Winter squash and sweet potato baked goodness

It’s light, but surprisingly filling and very seasonal. There is also a great earthy sweetness to it that comes from combining butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and caramelized onions. It’s meat-free too. If you are the ovo-lacto vegetarian type, you are in the clear. Eggs, cheese, and a bit of cream bind the dish together as it bakes.

You'll want to go back for seconds.

If you are in the mood for an easy to make casserole that tastes like winter should, give this a try. I heartily recommend it.

Butternut squash and sweet potato casserole
Makes about 4 main course servings.
Ingredients
1/2 lb butternut squash, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 lb sweet potato, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 large onion, roughly chopped or cut into circles
2 eggs
3/4 cup cream
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch of nutmeg
3 oz gruyere cheese, shredded
salt, pepper, olive oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large pot over medium-high heat add 2 teaspoons olive oil. Then add the onion and sautee for 3-5 minutes, until it becomes soft and slightly translucent. Add the paprika, thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Add the squash and sweet potato. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The squash and sweet potato will still be firm.
4. Meanwhile, beat the cream, eggs, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl. Mix in about a third of the cheese.
5. Add the hot squash to a 2-quart baking dish and pour the cream and cheese mixture over it. Mix or rearrange the vegetables so it is a relatively even layer. Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes. After 40 minutes, if the cheese has not browned, turn on the broiler and broil until the surface becomes nicely golden. As always, be careful using the broiler as it can go from golden to brown to black quickly :)

If this isn't a good reason to buy squash, I don't know what is.

Nothing fancy, but kids would eat it up.

When I make carrots, I usually just steam them or boil them in a tiny bit of liquid (essentially, steaming them). I don’t think I could devote a whole post to that. You’d be pretty bored (hell, I’d be bored writing it, but I like eating it though). So I decided to mix this up a bit. I have seen glazed carrots served at a few restaurants and figured I’d make my own version of the buttery, sweet carrots. These are very easy to make, but do require a bit of attention at the end to make sure the glaze doesn’t burn. Don’t worry, all you have to do is stir it a bit–heaven forbid you put too much effort into a meal :)

Look at 'em, all shiny with that caramelized sugar. Yeah. I dig that.

Glazed Carrots
Ingredients
1 bag baby carrots (or 1 lb of regular carrots, cut into 1/3 inch rounds)
1 tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp butter (unsalted)

Directions
1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add the carrots, salt, half the sugar, and the water. Cook, lid on or partially off, for about 4 minutes, until the carrots are almost tender.
2. Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium high, stirring occasionally. When the liquid reduces to less than 2 tablespoons (just go by your gut) add the butter and the rest of the sugar. Stir frequently to coat all the carrots and cook until the carrots are have a glaze over them. I like to continue until a few browned bits appear, but be careful not to burn the sugars. It should take about 3 minutes.
3. Remove the carrots to a serving plate, keeping as much of the glaze as you can. You may have to pour/scrape the pan. It’s good stuff.

It was at this point that I looked into my basket and realized that I was making a salad. I just needed to round the flavors out. Arugula is definitely one of the more bitter salads, mint is pretty unique too–that unmistakable, refreshing aroma and assertive flavor. The red pepper would contribute a bit of sweetness. Looking around I saw some dried cherries and thought that the tartness and sugars would be a nice addition (after all, on the label was written “dried tart cherries”).

Sorry for the poor photo quality, I couldn't find my camera. I took these photos with my phone.

Satisfied with those purchases, I looked around for something to contribute a bit more substance to the meal. I ruled out eggs. I didn’t want beef and wasn’t in the mood for chicken. I was still in the produce section and saw some containers of extra-firm tofu. I realized that I hadn’t made tofu in a while and thought that some seared tofu would be perfect.

Once back at home with my bounty, I still needed to figure out how I was going to prepare everything and look for more ways to bring even more flavor to the party. To that end, I pressed, then marinated the tofu in a sesame ginger marinade. I also reached for the standard French vinaigrette–but made a few changes: I added a tiny bit of toasted sesame oil to the vinaigrette and reduced the vinegar. Toasted sesame oil can quickly overpower other flavors, so I kept it respectfully subdued.

The salad that restored my sanity.

This is definitely a flavorful and filling salad. The arugula may not be everybody’s favorite leafy green, but I like that bitter, grassy bite it gives. The mint played off it nicely, adding some depth to the dish. The addition of red pepper (sweetness) and the dried cherries (sweetness, tartness) served to balance the bitterness and the toasted sesame vinaigrette was great with the sesame ginger tofu.

Ingredients
Serves 2-3.
4 cups loosely packed mixed greens, mostly arugula (about 4 handfuls)
2 cups loosely packed mint (about 2 handfuls)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 red pepper, sliced
1 block extra-firm tofu
sesame ginger marinade (I had some store bought stuff)
peanut oil (or vegetable oil or canola oil)

dressing:
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (You can increase this for more sesame flavor, but I wouldn’t put more than 1 tsp)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt & pepper

Directions

Tofu
1. Remove the tofu from the package and pat it with paper towels or a tea towel to remove excess liquid. Cut into 6 even slices and pat them again with the tea towel. Place a towel on a cutting board, then arrange the 6 slices, then place another towel on top followed by another cutting board. Place this in the fridge and put something heavy on top (like a bottle of milk or OJ). Leave alone for about an hour. The tea towel will be pretty wet from the excess liquid.
2. Once pressed, put the tofu in a 8×8 baking dish and pour the marinade over it. Flip the tofu slices over and pour more marinade on the other side. Allow to soak for about 15 minutes. Remove the tofu to a plate, wiping off excess marinade.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add at least a tablespoon of peanut oil to the hot skillet. Carefully add the slices of tofu. They may spatter because of the excess moisture/marinade–use a spatter screen if you have one. Sear for about 2-3 minutes a side, or until golden brown (reduce heat to medium if necessary).

Vinaigrette
In a large bowl, whisk the 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil, 2 tbsp olive oil, minced shallot, 2 tsp red wine vinegar, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, and a pinch of salt & pepper.

Bringing it all together
1. Add the salad, mint, and red pepper to the bowl with vinaigrette and mix to coat evenly.
2. Put 2 or 3 slices of tofu on the edge of a plate. Add the salad, then garnish with some dried cherries and pecans.

Good Salad.

I like the sections with tomatoes on them most, then the eggplant ones.

You can use any kind of roasted or grilled vegetables. You don’t even have to grill them yourself! I bought some jars of grilled vegetables in oil at the grocery store–things like eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, and mushrooms. I also picked up a pint of cherry tomatoes, cut them in half and roasted those with some olive oil. I had a slight preference for the sections with tomatoes on them, but the eggplant was a close second. The great thing about having a mixture is that if someone doesn’t like the flavor of a particular vegetable, there are still several others to choose from.

If you keep the jarred vegetables on hand and some puff pastry in the freezer, this recipe can almost be made at a moments notice. All you need is some goat cheese–those logs seem to last a while anyway. You can even use ricotta in place of the goat cheese. (I did encourage experimentation yesterday, so try it!) I actually combined the goat cheese with a bit of ricotta to tame the flavor a bit and make it a bit more spreadable.

Use the biggest knife you have and just press down to cut it. Try not to drag the knife through or the layers of puff pastry may seperate.

It’s also great for a crowd because the puff pastry can be baked ahead of time and the rest can be assembled later in the day. In fact, the entire thing can be made several hours ahead and just kept loosely covered on the counter. To further reduce the prep time, you can go ahead and make the cheese mixture a couple of days ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. Allow it to come to room temperature or warm it very gently on low power in the microwave to make it spreadable again. I thought they were great at room temperature. If you wanted to serve it warm, you could just reheat it in the oven for 10 minutes at 400F.

The only prep work to do is to roast the tomatoes and mix the goat cheese and ricotta. The tomatoes are easy; Cut them in half, toss with oil, and bake for 15 minutes. Mixing the cheeses isn’t difficult either, but it does help to have a stand mixer or a food processor. Mixing it with a wooden spoon works just as well, but machines were invented for a reason. Any way you do it, simply mix the goat cheese and ricotta together with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to help make it spreadable.

Roasted Vegetable Tart
Serves about 12-15 as an appetizer. Recipe can be halved.
Ingredients
two sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
11 ounces goat cheese
5 ounces ricotta
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 or 2 jars roasted/grilled vegetables (in oil) (red pepper, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, or anything else) – or – fresh roasted/grilled vegetables
1 pint roasted cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. If your vegetables are packed in oil, drain them, then pat the excess oil off with paper towels.
3. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, a few cracks of black pepper, and a pinch of salt. Toss to coat. Place the tomatoes, cut-side up, in a baking pan, and roast on the top shelf for 15 minutes.
4. Place a sheet of parchment paper in a sheet pan and lay the puff pastry on it. Place another layer of parchment paper on top of this, then another sheet pan. The puff pastry should be sandwiched between the two layers to prevent excess rising. Bake on the lower rack for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the top pan and the top parchment paper. Bake for 10 more minutes, until the dough is a golden brown (check after 5 minutes).
5. Remove the baked pastry to a cooling rack and allow to cool.
6. In a mixing bowl or food processor, add the goat cheese, ricotta, tablespoon of olive oil, herbes de Provence, and black pepper. Mix thoroughly to combine until smooth.
7. Using a nonstick spatula, spread half the cheese mixture onto the baked puff pastry. Top with roasted vegetables. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar if desired. Cut into bit size portions and serve.
-repeat everything with the other sheet of puff pastry-

Good stuff, eh.

The garlic-rosemary ones are in the front, the sweet ones are in the back. They are both great.

Putting chickpeas in the oven is not new here at The Food Spot. I’ve made a toasted chickpea salad before, which–if I may be modest for a second–was terrific. (Wait a sec… that’s the opposite of modesty, oh well.) In that version the chickpeas were only lightly toasted–the centers of the chickpeas were still chewy–so it turned out more like little self contained balls of slightly crunchy, roasted-flavored hummus. This time I just kept cooking them. I cooked them for nearly twice as long–almost an hour. What this yielded was a super crunchy snack–almost closer to a nut than to a bean. I took that as a not so subtle hint and mixed in a few pistachios and cashews.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the whole “two ways” thing that this post is supposed to be about. Well, when you look at nuts, you normally see them as either sweet (e.g., honey roasted) or salty. So I basically adapted that concept for these: one batch was made with brown sugar and chili powder and the other with garlic and rosemary. I don’t know what possessed me to add chili powder to the brown sugar one, I just figured that sweet and spicy would also be tasty. Fortunately, I was right.

See the brown sugar caramelized on some of the nuts? That's a little but of awesome.

You can mix your own versions of spices, but if you are short on ideas, feel free to use mine. Either way you won’t be disappointed. It’s a ridiculously simple snack to make. I served them with an aperitif before dinner and munched on the few leftover the next day.
Here’s how to do it:

Spicy Brown Sugar Chickpeas
Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed, dried
1/4 cup unroasted, unsalted cashews
1/4 cup unroasted, unsalted pistachios
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 packed tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Drain and rinse the chickpeas in a colandar. Allow to dry.
2. Toss chickpeas with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until they look browned and rattle when you give the pan a shake. Move them around on the sheet every 15 to 20 minutes to prevent any burnt areas.
4. Toss the remaining ingredients with the warm chickpeas and bake for 10 more minutes.

I don't know if another photo will convince you to make these or not, but hey, they look good, so why not?

Savory Chickpeas
Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed, dried
1/4 cup unroasted, unsalted cashews
1/4 cup unroasted, unsalted pistachios
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp rosemary

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Drain and rinse the chickpeas in a colandar. Allow to dry.
2. Toss chickpeas with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until they look browned and rattle when you give the pan a shake. Move them around on the sheet every 15 to 20 minutes to prevent any burnt areas.
4. Toss the remaining ingredients with the warm chickpeas and bake for 10 more minutes.

Bonus
These are built in make-ahead foods. Not only can you prepare each recipe until step 3 then finish later to serve still warm, but you can also simply make everything and store them in an air-tight container and serve at room temp. They are good either way.

Anyway, the point is that a gem like this is often overlooked because commonplace cereals and grains, like rice and pasta, steal the spotlight. That’s a shame, because whole grains can be loaded with quite a bit of flavor and nutritional goodness. Quinoa, not even technically a grain (a pseudo-cereal seed), seems to slip by unnoticed. Often times, to get people to be aware of them, a bet from Colonel Hugh Pickering has to be made to teach the poor thing how to believably mingle in upper-class society with a series of voice coaching lessons–What’s wrong with me? That’s My Fair Lady.

If it has no leaves, can it still be a salad? That's too much for me to handle.

I’m just trying to say that quinoa is really great and not nearly well known enough. It’s also pretty ridiculously healthy. Not only is it fairly protein rich, but it’s one of the very few vegetarian complete proteins out there. It’s also chock full of other nutrients like manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorus.

If all that hasn’t convinced you to try this grain, maybe recipe will; It’s easy to make and hard to mess up. Really. It’s dead simple. The only cooking required is to simmer the quinoa in some water for 15 minutes or so. It practically comes with a marker that tells you when it’s ready. Take a look at it after the times up… notice those little rings that form around the outside of it? It’s done.

OK. So if it this great, there must be some kind of downside to this dish, right? Nope. You do have to chop a few vegetables: dice an onion or shallot, cut up some green onions, and dice a bell pepper. You’ll be done with that before the quinoa even finishes cooking.

The one thing in this dish that I would insist you don’t leave out is the chipotle pepper. It’s a small addition, but adds a deceptively large amount of flavor.

Quinoa salad or anti-salad? Maybe I should stop calling it a salad. I'll just call it tasty.

Ingredients
Makes 6-8 servings. It’s surprisingly filling.
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of half lemon (1 to 1.5 tbsp)
1 chipotle in adobo, minced (with the sauce) (about 1.5 tbsp)
2 cans (15oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
2 small red or yellow peppers (or one very large), diced
1/2 red onion (or one large shallot), diced
8 scallions, white and light-to-medium green parts cut into small rounds
ground black pepper

Directions
1. Prepare the quinoa. (Check your package for directions, some quinoa needs to be rinsed. Mine was pre-rinsed and ready to cook.) Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the salt and the quinoa. Return to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low (just to a simmer). Cook for 15 minutes. If after 15 minutes there is still liquid in the bottom of the pan, remove the lid to encourage evaporation.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, and chipotle (for extra heat add 1 tsp or more of the minced chipotle/adobo sauce). Drizzle in the oil while whisking to create an emulsion.
3. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, black beans, scallions, red onion, and bell pepper. Pour the dressing over this and mix to combine. Season with salt and ground black pepper to your liking.

I made two variants of this dish over the past couple weeks, both were great, and both were impromptu. The first time I made this I had very little to work with, but when you gotta eat, you gotta eat. So I threw together what I had. A can of chickpeas, some pine nuts, some Parmesan cheese, and a few spices was all I used. Toast the chickpeas, toss with the ingredients and some lemon juice, salt, pepper, a dash of paprika, and olive oil. That’s it. Easy as pie. Actually, much easier than pie; Perhaps as easy as eating pie.

Simple Roast Chickpea Salad

About a week or so later I was in a similar situation except I had a shallot and couple tomatoes on hand. I diced those up, and did almost the same thing as before. This time I made a vinaigrette with the shallot and omitted the paprika.

Both versions are simple, quick, and easy to make, but I prefer the second version. The tomatoes add a bit of moisture and the shallot and vinaigrette add a bit more bite. It’s also quite healthy and, if you omit the Parm, vegetarian and vegan friendly! You can always make doughnuts if you want to clog your arteries.

A bit more complex than above, but it shouldn't take more time.

Toasted Chickpea Salad
Roasting the chickpeas is indeed optional, but it contributes a great nutty flavor. If you are short on time or don’t want to use your oven, you can skip that step.
Ingredients
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsps olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan
2 tbsps pine nuts
Variant 1
1 tsp paprika
Variant 2
1 small shallot, minced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar, (I like to use 2 tsps, but I like a vinegary mix)
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. If using variant 2, whisk the minced shallot, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and mustard in a bowl.
2. Toss the chickpeas with about 2 tsp olive oil then place them on a baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes. Shake the pan every 10-15 minutes to prevent scorching. They will be done when browned and toasted.
3. Regardless of the variant, or your own changes, just toss everything else in a bowl with the chickpeas.

Tomato Soup

My deep dish pizza recipe already cribbed from Cook’s Illustrated, so why stop on Tuesday. This is their version of a creamy–creamless–tomato soup, and boy did they nail it. It’s a smooth, thick soup that puts the tomato flavor front and center. The thickness comes not from cream, but from torn pieces of bread that disintegrate into the soup and are then further blended into it. Not entirely unheard of, but still clever. All this makes for a delicious, but still low-fat and low-calorie soup.

A quick note though, this may be a tomato soup, but this is not vegetarian. Cook’s Illustrated uses chicken stock create a richness and depth to the soup. Vegetable stock would work to make this vegetarian and vegan friendly. The only thing that would be missing is the gelatin normally found in small amounts in real chicken stock. Go nuts though, there probably isn’t much gelatin in the store bought stuff anyway—just another good reason to make your own.

Tomato Soup

Creamy –creamless– Tomato Soup
From Cook’s Illustrated. [http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=16872]
Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
3 med garlic cloves, minced
Pinch hot red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
2 (28-oz) cans crushed tomatoes (muir glen organic with basil is my favorite)
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 large slices sandwich bread (get something good, tear off the crusts)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I don’t need to say it again, but homemade is best)
2 tbsps brandy (I don’t know why Cook’s Illustrated says it’s optional, it’s excellent)

Instructions
1. In a large pot over high heat, put in 2 tbsps olive oil. Add the onion and red pepper flakes, cook for 3 to 5 mins, stirring often, until the onion starts to get translucent. Add the garlic and bay leaf, cook for a minute more.
2. Add the tomatoes and their juice and mix well. Bring to a simmer. Tear the bread into chunks and stir it, and the sugar into the soup. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until bread starts to disintegrate, about 5 mins. Remove bay leaf.
3. Blend in batches with 1 tbsp oil and process until soup is smooth. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the chicken broth and the brandy. Taste, add salt if needed.
4. Serve with cracked black pepper.

Every year as the weather started getting colder, my mother would start boiling away vegetables in a large pot to make this soup. As I started to develop an interest in cooking, I tried to pay attention to what she was putting into the pot but I could never figure it out. Just when I thought I understood, I realized that the recipe was different than the previous ones! She seemed to say something about potatoes, leeks, and “n’importe quel légume frais”. This always baffled me. Not because I didn’t understand French (I did, she was saying “any fresh vegetables”), but because it seemed impossible to consistently make the same soup over again.

A potage soup.

Of course, her reply was that you wouldn’t want to make the same soup! I insisted that you could make a good recipe and remake it for yourself or guests if needed. “Oh, mais c’est toujours bon,” she would say, proclaiming it is always good.

If it was so seemingly straightforward, what was there to worry about? Honestly, I was afraid that I would end up with baby food. Isn’t that what you think of when you think of blended, boiled carrots? It seems that the French don’t automatically think that. Instead, they think that it would probably taste good in a soup. You know what? They are right. Again.

When I got over my fear of accidentally making baby food, I finally gave it a try. I forced my mother to give me some guide lines. There was a lot of “I don’t knows” and “Just try its” but after a lot of cursing and yelling in French, I was able to find some consistencies. My biggest tip is using leeks and potatoes. Root vegetables usually work spectacularly, but broccoli, cauliflower, and even spinach work well too. Myself, I am fond of adding lots of carrots.

Don’t let this limit you though, make any additions you want or increase any of the quantities. Change it up, try other combinations. Look at what is on sale in the store and try those. This can be a deliciously cheap soup.

Ingredients
Makes enough for six good servings. For extra richness, cream or creme fraiche can be added either at the table or in the last 30 seconds of heating (don’t boil it after the cream is added).
3 large carrots
3-4 leeks
3 big potatoes
1 onion
2 turnips
water
salt, pepper to taste

Directions
1. Wash and peel all the vegetables and cut into approx. 1 inch chunks.
2. Put them in a large pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. I season very lightly. Fill the pot with just enough water to come to the top of the vegetables. Heat on medium high and bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cover. Cook for 30-45 minutes, until the vegetables are all soft and tender.
4. Blend in batches using a stand blender to directly in the pot with a stick blender.

Pretty much as far from real pasta as you can get.

I have a little bit of a problem calling it pasta because that’s so far removed from the truth. The original article bills it as a way for low-carb diet followers to get some quote-pasta-unquote into their diet without actually having carbs. Don’t get the wrong idea here, the comparisons to pasta really just begin and end with the appearance. It’s basically zucchini cut into long strips instead of chunks. Not pasta at all, but makes for a nice, unique presentation.

The best way to prepare it is to grab a long zucchini and a sharp vegetable peeler. Just run the peeler down the length of the zucchini making long strips. Rotate the vegetable as you go and don’t get too much of the seedy interior–that will just fall apart as it cooks.

Making the "pasta".

My method was extremely simple. First, cut the zucchini into strips as described above. Then heat some olive oil (~1tbsp) and some red pepper flakes (~1/2tsp) over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Once it gets hot, add the zucchini and toss to coat. Do not crowd the pan. If cooking a large amount, separate the zucchini into two or three batches. Cook for about two to four minutes, do not overcook as they will become mushy and fall apart. Add salt, black pepper, and a small squeeze of lemon juice to taste.

You can see the NYT preparation here.