picture. But it's delicious, I swear!)

Simple Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti
The main concept behind this is to use cooked spaghetti squash as a grown up sauce carrier! Steaming has been the cooking style of choice in my kitchen as of late so that is the methodology I used below (though baking would work just as well).

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash

Directions:
Halve the spaghetti squash (my tactic was not exactly safe but very enjoyable - stab with knife, lift knifed squash and slam back down onto cutting board so that halves shoot apart).
Scoop out squash guts and seeds.
Bring about 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan.
Place squash halves in saucepan and cover. Allow to steam for 20-25 minutes - You'll know it's done when the outside skin is easily pierced with a fork.
Use a fork to tease out the spaghetti-like squash fiber into a bowl.
Top with sauce of choice.*

*While marinara is an absolute classic, above I used coconut oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, sliced red onions, and chopped kalamata olives. It was very tasty, so simple and I definitely recommend it!

Squash purchased from the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, grown by Tantre Farm.

Butternut Squash Millet Bake

I have been meaning to try a recipe by Mark Bittman (AKA 13-year writer of the New York Times food blog, The Minimalist) for some time now. The premise behind the Minimalist is that every recipe can be tweaked, adapted based on what you have. He's kind of a god in the foodie community.

Well I am ready to sacrifice to my new god (I hope he accepts sweet potatoes). Yes. It's that good.

So. So. Good.

Based off of Mark Bittman's Autumn Millet Bake Recipe

Ingredients:

2 T oil (I used coconut oil)
3/4 cup millet
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes (any other winter squash/pumpkin will do)
1 cup fresh cranberries 1/2 c dried Michigan cherries
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 T chopped sage leaves (or 1 t dried sage)
2 T maple syrup
1 c vegetable stock water, warmed
1/4 c pumpkin seeds

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a large casserole dish.
Put oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat.

When hot, add the millet and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes (hs note: don't overdo it).

Spread in the bottom of the greased casserole dish.

Scatter the squash cubes and cherries on top of the millet.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the sage.

Mix together warm water and syrup in a small bowl.

Pour liquids over millet, squash and cherries.

Cover tightly with foil and bake without disturbing, for 45 minutes.

Carefully uncover and turn the oven to 400F.

Taste the dish and adjust seasonings.

Add more water if it looks too dry.

Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top, and return the dish to the oven.

Bake until the mixture bubbles and the top is browned, another 10 minutes or so.

[Don't waste food] Pumpkin and Squash Skin Crisps

There are so many times that people throw away perfectly edible (and perfectly delicious) food scraps just because "a recipe doesn't call for it," they just don't know what to do with it, or it just doesn't occur to them! Considering that 29 million TONS of food thrown away every year we should all be a little more conscious, and a little more creative, in our cooking habits.

Enter pumpkin and squash skins. Ok, so you've roasted a pumpkin or a squash, spooned out the meat and there it is, the lone skin. Though normally neglected when not attached to it's innards, pumpkin and squash skins are just as flavorful. When faced with this dilemma, my roommate came up with an ingenious idea: roast them again!

Pumpkin Skin Crisps

Crispy, delicious, healthy, beautiful, resourceful... Everything I want in a snack.

Ingredients:

the leftover skin from roasting a pumpkin or a squash

salt

spices of your choice (I used cumin, paprika, and ground ginger)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Cut skin into desired shape (I obviously did strips) and spread onto a baking sheet.

Sprinkle with salt and spices.

Bake until edges get brown and crispy and curled, about 15 minutes (Keep an eye on them, the time depends on the type of squash!)

Nosh away.

Get creative! You might as well try making dinner with leftover stems, peels, seeds, and all those other tasty "leftovers." And don't forget, you can always simmer food scraps with other veggies, herbs, and spices to make homemade vegetable stock.

In the end, the LEAST you can do is compost your food scraps. By doing this you are keeping the nutrient cycle alive; feeding other animals or our bacterial friends. The city of Ann Arbor picks up compost weekly (check to see if your city does too!), create your own compost bin, or go with the Darshan Karwat Composting Plan of The-World-Is-My-Compost-Bin and chuck that apple core right out the window!

Mexican Fiesta (with Sunflower Seed Cheeze)

Before holiday break last month, Matt allowed me to express my culinary creativity in making dinner for the two of us. I chose Mexican as the theme and going along with my inability to make a decision, this resulted in me making 6 different kinds of salsa...

 Mexican Sweet Potato Risotto

 Pumpkin Seed Mole

 Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Sunflower Seed Cheeze

 Peach Salsa = Absolutely fantastic.

 Bosc Pear Salsa

 Roasted Corn and Zucchini Salsa

 Butternut Squash Salsa

Sunflower Seed Cheeze

Not eating dairy did not pose a problem due to the wonderful world of seed cheeses. Salty and delicious, this is a perfect spread for... anything, and it worked great in our quesadillas!

Ingredients:
1 c sunflower seeds, soaked for 6-8 hours
1/2 c water
1 T unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 lemon (I just added in 2 more T apple cider vinegar...)
1 clove garlic
1/2 t salt
Additional water to blend

Directions:

Put all ingredients in the food processor and blend!

Add more water for the desired consistency.

Recipes for the salsas:

Pear Salsa

Pumpkin Seed Mole

Peach Salsa (this one was the best.)

Roaster Tomatillo Salsa

Roasted Corn and Zucchini Salsa

Butternut Squash Salsa

I obviously adapted the recipes for what I had (no pomegranate seeds for me, surprise surprise) but I have to give a special thanks to Locavorious for providing me with so many frozen Michigan fruits and veggies! Pear, peaches, zucchini, corn, red peppers all from them. <3

I also made Mexican Sweet Potato Risotto

Purple Kale Salad with Roasted Delicata Squash

Now that finals are over, I can catch up on some past meals. Introducing: Pre-final Posts Series.

Pre-final Post 1:

So one major negative that I have come to find in squash is dealing with removing the skin. Easy thing if you are roasting it whole and scooping out the innards but if you want to roast cubes of the meat, you have to peel the thing first. BIG hassle.

Enter Delicata squash. These little beauties have a thin enough skin that peeling is not necessary! This unfortunately means that they will most likely not grow in Michigan late into the winter. But I do appreciate their deliciousness now!

Purple Kale Salad with Roasted Delicata Squash

The way this salad is constructed cooks the kale without actually cooking it! Therefore perfect for raw kale haters. Plus the sweet squash is the absolute best texture/taste/whole package of goodness.

Ingredients:
1 Delicata squash, halved and seeded (1)
2 t oil (2)
1 T balsamic vinegar (2)
1 T maple syrup (3)
a few leaves of purple (or regular) kale, de-stemmed and cut into bit sized pieces (4)
1 small onion, finely chopped (1)
1 garlic clove, minced (4)
1 T red wine vinegar (2)
salt and pepper (2)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F
Cut squashes into 1/2" semicircles.
Toss with 1 T oil and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake until tender, about 15 minutes.
Whisk together balsamic vinegar and maple syrup.
Brush mixture onto squash slices, reserving extra liquid.
Bake squash for 5 more minutes.
Turn on the broiler and broil for a few minutes to add color.

Place kale in a large bowl.
Heat remaining 1 t oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 4 minutes.
Add red wine vinegar and the reserved balsamic-maple syrup mixture and bring to a boil.
Immediately pour the hot dressing over the kale.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Cover bowl of kale with something that will keep in the steam (I used a large plate).
Leave be for 5 minutes.
Toss kale to cover leaves with dressing.
Serve with squash slices.

(1) Some farm stand at the AA Farmers Market, my fail for not noting the name...
(2) Bulk section at the People's Food Co-op
(3) Curry's Maple Syrup
(4) Tantre Farm

Spaghetti Squash Soup

Spaghetti Squash Soup
Based off of Vegan Yum Yum recipe.

Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti squash, halved (1)
1 kabocha squash, peeled and cubed (2)
1 head of garlic (1)
1 small onion, chopped (3)
3 c vegetable broth
oil
salt
1 t dried thyme
cayenne pepper and ground ginger
Garnish
1/4 c spaghetti squash
a handful of roasted squash seeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F
Place spaghetti squash cut side down in a baking dish.
Fill dish with about 1 inch of water.
Make an envelope/pocket-like holder out of aluminum foil and dump in kabocha squash cubes.
Cut off the top of the head of garlic, drizzle with oil and wrap in aluminum foil.
Put squashes and garlic in the oven and roast until soft, about 45 minutes.
Scoop spaghetti squash and squeeze garlic from their skins.
Reserve about 1/4 c of spaghetti squash for garnish.

Heat 1 T oil over medium heat and saute onion until soft.
Add in veggie stock and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and add in roasted veggies.
Simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
Puree soup in a blender or food processor in batches (so that it doesn't overflow)
Salt and season to taste.

Here's the fun part: garnish time!
Heat 2 T oil over medium heat in a saute pan.
separate strands of reserved spaghetti squash and drop into pan.
Fry until golden brown, stirring constantly.*
Transfer to a dish towel to drain excess oil.
Place on top of individual bowls of soup along with squash seeds.

I fried at too high of heat so mine ended up a liiittle too brown for my liking... But they still tasted good (what fried thing doesn't taste good though?) and looked pretty.

(1) Tantre Farms
(2) From the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market but I didn't catch the name of the vendors :(

Pumpkin Ravioli and Garlic Bread

Pumpkin Ravioli
I found out how to (start using) my cooked pumpkin. However this was definitely my attempt 1 at pumpkin ravioli. The pumpkin filling turned out mouth watering but the pasta part was sub-par. It tasted fine but it did not serve it's purpose of holding the filling inside of itself! Fail.

Ingredients:

Filling

1 c roasted pumpkin

2 t oil (I used almond in this recipe)

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t cumin

dash of pepper

1/2 t salt

1/4 cup ground walnuts (or nuts of your choice)

Pasta

2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 t salt

2 T fresh thyme (or herb of your choice)

1/2 c water

1 t olive oil

Directions:

For filling:

Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan.

Add nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, pepper, salt and ground walnuts.

Stir in pumpkin and stir until the mixture is fragrant and the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes.

Turn off heat and set aside.

For pasta:

Mix together the wet ingredients.

Add in the dry ingredients.

Knead until a stiff dough forms.

Start heating water to a boil in a large pot, adding a dash of salt and a dollop of oil to the water.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface as thin as possible (working with half portions at a time).

Cut dough into similarly sized squares, around 2.5 inches each.

Spoon about 1 t of filling into the middle of a square, placing another square on top of the first and pushing edges to seal.

Gently drop ravioli into the boiling water.

Cook for 15 minutes and carefully drain.

Serve with the sauce of your choice. I mixed together olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed toasted walnuts.

Garlic Bread

I bought a whole wheat baguette from Cafe Japon at the farmer's market this passed weekend for this exact purpose. Hands down best thing everrrr

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat baguette, cut into 1 inch slices

oil

1 head of roasted garlic (recipe below)

salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Brush slices with oil and place on baking pan.

Cook until golden brown and crispy.

Mash roasted garlic with salt and pepper.

Spread slices of bread with garlic mixture.

Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic

Preheat oven to 400F
Cut off a third of each garlic head to expose the cloves.

Drizzle with 1 t oil.

Wrap head with aluminum foil and place in muffin tin.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the garlic is soft and tender.

Autumn Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Autumn Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash, cut in half
1 c cooked quinoa
3 T oil
2 T maple syrup
1/4 c dried cranberries
1/4 c pistachios
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t cinnamon
salt and pepper
fresh thyme or rosemary

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Coat inside of both acorn squash halves with 1 T of oil.
Bake in oven, flesh side down for 40 minutes with about 1/2 inch of water, until fork tender.
Heat cooked quinoa in a sauce pan over medium heat with 1 T oil, maple syrup, cranberries, pistachios, and spices.
Fill each roasted acorn squash half with 1/2 c of quinoa mixture.
Wrap stuffed squash halves with aluminum foil and bake in oven for another 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme or rosemary.


Sweet and Spicy Acorn Squash Seeds

Ingredients:
seeds of 1 acorn squash
2 T maple syrup
2 T oil
1 t cayenne pepper
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix together all ingredients except salt and pepper.
Spread onto baking pan and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and season with salt.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Thyme

It has been way too long since my last post but I have been still cooking like crazy so it is time to make up for lost time.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Thyme

Ingredients:
butternut squash, cut in half
2 T oil
2 T maple syrup
salt and pepper
fresh thyme

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Place butternut squash halves on a large baking sheet flesh side up.
Place 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp maple syrup in the middle of each squash.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Roast for 25 minutes, until flesh is fork-tender.
Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and serve!

Pummkin

Pumpkins to me are the ultimate symbol of fall. I have very fond memories of going to a family friend's farm and picking out pumpkins every October. My parent's had only one rule for my brother and I for this process, we had to be able to carry it back to the car on our own. This was a definite test of strength to young Sam and I am happy to report that neither Max or I had a dropped-and-smashed pumpkin incident.

The carving of the jack-o-lantern process was a staple in the Autumn festivities, and an especially creative one at that considering both of my parents went to art school. No matter how busy we were between homework, gymnastics practices, work deadlines, etc., it was always somehow fit into our schedules.

I never liked having to scoop out the pumpkin guts (especially since my entire arm usually had to reach in to reach the bottom of the biggest pumpkin I had managed to carry to the car) but it was all apart of the process. Max and I drew our Jacks' expressions and after my dad cut to our design, they came to life by candle light. The family always walking out to the street to admire the illuminated faces on our porch.

I got this baby a few weeks ago at the farmer's market. Toootally worth trying to ride it home on my bike at 10pm after a shift at the co-op...

Pumpkin Puree
Ingredients:
1 pumpkin
canola oil
1 c water

Directions:
Wash pumpkin and remove stem (I did this by hitting it against my kitchen counter. Good times were had).
Cut pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and fibers. Save the seeds for a roasted pumpkin seed recipe!
Preheat oven to 350F
Coat the cut surfaces of the pumpkin halves with canola oil.
Place the pumpkin halves cut side down in a baking pan and add water to the pan.
Bake the pumpkin for 60-90 minutes. The flesh will be tender when poked with a fork.
Remove pumpkin from oven and allow to cool.
Scrape the flesh out and puree in a food processor until smooth.
Line a colander placed in a bowl with cheese cloth, paper towels, or coffee filters and allowing the pureed pumpkin to drain overnight (or at least 2 hours) in the fridge.

At this point, the pumpkin can be used immediately in any recipe that calls for canned pumpkin, stored in the fridge for 24 hours OR can be frozen in measured quantities in an airtight container (apparently up to 3 months). I froze 1 c portions in glass cups and transferred the cup-shaped pumpkin solids to a Ziploc bag!

Not sure what I will do with my pumpkin now, perhaps pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread... Any suggestions??

Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:
Seeds from 1 small pumpkin
Juice from 1 lime
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 t salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F
Mix together ingredients and spread seeds onto baking sheet.
Roast for 20-30 minutes, mixing every 5-10 minutes, until the seeds are dried out and starting to brown.
Take out of oven and salt to taste.