Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Ingredients:
Spaghetti squash
One large canned pureed tomatoes
Red wine
Garlic
Onion
Mushrooms
Basil
S+P

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut squash in half and core:

Place squash flesh down on baking sheets and cook til soft (25-40 minutes).

Check for doneness by pressing on the outside of the squash with your finger: if you leave a dent, it's done.

After you've removed the squash, run a fork down the inside (caution: hothot!); the flesh shreds like noodles.

Top with favorite sauce.*

*Real quick spaghetti sauce: sautee onion and garlic in olive oil to sweat, pour in a little with red wine to deglaze, add mushrooms (optional) and cook til slightly wilted, add large can of tomato whatever (sauce, puree, diced, or whole peeled, etc), add basil and salt and pepper to taste.

Mini Quiche with Sage

Ingredients

Eggs, hard-boiled and sliced
Sage, chopped
Puff pastry, cut in 2X2 squares
Gruyere cheese, grated

Preparation

Hard boil your eggs, allow to cool , peel and slice.
Place eggs slices on pastry squares, sprinkle with gruyere cheese and top with sage. Cook according to puff pastry directions until cheese is gold brown.

Chicken Soup with Cornmeal-Sage Dumplings

From foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

2 teaspoons dried thyme

8 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black peppe1 cup frozen peas

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup buttermilk1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

Soup:

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat; add garlic, onion, carrots, and celery and sweat 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until chicken is golden brown on all sides. Add thyme and stir to coat. Add broth, salt and black pepper, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Partially cover and boil for 5 minutes. Stir in the frozen peas and bring heat down to simmer. 

Dumplings:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sage, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Add buttermilk and oil and stir with a fork until mixture comes together. Drop 8 golf ball size dumplings into your simmering soup. cover pan and cook for 5 minutes (don't lift the the lid), until dumplings are puffed up and cooked through.

Cocoa Cake

From recipes4cakes.com
(Takes lots of bowls, might not be such a good idea in a small kitchen)



Ingredients:


1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening (you can use butter, sub 1 for 1)
2 eggs, separated
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 and prepare two 9" pans with non-stick spray, the bottom lined with parchment paper.


Bowl 1: pour boiling water over cocoa and stir until mixture is smooth.


Bowl 2 (your largest): cream sugar and shortening. add egg yolks. beat again.


Bowl 3: sift dry ingredients together 3 times. add alternately to creamed mixture, the dry ingredients and the milk. add cocoa mixture and vanilla.


Bowl 4: beat egg whites until peaks form. fold into cake mix.

Bake in prepared pans for allotted time.


Ice with desired frosting.

Veggie Burger

This is a good mix to serve with eggs, too, if you don't want to make a burger and the ingredients are usually on hand in your pantry and refrigerator.

Ingredients:
1 tbs molasses
1 tbs honey
1 tbs hoisin
1 tbs soy
1 can black beans, drained
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 tbs onions, finely chopped
1 tbs finely chopped canned beets
1 tsp beet juice (from can)
1 tbs chili powder
1/4 tbs ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 egg white
2 tsp olive oil

Preparation:
Stir first four ingredients to make a sauce and set aside.

In a large bowl, mash beans and then stir in 3 tbs of sauce (reserve the remaining for brushing burger) then combine remaining ingredients except olive oil (that's for cooking). Form into patties (mix will keep for at least 5 days).

Heat oil in frying pan over medium. Grill burgers 2 min on each side, flipping carefully (they will fall apart, regardless).

Serve on toasted bun.

Toasted Coconut Shortbread Cookies

Bon Appetit, April 2004.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (about 1.5 ounces) unsweetened shredded coconut (impossible to find, if you get the sweetened variety just dial back your sugar by a few teaspoons, a little less than half a cup)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325.


Spread coconut on rimmed baking sheet, stirring occasionally, bake until coconut is golden. Cool completely Grind in a coffee grinder, food processor or blender until coarsely ground.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Mix in salt and vanilla. Beat in flour in 2 additions, 2/3 cups at at time. Stir in toasted coconut. Flatten dough into a thick disc, wrap in plastic; chill at LEAST 1 hour. (can be prepared 2 days ahead. keep chilled. soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Again, preheat oven to 325.


Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough disk on floured work surface to 1/4-inch thickness.

Using 1 3/4- to 2-inch-diameter cookie cutters (or an empty soup can) cut dough into rounds.


Bake cookies until light golden, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. while they are baking, you can make the chocolate sauce.


Melt chocolate chips and dip completely cooled cookies. Place on parchment paper until chocolate sets (takes hours).

Balsamic Lentil Soup

From Epicurious.


Ingredients:
makes 6 servings
(As with all savory dishes, you can approximate these measurements, adding more of what you like or less if you're a grump)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onions (i chose 1 cup sweet onion, 1 cup white, yum)
1 cup chopped celery (keep the leaves aside for garnish)
1 cup peeled, chopped carrots
3 chopped garlic cloves
4 cups vegetable (or chicken broth)
1 1/4 cup lentils, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice
salt
pepper
balsamic vinegar

Preparation:
Heat your oil and vegetables in large saucepan over med-hi heat until they start to brown (about 10-15 minutes). Add the broth, the lentils and diced tomatoes in the juice and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer until lentils are tender (about 35 minutes). Salt and papper to taste.

Puree with immersion blender or in your food processor. Add balsamic vinegar at the end, as much as you'd like (I usually add a half cup or so).

Garnish with celery leaves and a smidgen of extra vinegar for good looks, like so:

Buttercream frosting

Ingredients:
(9" cake)
4 egg whites
1 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 sticks of unsalted butter (36 tbs), softened.


Preparation:

Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir every once in a while until you can't feel the individual granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Transfer the mix to a big bowl and beat on med until mixture doubles in size. mix in extract and then each stick of butter, one at a time. Whip until it looks like frosting (takes a while).

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:


1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup butter, melted
pinch salt


Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325.


Mix egg whites until they form peaks. Combine melted chocolate chips and butter with a pinch salt; add yolks one at a time. Fold chocolate mix into peaked egg whites just until incorporated. Pour into buttered 9 inch baking pan.


Bake til firm, about 25-30 minutes.

Veggie Quiche

This is my mother's recipe and I have no idea where she got it. Probably from her mom.

1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c cold water
1 tsp salt (oops, forgot this last night...)
3 tbsp butter (you can use just one if you want cut down fat)
Seasonal Veggies
Tomatoes, sliced
5 eggs
Cottage cheese
S+P

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour and butter until crumbly with a fork, add baking powder and salt. add cold water slowly and mix to form a ball. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead 5 times, roll til big enough to lie in 9" pie pan. Shape to pan, line with parchment paper (I always forget the parchment paper!), fill with pie weights or uncooked beans or rice and pre-bake for 10 minutes, just before the edges get brown. This will help the crust from being soggy when you fill it.

Sautee veggies on medium heat with olive oil. Mix 5 eggs with salt and pepper and some cottage cheese. Place veggies in crust and cover with egg and cheese mixture. Top with tomato slices and cook til firm, about 30 to 45 minutes.

UPDATE! I've been finding that whole wheat, low fat everything is, um, boring. So, for the crust this week (Dec 6, 10), I used all purpose flour and 3 tbs of butter. Now we're talkin'.

UPDATE!! Haha, crust needs more butter and actually maybe even Crisco and definitely more salt. Andy licked his plate but the roast chicken, goat cheese, parsley, onion, garlic, potato combo might have been the real draw. I found the crust to be...less than. Next time! 


UPDATE 3: Sorry (no really) to say that this crust needs a cup of butter to be flaky and worth eating. You can try for less, go ahead but, so far, a cup where I'm at.

Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing

From smittenkitchen.com

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoons ground allspice (I skip this)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
one 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley ( i used parsley)

add roasted chicken (bought so easy at the grocery store all roasty for ya) for a non-veggie version!

1 medium garlic clove, finely minced with a pinch of salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons well-stirred tahini
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425.

Combine the butternut squash, garlic, allspice, olive oil, and some salt and toss the squash to evenly coat. Roast them on a baking sheet until soft (about 25 minutes).

In a small bowl, whisk together garlic and lemon juice then add tahini and blend. Add water and olive oil, whisk well, and taste for seasoning. Add more water and lemon juice to thin out if necessary.

Combine the warm squash, chicken, chickpeas, onion, and cilantro or parsley in a mixing bowl. Serve dressing on the side.