Easy Fall Fare

It's been quite sometime since I tried a new recipe and shared it with you.  September has come and gone like a whirlwind.  School, sports, a vacation two weeks into school, back from vacation, back to work, catch a cold and BAM.  It's October.  So, for those of you who embrace fall, love squash, pick up some squash while at the pumpkin patch, or like us, have an abundance of squash from your CSA box, I give to you Chickpea Spinach Squash Gnocchi.  The name is long but the time required to make it is not.  You will find the recipe in the link above, as I took some liberties when I made it.  See what you think, it went over really well in our house.

The first change I made was adding spicy Italian sausage, which made this nice healthy meal slightly less healthy but a little heartier.  We buy our beef and pork from a farm too and every month there are a couple of pounds of organic ground pork or sausage.  I had about a half pound leftover from making pizza's (found it while digging for something in the freezer over the weekend) so I thought I'd throw it in.  Also I thought the red pepper flakes in the sausage would do us some good since three out of four of us have a cold.  I just browned it up and then drained it on paper towels.

Next you get some gnocchi in the pan with a touch of oil and brown them up.  This was refrigerated gnocchi but not frozen.  If you buy frozen you do need to boil them before this browning step.

While those are browning up, get your squash, shallots and garlic chopped up.  This is delicata squash but you can use butternut instead.  This type is nice because you don't have to peel it so it saves a step.

Just cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and thinly slice.  I cut these slices down a little more.

Once your gnocchi has browned up, remove to a bowl and add a little more oil to the pan.

Add the shallots, garlic and squash to the pan along with some fresh or dried sage (I was pretty excited to use about 8 leaves off of my sage plant that is now a bush...).

After that cooks for a couple of minutes you add salt, pepper, currants (which I left out because I am totally opposed to anything raisin-like in my food) and broth.  I used a combo of chicken broth (had some to use up in the fridge) and vegetable broth which is what the recipe calls for.  I'm sure it would be good no matter which one you used.  This simmers for about 8 min or until the squash is cooked through.

While that's simmering, get some spinach rinsed and chopped.

Get some chick peas out.  Always rinse your chick peas because otherwise you will add a ton of sodium to your meal and that's the last thing we need.

Then you're going to add the gnocchi, (in my case) sausage, chick peas and spinach to the pan and mix together until the spinach is wilted.  If you feel like you have way too much spinach and you can't even find all those other ingredients that you worked on, give it 3 min and you'll wonder where all the spinach went and why you didn't add more.  It's tricky like that.  This recipe also calls for a little balsamic vinegar at the end.  I put a couple of tablespoons in there but probably wouldn't have missed it if I didn't (of course I did add spicy sausage...).

This was an easy weeknight dinner, that I would definitely make again.  If it looks good to you, click on this Eating Well link for the full recipe.  Happy October! I hope your weather is as fantastic as ours (and I'm not even being sarcastic)!

Snick Snack Paddy Whack

Hi guys! I was ranting the other day about how busy the weeks are lately and thought I might share my favorite snack recipe for you to have on hand.  It's so easy to grab things that are processed and full of fat or sugar when you need a little something to keep you moving or to hold you over until the next meal.  Ina Garten's  Hummus recipe takes about 15 min (she says 10 but I think that may be a little exaggerated) to make, its healthy and really yummy.

Drain two cans of chick peas (or garbanzo beans which ever name you prefer) saving about 2 Tablespoons of the liquid from the can.  You only need two cups of chick peas so throw the rest in the fridge to eat on your salads.

Grab some lemons...

squeeze their guts out...I swear these were the two seediest lemons I have ever seen.  Made me take a little more than 15 min to make this because I had to pick all those seeds out!

Get yourself a jar of tahini, which is basically sesame seed paste.  You can get quite a few batches of hummus from one jar.

You only need 1/3 of a cup.  Looks kind of like peanut butter eh?

Toss it all in the food processor (I'm thinking a blender will work just fine if you don't have a processor) with some garlic, salt, liquid from the can and a few dashes of hot sauce.

These are my faves.  I'm into the RedHot a little more at the moment but use what you like.

Pulse until smooth.  You can always add a little more of the liquid from the can if you wish to thin it out a bit more.  It's all a matter of preference.

I packed two containers with it.  The round one is a little bigger and goes in the fridge for immediate use.

The square one goes in the freezer for when we run out.

I love me some Wasa and Hummus.  Mmmm, fiber.  Its also great with some carrot sticks or cucumber slices.  4 tablespoons comes in at about 95 calories (say 100 in case my math was off).  I love the stuff, it's lemony, salty with a spicy after thought (I use a little more hot sauce than the recipe advises).  When you pair it with the Wasa or Wasa light, it totally satisfies that need for something crunchy and snacky (as is usually my type of craving).  Check out the recipe on the Food Network website and enjoy!

 

Que Bueno!

I think it's time for another quick, easy, weeknight dinner.  Well, it's pretty much always time for one of those!  I made this last night for the second time and everyone loved it just as much as the first time.  Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew can be a one pot meal, or if you're like us and have an abundance of produce in your fridge at all times, a nice leafy green makes a lovely side dish.  We had steamed chard with ours last night. So let's get to it~

If you're someone that is just starting to cook or doesn't do it often, I can't stress to you enough the advantage of reading the recipe all the way through before you get started.  I sometimes forget my own advice on this and it really makes cooking WAY more stressful than it needs to be.  I also recommend doing most of your prep (especially for a quick meal like this) before you start to cook to move things along smoothly.  So, get your garlic and your onions out.

Chop your onions and mince your garlic.  Then get some olive oil into a warm pan. 

Then you toss your onions and garlic and a pinch of salt in the pan and cook until they have softened.

While those are cooking (about 6 min) you can slice up some carrots....

and chop up some fresh parsley.

Once the onions are soft, you will remove half of them to a large bowl.  The other half stay in the pan and you will add the carrots, paprika and some salt and cook for 1 min while mixing it together. 

Next you add a can of chick peas (always drain and rinse, there's alot of sodium added to canned beans!), a can of low-sodium chicken broth and two cans of diced fire roasted (the flavor of these is fantastic) tomatoes.

 Bring this to a rapid simmer and cook for about 6 min or sauce until thickened slightly.

While the sauce is simmering, add the ground turkey, parsley and a tsp of salt to the onion mixture that you put in the bowl.  Mix well.

Roll the meat into 20 meatballs.  I'll confess, I only had 19 because one of them was a little on the large side.

Plop those meatballs right in the sauce and continue to simmer for about 7 min, turning them over about half way through.

The meatballs will cook, sauce will thicken some and your house will smell fantastic.

And there you have it.  A yummy, satisfying meal in 35 min.  Not bad my friends, not bad.

Spanish Turkey Meatball Stew (Food Network Magazine)

2 TBS olive oil
1 lg onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt
1 tsp paprika
1 cup sliced small carrots
2 14oz cans low-sodium fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 15oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 1/4lb ground turkey
3/4 cup loose packed fresh parsley, chopped
fresh ground pepper

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 min.  Transfer half of the mixture to a large bowl.

Add the paprika and carrots to the remaining onion mixture in the skillet and cook 1 min.  Add the tomatoes, chick peas and chicken broth; bring to a rapid simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 6 min.

Meanwhile, add the turkey, parsley, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper to the bowl with reserved onion mixture and mix with your hands.  Form meat mixture into 20 meatballs.  Place meatballs in the skillet with the sauce and simmer, turning once, until cooked through, about 7 min.  Serve with more pepper and fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Back to Reality

We have been on vacation for the past eight days and it was a ton of fun! Two and a half days at Disney and five days at the beach.  We had a really good time visiting with our friends from Oregon and hanging out with my parents, a couple of snowbirds.

I could stand a few more days soaking up the surf and sun in the Gulf of Mexico for sure.  With reality looming it's a lovely 38 degrees and raining in central New York today.  Yuck.

The only thing I was ready for upon our return home was to eat something not prepared in a restaurant.  I love to go out to eat, but every day for a week gets to be a bit much.  I start to crave vegetables like nobodies business.  I'm sure I haven't always felt that way but for the past few years or so I notice it more and more after a period of eating out often.  I thought today would be the perfect day to tip you all off on that fabulous quinoa recipe I made before vacation.  I had never had quinoa before and I'm not sure why because I loved it!

The recipe I tried was from Giada De Laurentis, Orange-Scented Quinoa, which includes one of my faves, chick peas.  There are two minor changes I will make the next time I make this (which will likely be very soon).  I think a little less olive oil could be used (I think that was the reason the kids didn't love it, because the oil taste was pretty strong).  And since I don't add salt when I cook rice, I wouldn't add it to the quinoa either, I don't think it needs it.

Orange-Scented Quinoa (Giada De Laurentis)

1 1/2 cups quinoa
zest of 1 orange
kosher salt

Dressing:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about one orange)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1 15oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a medium sauce pan, bring 2 cups of water, the quinoa, orange zest and 1 tsp (or a half) of salt to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook until all water has been absorbed, 10-12 min.  Fluff with a fork, cover and let sit for 10-12 more min.

In a small, bowl whisk together the olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice, 1tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper until smooth.

Place quinoa in a large serving bowl.  Add the dressing, beans and parsley.  Toss until coated.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served mine up with some grilled shrimp and summer squash.  This meal screams of summer...just as the beach I just left does. 

Souper Easy Not Boring Chicken Soup!

I don't know about you, but I find plain o'll chicken noodle soup pretty boring.  Unless I'm really sick and my Mom made it.  But that's different.  I had Chickpea Chicken-Noodle Soup on my list this week and with signs of a cold coming on I decided to make it last night.  It was SO easy and very tasty.  This recipe is from Food Network Magazine, which I love.  It's a good day when that baby arrives in the mail.  Whether you cook regularly or not, you cannot miss with this one.  Check it out:

Chickpea Chicken-Noodle Soup

3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil (I think you can get away with using 2 Tbs)

4 oz spaghetti, broken into small pieces (I used whole wheat-yum)

1 carrot, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped (I used 3 because its good for the immune system)

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup fresh cilantro

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts thinly sliced

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over med-high heat.  Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 2 min.  Add the garlic, carrot, cumin, cinnamon and half of the cilantro; cook stirring until the spices are toasted, about 1 min.  Add the chicken broth, chickpeas, diced tomatoes, 1 cup of water and salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook until the spaghetti is just tender, about 8 min.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add it to the soup.  Simmer until cooked through, about 2 min.  Add the remaining cilantro and season with salt and pepper. 

That's it! How easy is that?  For you non-cooks I will suggest chopping the garlic and slicing the carrot before you get started because that spaghetti toasts up pretty quick.