Food goodness

Source: Real Simple , October 2011 Why, yes, it is butternut squash week at our house! Serves 4 Hands-On Time: 20m Total Time: 50m Ingredients 1 3-pound sugar pumpkin or 3 pounds kabocha or butternut squash—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces 5 tablespoons olive oil kosher salt and black pepper 4 leeks (white and light green parts only), chopped 4 to 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth sour cream, croutons, and paprika (preferably smoked), for serving Directions 1. Heat oven to 400° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the pumpkin with 3 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the roasted pumpkin, 4 cups of the broth, and ½ teaspoon salt and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 3. In a blender, working in batches, puree

Source: Real Simple , October 2011 Geoff and I have made this a few times. We've substituted shallots for the red onion. Geoff prefers the red onion, but I'm not really a fan of either one, so we'll be leaving them off my salad the next time we make it. Serves 4 Hands-On Time: 10m Total Time: 50m Ingredients 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, delicata squash, or sugar pumpkin—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces (we used a 20-oz package of pre-cut butternut squash) 5 tablespoons olive oil kosher salt and black pepper 1/2 cup hazelnuts 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 6 cups mixed greens (about 4 1/2 ounces) 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (1 cup) Directions 1. Heat oven to 400° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until golden brown and tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly. 2. Meanwhile, spr

Kind of the ultimate comfort food. As usual with the Pioneer Woman , this doesn't exactly qualify as health food, but I used all low-fat dairy products and soy crumble, and it still tasted great. We ate it with roasted brussels sprouts , which were an excellent complement. Ingredients: 1-1/4 pound ground chuck [I specifically chose this recipe because I had a package of soy crumble and couldn't tell if it was going to be disgusting, so I wanted to disguise it in a dish with a lot of strong flavors...] 1 can 15-ounces tomato sauce [I used half a jar of leftover tomato sauce] 1/2 teaspoon salt freshly ground black pepper 8 ounces of e gg noodles 1/2 cup sour cream 1 1/4 cup small curd cottage cheese 1/2 cup sliced green onions 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then sim

G bought me a cookbook for my birthday, filled with lots of recipes for busy parents -- although I like to think it'd work for any busy person. I'll be making lots of recipes from the book this week, and already I can tell you that doing a lot of the prep work the weekend before makes for an easier time during the week. So, I've got a couple chicken recipes I'll be trying. The cookbook says start with rotisserie chicken, in an effort to make it even easier. But I find roasting chicken is so easy, and worth the effort. This recipe caught my eye a few weeks ago, because Ferran Adria is a culinary genius. Make a recipe that is one of his, without all the "tricks"? Sounds like a good idea to me. This one is a lot of work, but it's so, so good. Adapted from Serious Eats (because I didn't bother with the pan sauce) 2 whole chickens, 4 1/2 pounds each 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 lemons 20 dried bay leaves 3 3/4 teaspoons dried rosemary 1/3 cu

Adapted from: Annie's Eats Ok, so, I would definitely make this again, but with some changes. I am going to put the original recipe here since this is what I followed, and I will explain the adaptations I would make next time. Basically, this was too sweet for me, but still worth eating, and I am about to polish off the whole thing, which I have been eating every morning for breakfast for the past week (it makes a lot). If you prefer your oatmeal on the less-sweet side like I do, cut back significantly on the sugar Also, I didn't think there were enough bananas for the amount of oatmeal that this made. Third, I think next time I will try this with apples on the bottom instead of bananas, because I think the tartness from the apples would work nicely with this recipe, and would offset the sweetness a bit. But, with those things in mind, I will make this again, but I will play around with it a little bit. Ingredients: 1 cup steel cut oats 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided 4

How is this recipe not here? I was too lazy to go searching through my recipe box, so I typed some searchy things into our search box and it's not here. It should be here. And now I'm off to make peanut butter cookies. 1 c. peanut butter 1/2 c. brown sugar (either kind) 1/2 c. white sugar 1/2 c. butter Mix together. Add: 1 egg 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp. soda Beat with hand mixer. Add: 1 1/2 c. flour with 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well. Chill dough for 30 minutes. Roll into balls, press with fork to flatten. Bake 10 minutes at 375. They're foolproof, these cookies.

I can't believe I didn't post this recipe. Because it is so, so good and you all need to run out and make it, quick like. I'm really just going to post the link, because I didn't do anything different than the recipe. I took these to work, and my guys (I have all guys that work for me) raved about them. Several weeks later, they're all still talking about the cupcakes and asking when I'll make more. That might partially be because they're all bachelors and don't do any baking themselves. Anyway, make these cupcakes .

Also adapted from the new cookbook. It's in the slow cooker today on this gray, rainy day, when I've got a sick almost 3-year-old (!) laying on the couch, being very demanding. You don't have to have the sick pre-schooler in order to be able to make this recipe, though. 1 qt. chicken broth (do yourself a favor and get the low sodium, low fat kind) 1 bag frozen corn 1 small onion, diced 3 red skinned potatoes (I think any potato would work), diced 1 small green pepper, diced 1/2 c. heavy cream (half and half would also work) salt and pepper to taste bacon, fried and crumbled Combine broth, corn, onion, potatoes, and green pepper in crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Mash half (or use an immersion blender) to thicken, and add cream. Cook on high until heated through. Use the bacon as a topping. (You could also use some cheese as a topping, too)

Truth is, we haven't been make a lot of earth-shattering recipes lately. Sometimes we fall back on old favorites -- like braised short ribs -- and other times we just fall back on quick and easy. This seems to be the season of quick and easy. Lucky for me, I got a couple new cookbooks for my birthday, and so I'm back in the kitchen. With quick and easy. This is adapted from the "Crockpot Slow Cooker Best-Loved Recipes," which Gaby and Katie picked out for my birthday. 4-6 boneless pork chops 4-5 medium apples, sliced (the recipe calls for Golden Delicious, but I used gala) 3 Tbsp. brown sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt Place pork in crockpot. Cover with apples. Combine brown sugar and salt in a small bowl; sprinkle over apples. Cover; cook on low for 6-8 hours. (definitely 8 if you start with frozen pork, like me)

These were fast to prep and fast to cook. Just reminiscent enough of crab cakes that we took out the Old Bay and gave a shake over the finished patties. They are moist and lemony enough that they don't even need a condiment. From Elise >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ingredients •2 6-ounce cans tuna •2 teaspoons Dijon mustard •1/2 cup white bread torn into small pieces (bread crumbs) •1 teaspoon lemon zest (I zested the whole thing) •1 Tbsp lemon juice (I juiced the whole thing) •1 Tbsp water (or liquid from the cans of tuna) •2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley •2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives, green onions, or shallots •Salt and freshly ground black pepper •A couple squirts of Crystal hot sauce or tabasco •1 raw egg •2 Tbsp olive oil •1/2 teaspoon butter (I didn't use this) Method 1 Drain the liquid from the tuna cans. If you are using tuna packed in water, reserve a tablespoon of the tuna water, and add a teaspoon of

From Elise . This was sooooo delicious. We served it over polenta. It did take a while (30 min) to pull all this together but then it cooks itself for 90 minutes. Mincing is close work; I got my mindfulness dose today. I loved the texture of the sauce because the veggies don't cook to complete uniform sauciness. Reviewers compared it to a bolognese (meat) sauce and while I love that it can be made entirely, beautifully vegetarian, the hearty texture and earthy flavors make me agree with this assessment. >>>>>>>>>>>> The onions cook for a long time, during which you can prep the rest of the vegetables if you want to save some time. If you are using dry herbs, use half as much. The mincing is important, as the sauce is not strained or puréed. Ingredients •1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms •4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil •2 medium yellow onions, peeled and minced (yielding about 2 cups minced onion) •2 carrots, peeled and minced (yielding about 1 1/2 c

I wanted to make something as an extra special thank you to some of our friends who gifted us with spectacularly awesome gifts at our housewarming party and I thought the Maple Syrup Spice Cake would be just the thing. Topped with this recipe for Walnut Praline Topping from Joy the Baker. I could have made the pear spice cake since I have pears in the fridge but honestly it was more work and dirty dishes than I had time for today. Also, the maple syrup cake is actually not very sweet so this topping is perfect for it. And it is heaven. I used toasted pecans because I think they go really well with this particular recipe. And it's so good I have to stop myself from cutting one more tiny piece. Also, this is not vegan in any way so if you are serving the cake which is vegan, well, keep that in mind. 1 stick butter 3/4 C packed brown sugar (I used dark) 1/4 C cream 1 C toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped Combine butter, brown sugar and cream in a medium saucepan on me