Secret Recipe Club: Irish Cottage Pie

Today is reveal day for The Secret Recipe Club. The Secret Recipe Club is a group of food bloggers who secretly make one of someone else's dishes and post them all on the same day at the same time.  It's really fun, choosing a recipe to make, making the recipe, then reading about everyone else's recipes.  It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and check out some great blogs that you never knew about before.

This month I was assigned Paulchen's Food Blog, written by Astrid.  Astrid is an avid reader, cookbook collector, and cat lover in Vienna.  Her blog is an eclectic collection of recipes.  I found several that sounded really good.  I'm still fully in soup-obsessed mode, so her Broccoli and Cream Carrot Soup really caught my eye.  (I love how it uses coconut milk instead of heavy cream; definitely trying that one soon!)  I am also very intrigued by her Chicken Tagine with Honey, Pears & Cinnamon.  She also has some great desserts over there.  The Chocolate Banana Decadence Cake she made for her brother looks amazing.  But as soon as I saw a category called "Irish" I knew which direction I was heading!  I love cooking according to the seasons and holidays and I have definitely been thinking about St. Patrick's Day lately.  So I jumped at the chance to try Astrid's Irish Cottage Pie.  It did not disappoint!  

Irish Cottage Pie

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

½ large onion, diced

1 lb. ground beef

2½ lbs. potatoes

2 tbsp flour

¾ cup stout beer

1¼ cups beef stock

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup matchstick carrots

¼ tsp dried thyme

Milk and butter

Directions:

Sauté onion in olive oil until tender.  Add ground beef and cook until browned.  Drain off any grease. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.  Add beer and beef stock and bring to a boil.. When it starts to thicken, reduce heat.  Add peas, carrots, and thyme and cook 10 to 15 minutes, or until carrots are soft.

Meanwhile, peel, chop and boil the potatoes for 20 minutes or until soft.  Drain the potatoes very well until completely dry. Mash until smooth and free of any lumps.  Add butter to the mashed potato, taste and adjust the seasoning.  Add enough milk to make the mash very soft (heavy mash will not float properly on top of the ground beef mixture).

Pour beef mixture into a 9x9” casserole dish.  Spread the potatoes on top of the meat and brush the tops of the potatoes with melted butter.  Place under broiler for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Makes 4-6 servings.

I didn't change very much about Astrid's recipe.  I think I used more beef, just because I like using a nice even pound.  Makes it easy.  I also replaced some of the beef stock with stout beer just to make it a little more interesting.  The beer taste wasn't overwhelming at all, just gave it a nice depth of flavor.

This was so good!  It really hit the spot on a cold winter day.  My five year old at all of hers without complaint (well, except for the onions, but she ate them anyway).  

The beef mixture.  Yum.

 Comfort food at its best!

 Thanks so much for a great recipe, Astrid!

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Green Eggs and Ham Omelet

Happy Dr. Seuss Day!  Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday and I think it's a really fun thing to celebrate with my daughters.  How do you celebrate Dr. Seuss Day, you ask?  It's simple!  First of all, your local library might be holding some type of event, as the day is also known as Read Across America Day, started by the NEA to promote literacy in America.  But if you don't feel like going out, you can do what we do. I dress the girls in Dr. Seuss shirts, we read lots of Dr. Seuss books, of course, we watch "Horton Hears A Who" on dvd, and we have green eggs and ham for either lunch or dinner.  

My girls on Dr. Seuss Day last year. 

The first year we celebrated Dr. Seuss Day, I made green eggs by mixing pesto into scrambled eggs.  That was really good.  Then last year I tried these omelets and they are amazing.  Both of my girls love them (I leave the cheese out of Eva's because of her dairy allergy), and gobble them up.  They are so good, in fact, that they are no longer reserved for March 2nd; I make them throughout the year.  This is a slight adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe.

Green Eggs and Ham Omelet

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

Sprinkle of salt

2 tbsp frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2-4 slices ham (depending on how thick the slices are)

2 tbsp shredded cheese

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the eggs, salt, and spinach.  Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray.  Add egg mixture.  Cook, stirring with a silicone spatula, until eggs begin to thicken, about 30 seconds. With spatula, pull edges of omelet in toward the center, tilting pan so uncooked eggs flow underneath.  Cook until just set, another 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Layer ham and cheese on one half of omelet.  With spatula, fold omelet in half.  Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

Makes 1 omelet.

Nutrition Facts:

1 omelet with 1 oz. ham

221 calories

14 g fat

5.5 g saturated fat

455 mg cholesterol

731 mg sodium

0 g fiber

19 g protein

So easy to make and so yummy.  This year we will be having them for lunch as we have to get dinner out after a birthday party this afternoon.  I bought the girls a new Seuss book, The Sleep Book, which I love.  I also got them new shirts. It's fun to have things like this to "celebrate" with your kids, especially during the long, boring winter. And yes, even though it's March, it's definitely still winter around here!

Now, go make these omelets and then read a book to your kids!

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Improv Challenge: Crispy Coated Artichoke Hearts with Gorgonzola Dipping Sauce

Oh boy, do I have a great recipe for you today!  It's reveal day for this month's Improv Challenge.  I love participating in the Improv Challenge, but didn't post last month because the dish I made didn't turn out well and since I was in the process of moving, I didn't have time to try something else.  Not a problem this month!  

The premise of the Improv Challenge is easy: each month there are two assigned ingredients.  The participants must make a recipe using both ingredients and blog about it.  

Our clever hostess, Kristen, came up with a theme of "hearts and flours" for this month.  Cute!  She said, "You can make anything as long as it is either heart shaped or served/photographed in a heart serving dish and contains at least one flour of some sort."  I decided to veer from her guidelines just a bit, but I think you'll agree that my dish does contain the two ingredients: hearts and flour.

Instead of doing something heart-shaped, I thought it would be fun to make a recipe with artichoke hearts.  The only thing I could think of that combined artichoke hearts and flour would be some kind of fried artichoke hearts.  After doing some research online, I ended up adapting two different recipes and came up with a yummy crispy-coated artichoke heart with a super tasty dipping sauce.  The artichoke recipe is adapted from this Sandra Lee recipe, and the dipping sauce is adapted from one I saw on Big Oven.

Crispy Coated Artichoke Hearts with Gorgonzola Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

¼ tsp dried dill

2 cans medium-sized artichoke hearts

½ cup flour

¼ cup yellow cornmeal

½ tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp salt

4 cups canola oil

Directions:

Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, Gorgonzola  vinegar, and dill in a small bowl.  You can leave it slightly chunky, or pulse it in a food processor or stick blender to make it smooth.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Drain the artichokes. In a small bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, Italian seasoning, and salt.

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil on high until hot. Dip each artichoke heart into the flour mixture, tossing to coat. Drop a few at a time into the hot oil. Fry, turning once, until golden, about 2-3 minutes. Repeat with remaining artichokes. Serve immediately with Gorgonzola dipping sauce.

Makes 14-16 artichoke hearts and about 1½ cups dipping sauce. About 8 servings as an appetizer.

They turned out amazing!  I never fry things, and I was reminded of why, because it does make quite a mess, but it was well worth it.  The thing I like most about this recipe is that there is no heavy batter on the artichoke hearts.  Just dusting them with flour, cornmeal, and seasonings gives them a nice crispy coating instead of being wrapped in breading.  The flavor of the artichoke heart itself shines through.  I love the beautiful golden color they turned.  

Aren't they beautiful?

This is the Gorgonzola I used for the dipping sauce.  It's a very mild Gorgonzola; not super strong-tasting like some can be (although I love those too).  This would be a good one to use for people who aren't huge fans of bleu cheeses.

This dipping sauce is so good; I think I would eat it on anything.  I had to restrain myself from not eating it just with a spoon!  I had some of the leftovers with crackers the other day.

It paired so perfectly with the artichoke hearts.  

My daughters really liked these artichoke hearts.  Lena, almost 5, commented that they were a little "sour", referring to the marinade they come in.  But not so sour that she wouldn't eat them.

Eva, 2 and half, had no problem gobbling hers up!  My husband was at work when I made these, so I saved two for him and he reheated them.  I don't know if they were as good reheated, but he raved about them.

See how light and delicate the coating is?  It doesn't fall off too easily either.  Just perfect!

I had so much fun with this month's Improv Challenge!  Check out the links below for all the other "hearts and flours" recipes.

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Chocolate Fudge Raspberry Bars

I had to share these wonderful little bars with you in time for Valentine's Day.  As I've mentioned before, my favorite flavor combo for Valentine's Day is chocolate and raspberry.  It's decadent, indulgent  and romantic!    Last summer I saw these Chocolate Fudge Roasted Strawberry Cookie Bars at Roxana's Home Baking, and all I could think about was how lovely they would be for Valentine's Day.  They've been on my "Valentine's Day" Pinterest board ever since and I couldn't wait to try them.  I'm sure they are amazing with the strawberries, but I couldn't resist trying them with raspberries instead.

Chocolate Fudge Raspberry Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups flour

⅓ cup sugar

¾ cup chocolate chips

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

¾ cup seedless raspberry jam

½ cup fresh raspberries, chopped

1 tbsp raw sugar (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, sugar, and flour. Mix until incorporated and the dough is crumbly.  With floured fingers press the cookie dough into the bottom of a 9x13” baking dish.  Bake for 15 minutes.

When the cookie base is almost done, heat the sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan, add the chocolate chips and cocoa powder and stir until melted.  Spread over the hot crust.  With a spoon, drop raspberry jam over the chocolate fudge. Top with chopped raspberries and sprinkle with raw sugar, if using.  Bake for another 27-30 minutes.

Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes 24 bars.

I made these last weekend when my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were visiting us at our new house.  They were a hit!  They have a delicious shortbread crust, a rich and creamy fudge layer, then topped with bright raspberries.  The chocolate and raspberry are so good together!  I increased the measurement for the jam from ½ cup to ¾ cup because I thought they could have used a touch more raspberry.  I decreased the amount of fresh berries from 1 cup to ½ cup because my husband is picky about seeds.  

The picture above really doesn't do these bars justice.  I apologize for my poor photography lately; I haven't unpacked all of my blog picture-taking stuff yet and I have to do some experimenting here at our new house to find the best lighting.

If you think these look good, you might also be interested in what I made last year for Valentine's Day: Chocolate Raspberry Parfaits.  Yum!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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King Cake for Epiphany or Mardi Gras

Well, the move is complete, but things are crazy around here! We just got our second POD unloaded yesterday, so we are living in a sea of boxes.  I'm still too busy to get back into the swing of blogging regularly, but I did want to share this recipe with you before the time to do so got away from me.

We had a fairly new tradition at our church in Michigan.  Each year on Epiphany, someone makes a traditional King Cake, and hides a plastic Baby Jesus or a pecan half inside.  The cake is cut and everyone takes a piece.  Whoever gets the piece that has the Baby Jesus in it has to make the cake next year.  This is a really fun tradition.  King Cakes are traditionally eaten on Epiphany (January 6, signaling the end of the Christmas season), and also on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins.  Last year, my husband got the piece of cake with the Baby Jesus in it, so it was his responsibility to make the cake this year.  Since I have never, in our 11+ years together seen him bake anything (cook, yes. Bake, no), I volunteered to make the cake on his behalf.  I was a little intimidated, since I have limited experience with yeast doughs.  I considered making an "easy" version that used frozen Rhodes rolls instead, but my sweet friend, Gloria, who I think started this tradition at our church, insisted that I try her recipe.  Hers is amazing and I didn't think I could do it justice, but she was adamant that I try it.  

King Cakes aren't what you would think of as a regular cake.  It's more like a sweet bread with a yummy cream cheese filling inside.  I made Gloria's recipe and it actually turned out pretty well.  I didn't have any trouble with the dough; it is a really easy dough to work with.  Here is the recipe; the only thing I changed was to cut the glaze recipe in half because it made way too much for my cake.

King Cake for Epiphany or Mardi Gras

Ingredients:

5 tsp active dry yeast

½ cup sugar

1½ sticks (6 oz.) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup warm milk (about 110°F)

5 large egg yolks, at room temperature

4½ cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tsp vegetable oil 

1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature

2½ cups powdered sugar, divided

1 plastic Baby Jesus or a pecan half

3½ tbsp milk, divided

1½ tbsp fresh lemon juice

Purple, green, and gold sugar sprinkles

Directions:

Combine the yeast, sugar, butter, and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Beat at low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, add the egg yolks, then beat for 1 minute at medium-low speed. Add the flour, salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest and beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, forms a ball, and starts to climb up the dough hook. (If the dough is uncooperative in coming together, add a bit of warm water a tablespoon at a time, until it does.)

Remove the dough from the bowl. Using your hands, form the dough into a smooth ball. Lightly oil a bowl with the vegetable oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Blend by hand or with an electric mixer on low speed. Set aside.  Get out a 15” pizza stone.  If you don’t have one, line your largest baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your fingers, pat it out into a rectangle about 30” long and 6” wide.  Spread the filling lengthwise over the bottom half of the dough, then place the Baby Jesus or pecan half somewhere in it.  Flip the top half of the dough over the filling. Seal the edges, pinching the dough together.  Shape the dough into a log and place it on the pizza stone or baking sheet seam-side down. Shape the dough into a circle and pinch the ends together. Cover the ring with plastic wrap and set in a warm place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°.

Brush the top of the risen cake with 2 tbsp milk. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the icing, combine the remaining 1½ tbsp milk, lemon juice, and remaining 1½ cups powdered sugar in a mixing bowl.  Spread the icing evenly over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with the sugar sprinkles, alternating colors around the cake.  The cake is traditionally cut into 2” thick slices.  Whoever finds the Baby Jesus in their piece has to make the cake next year!

Makes 20-22 servings.                                      

Here is a pic of the cake before rising and baking.

Now, I know that it looks like a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps, but it really is pretty simple.  Like I said, the dough is super easy to work with and quite forgiving.  I did have some of the filling spill out of one place, but overall I think it wasn't too bad for my first time making it.  My picture isn't the greatest, and I forgot to take one of an individual piece to show you the inside (sorry!), so I will have to make another one next year and hopefully start this tradition up at our new church here in Wisconsin!

It can be difficult to obtain a tiny plastic Baby Jesus and the right-colored sprinkles.  In our small town in Michigan, we had a little New Orleans-themed restaurant (shout-out to The Big Easy!), and they make individual King Cakes around Epiphany and Mardi Gras.  We simply kept the Baby Jesuses (Lena calls them "Baby Jesi") for future use.  The Big Easy also graciously gave me three small containers of the colored sugar that they use.  I offered to pay her for them, but she wouldn't hear of it.  Thanks Sandy!  So if you have anyplace like that near you, that could be a good resource for those things.

I give Gloria all the credit for the success of this cake.  She really has a winner in this recipe!  Thanks so much, Gloria!

Happy Mardi Gras, everyone!

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Secret Recipe Club: Plum Ginger Thai Salmon

I'm taking a break from my inter-state moving hiatus to participate in this month's Secret Recipe Club. 

The Secret Recipe Club is a group of food bloggers who secretly make one of someone else's dishes and post them all on the same day at the same time.  It's really fun, choosing a recipe to make, making the recipe, then reading about everyone else's recipes.  It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and check out some great blogs that you never knew about before.

This month I was assigned a great blog called Delishhh.  Delishhh is written by Ewa, which I understand is pronounced like "Eva".  That's pretty cool because Eva is my youngest daughter's name.  :) Ewa was born in Sweden, raised in Asia, and now lives in America.  So she has a really interesting culinary perspective!  Her blog is very aptly named as everything on there is amazing.  Her recipes represent every place that she has lived across the world.

I had a hard time deciding which recipe to make.  If the timing had been slightly different, it would have been a slam dunk.  I really wanted to make her Västerbotten Cheese Pie.  I love me some cheese, and this pie is so beautiful.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find Västerbotten cheese.  If I had been assigned Ewa's blog just one month later, it would have been a breeze. I mentioned that I am in the middle of a move? We are moving to Kenosha, Wisconsin, home to the infamous Mars Cheese Castle.  Yes, a whole castle full of cheese right in my own town!  It's a foodie's dream!  I am certain that had I been there already I could have found that cheese there.  But as it turned out, I got this assignment about a week after visiting there for the last time before the big move. You better believe I will be trying that pie as soon as we get settled there and I have my kitchen set up again.

Several other recipes caught my attention too.  I really liked the looks of her White Bean Puree (I love white bean dips), Swedish Split Pea Soup (perfect for that -4 degree weather we had last month!), and her No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake. Yum!  The recipe I finally chose was her Thai Chicken with Plum Ginger Sauce.  I just loved the sound of that flavor combination.  Ewa makes that dish using chicken, but she says in her post that she is sure it would be great with other types of protein and that if anyone tries a different one, to let her know how it turned out.  I decided to take her up on that and made it with salmon.  I just love fruity flavors on salmon (in the past I have done orange, lemon, apricot, blackberry, and even rhubarb).  So I jumped at the chance to add another one to my repertoire.  

Plum Ginger Thai Salmon

Ingredients:

4 (4 oz.) salmon fillets

⅓ cup plum sauce

2 tbsp whiskey (optional)

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tsp hot chili sauce

Directions:

Place the salmon filets in a Ziploc bag.  In a bowl combine plum sauce, whiskey, sugar, fish sauce, ginger, garlic and chili sauce.  Pour the marinade into the bag with the salmon and close.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°.  Remove salmon from bag and place in an 8x8” or 11x7” baking dish.  Pour marinade over the salmon.  Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.

Serve over gingered brown rice.

Makes 4 servings.

I love cooking Asian food but had never tried plum sauce before.  It is so good!  It's sweet and tangy and very complex.  The plum sauce combined with the other ingredients (I left out the whiskey because I didn't have any) makes for one flavorful marinade.  A little sweet, a little tangy, a little salty, and just the right hint of heat.  And I love how the ginger really stands out too.  Love that stuff.

So, Ewa, now you know that this is really good on salmon too! Thank you so much for an awesome recipe.  Everyone at my house loves salmon so it's always great to have another go-to recipe for it.  And I'm definitely going to try this sauce on chicken sometime too!

You probably won't see much from me this month, but I hope to be back to doing regular posts in March.  Have a great February!

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Beer Cheese Soup and Some News

Beer Cheese Soup.  This is a soup I made for an Advent potluck at church last month.  We did themes each week: Italian, German, Asian, and Mexican.  I made Beer Cheese Soup for the German potluck.  It's really good with a hearty pretzel roll.  I got the recipe from America's Test Kitchen.


Beer Cheese Soup

Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter
½ large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped (or 1 cup matchstick carrots)
2 garlic cloves, minced
⅓ cup flour
1¾ cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (12 oz.) beer, Miller High Life or Beck’s
2 cups whole milk
3 cups (12 oz.) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup (4 oz.) American cheese, shredded
2 tsp cornstarch
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Cook onion and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in broth, beer, and milk. Bring mixture to simmer, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently (do not boil) until carrots are very soft, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss shredded cheeses and cornstarch in large bowl until well combined. Puree soup in blender in two batches (or using an immersion blender) until completely smooth, return to pot, and simmer over medium-low heat. Whisk in cheese mixture, one handful at a time, until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. (Soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 days.)

Really good served with pretzel rolls.

Makes 6 servings.

Note: Don't use pre-shredded cheeses. Buy the American cheese at the deli counter, in a solid piece. Freeze it for 15 minutes before shredding for best results. 

This soup is really tasty!  I thought the beer might be too much for me as I don't care for it, but it wasn't overpowering at all.  It was just noticeable.  America's Test Kitchen recommended using Miller High Life, but I couldn't find it at Meijer. Instead, I looked for a German beer and used Beck's. That worked nicely.  The blend of cheeses is perfect.  ATK topped theirs with popcorn, but I served mine with a pretzel roll.

The reason I am sharing this recipe with you today is because it fits in perfectly with some news I have to share.  I am moving to the Land of Beer and Cheese: Wisconsin!  My husband took a call to be pastor of a church in Kenosha, so we are moving there very shortly.  We are really going to miss all the great friends we made here in Michigan, but are excited for our new adventure.  Kenosha seems like a really nice city.  And there's a Penzey's store there. :)

We are moving in less than a month (yikes!), so you won't be seeing much from me for a little while.  I still hope to participate in this month's Improv Challenge on the 17th and next month's Secret Recipe Club on the 4th.  But other than that my blog will be pretty quiet in January and February.  I hope to be back in the swing of things, cooking in my new kitchen and back to blogging in March.

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Secret Recipe Club: Spicy Sweet Squash and Quinoa Bowl

It's finally time for Secret Recipe Club again!  The club took a break during the month of December since it's such a busy time.  But it's great to be back.  I've been waiting for a really long time to share this awesome recipe with you!

The Secret Recipe Club is a group of food bloggers who secretly make one of someone else's dishes and post them all on the same day at the same time.  It's really fun, choosing a recipe to make, making the recipe, then reading about everyone else's recipes.  It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and check out some great blogs that you never knew about before.

This month I was assigned a blog I was quite familiar with: The Cookin' Chemist.  I've had it on my blog reader for quite some time now.  It's written by Tessa, who is not only a great cook, but also a pharmacist.  Neat!

Tessa has some really great recipes on her blog.  A few I bookmarked were her Spicy Orange Chicken with Apricot Dipping Sauce, Hearty Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Quinoa, and her Crockpot Cheddar Beer Chicken Tacos. (Anything beer and cheese-related is getting my attention lately. Come back to tomorrow to see why.)  But the recipe that I couldn't wait to try the most was her Spicy Sweet Squash Bowl.  It sounded amazing.  I love roasted butternut squash and have been experimenting more with quinoa, so it was right up my alley.  I changed it just slightly; here's my adaptation.

Spicy Sweet Squash and Quinoa Bowl

Ingredients:

1 medium-large squash, peeled and cubed

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 tsp sugar

6 tsp curry powder, divided

¼ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

2 cups quinoa

3¼ cups vegetable broth, divided

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp ground  chipotle powder

1 cup baby spinach leaves, torn

1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 clove garlic

Fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

Coat the squash with olive oil, sugar, cinnamon, 2 tsp curry powder, and salt. Roast until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes depending on how large you cut the squash cubes.

Meanwhile, place quinoa in a medium saucepan with the 3 cups broth, 4 tsp curry powder, ground chipotle, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes until the liquid is completely absorbed. Stir in the spinach leaves and replace lid.  Let sit for a few minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork.

For the white bean hummus, puree the cannellini beans, ¼ vegetable broth, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove garlic, and salt to taste.

To serve, divide the quinoa mixture between four bowls. Top with the roasted squash and finally with a dollop of white bean hummus. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, if desired.

Makes 4-6 servings.

I'm always on the lookout for great meatless main dishes because I like to serve them at least once a week.  And I get bored easily, so I'm always needing new inspiration.  This did not disappoint!  I absolutely love the contrast of flavors and textures in this dish.  The spicy sweetness of the squash, the salty chewiness of the quinoa, and the garlicky creaminess of the white bean puree.  It was amazing!  It's been a whole month since I made this; I couldn't wait to share it with you! I made it on a weekend when my mom was visiting.  She had never had roasted butternut squash or quinoa, and she loved it too.

The changes I made were minimal.  I omitted the pecans in Tessa's recipe and I doubled the quinoa because we had way more squash than quinoa.  You might end up with more than you need, but I much prefer that. It makes a great lunch the next day.

Tessa, thank you so much for a great recipe that will work into regular rotation here from now on.  In fact, I think I'll have my husband stop by the store on his way home so we can have this for dinner tonight. :)

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Cowboy Beans with Smoked Sausage

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year's Eve.  Now it's back to reality.  And January.  Ugh, January.  My least favorite month of the year.  Did you start a new diet?  Or at least resolve to eat better?  I have to be honest, I hate winter so much that I tend to go in the complete opposite direction: comfort food.  Winter really gets me down, so there is no way I am making it through this month by eating salads.  Sorry to disappoint if you are looking for healthier fare, but I'll be sharing mostly comfort foods and soups this month.

One ingredient that pops up a lot when I am craving comfort food is beans.  I love beans.  This is a recipe I created when I set out to make another recipe but found I was missing some ingredients.  It's kind of like barbecued beans with smoked sausage.  Really good on cornbread.


Cowboy Beans with Smoked Sausage

Ingredients:
½ onion, sautéed
14-16 oz. pkg. smoked sausage, chopped
1 can butter beans, drained
1 can mild chili beans, w/sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ cup barbecue sauce
¼ cup ranch dressing
Cornbread, if desired

Directions:
Sauté onion until soft.  Add smoked sausage and cook until browned.  Add all other ingredients and heat through.  Serve over warm cornbread.

Makes 4 servings.

I love this recipe not only because of how yummy it is, but because it takes just a few minutes to throw together.  Great for a busy weeknight.

While this is comfort food at its best, you can easily lighten this dish up a bit.  You can use turkey or chicken sausage which is lower in fat and calories than the original pork.  You can also use light ranch dressing and cut down on the brown sugar.

What are your favorite comfort foods?

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