Arugula Salad with Roasted Harvest Vegetables, Goat Cheese, and Pepitas

As soon as the cooler weather hit, I was all over the winter squash selection.  Butternut squash soup and spaghetti squash with meat and veggie sauce came first, which put roasted winter squash on my to do next list.  And since I was contributing it to a dinner party, I figured I'd jazz things up a bit.  So I roasted the squash along with beets and rutabaga, and then used these as topping for a salad.  Definitely had better presentation than a simple pan of roasted squash, and the flavor was more festive too!

You can use a different mix of vegetables if you like.  Butternut squash, parsnips, carrots, or sweet potato would all work.  I liked the mix I used because it gave a fairly varied flavor profile and texture.  

This makes about 8 hearty side dishes or about 4 main course servings.

What you need:

Roasted Veggies:

1 large acorn squash, cut into ~1 1/2 inch chunks- I did NOT peel (or use butternut or your favorite winter squash)

1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into ~1 1/4 inch chunks

1 bunch of beets, or three medium beets, cut into ~1 1/4 inch chunks

3 tablespoons walnut or olive oil

salt and pepper

Salad Stuff:

1 (5 ounce) container arugula

4-5 ounce goat cheese (the one I used happened to be herbed)

1/4-1/3 cup pepitas

Dressing:

1/2 apple cider or apple juice

1/4 apple cider vinegar

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 teaspoons mustard (I used a sweet and spicy Dijon-like variety, but really whatever mustard you like will do)

salt and pepper to taste

Roast the Veggies:

You can make this ahead of time and then reheat if you want.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spread all three cut veggies on a jelly roll sheet or 13 x 9 baking dish.  Drizzle with oil and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss to evenly mix. Roast for 45 minutes to an hour, tossing once about halfway through.  Veggies should be very lightly browned and tender.

Create the Salad:

Optional step: Toast the pepitas by placing in a small saucepan on medium heat.  Stir frequently for 4-5 minutes, or until they start to very lightly brown and you can smell a nutty aroma.  Take off heat and set side.

Make the dressing by whisking or blending all ingredients listed under dressing.

Place arugula in a large bowl.  Crumble goat cheese on top and then sprinkle with the pepitas.  Spoon the roasted vegetables into a pile in the middle.  Drizzle dressing on top.  Once you've let any guests/family members admire your presentation, toss it all together to evenly distribute the dressing.  

Serve and enjoy!

Summer Squash with Onions, Garlic, Jalapeno, and Bacon

My first experience cooking summer squash was when I was 14 years old and obsessed with calories.  My mom told me how my grandmother used to make it-cooked way down with onions and a lot of butter- and that it was one of the simplest yet most delicious vegetable dishes.  I wasn't a fan of using butter, but used a little cooking spray and topped it afterwards with "buttery spray", which is as artificial as it sounds.  Delicious as promised, even made my low-cal way.

Fast forward 10+ years, and a variation on this is still my favorite way to cook summer squash.  I still want to keep it on the light side, but now know that leaving a tad bit of bacon grease in my pan will add a ton of flavor without compromising the healthiness of my dish (and no more buttery spray involved!).  And you can definitely skip the bacon and use a little bit of some other fat (olive oil, butter, or coconut oil).  Sometimes I add a tiny drizzle of truffle oil at the end.

The key to this dish is letting it cook for a bit.  The method is sort of a combination of sauteing and stewing.  There is plenty of moisture as the squash breaks down, but the heat is higher than a traditional stewing process and there is more browning.  The heat is low enough, though, that some moisture does build up and you don't have to stir as often as during traditional sautes.

The end result should have some nice golden color and also reduce down to almost create a mush (I was actually a little impatient this time around... my squash wasn't quite mush enough! :-/). This is what really lets the natural sweetness shine and eliminates the need for additional seasoning.  The bacon adds a little salt, so you won't need to add extra unless you don't use bacon.

4-5 strips bacon
1 medium onion (I used a sweet onion), sliced or diced
3 small summer squash, sliced thinly
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves cut into slices
1 jalapeno
4 green onions


Start by frying the bacon in a large frying pan over medium/medium-high heat.  Once the bacon is fully cooked (the crispier you make it, the more you render the fat out), remove the strips from the pan and drain over paper towel.  Discard all but 1-2 teaspoons of the bacon grease.  There should be a very thin coating on the bottom of the pan.

Add the onion, squash, garlic, and jalapeno to the pan.  Saute/stew, stirring only every couple minutes, until the squash breaks down and all vegetables have a lovely golden color.  If things are sticking too much, reduce heat a little.  This should take at least 20-25 minutes and you can keep cooking it beyond that to deepen the flavor.  You can baby it if you want and stir more often, but I find that stirring less often works perfectly well and that way you can wash some dishes or prep other parts of dinner at the same time.  Once you've achieved a suitably mushy state, add the green onions and crumble in the reserved bacon strips.

And enjoy!  This would be a perfect accompaniment to some salmon or barbecued chicken.

Spaghetti Squash "Lasagna"

Sorry to anyone on Saba reading this- I think I took the only spaghetti squash on the island and it was only there by mistake in the first place.

I love spaghetti squash.  It really doesn't have much flavor at all, but is a great base for a flavorful sauce, much like its namesake.  In contrast to actual spaghetti though, it is super low in calories, with only about 40 per cup, cooked.  And, honestly, I think it is better than real pasta (then again, I don't like pasta, like a weirdo).  

What you need:

1 small spaghetti squash (1-2 pounds) or 4-5 cups cooked squash
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese, blended until nearly smooth (or ricotta, but the cottage cheese is lower in calories)
5-6 cups chunky homemade pasta sauce, with or without meat (see recipe I used below for a chunky and meaty version)
1/4 cup EACH mozzarella and Parmesan


*If you haven't already cooked your squash, all you need to do is poke a few holes in it with a fork and then cook it a) in the oven at 375 Fahrenheit for about an hour, or b) in the microwave for 15 minutes or so.  The squash should be soft when done.  Cut in half and scoop out the seeds.  Shred the flesh with a fork and place in a bowl.  You can also cut your squash in half before baking and scoop out the seeds as well.  Just bake/ microwave face-down and reduce the time accordingly.

To prepare  the "Lasagna":

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spoon about a cup of sauce into the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch pan.  top with about two cups cooked spaghetti squash.  Spread all of the cottage cheese over this.  Top with more sauce (about two cups), then the rest of the squash.  Top with another couple cups of sauce.  Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake from another 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.   Serve and enjoy!

Chunky Vegetable and Meat Sauce:

Is you are vegetarian, the meat can easily be omitted, of course.

What you need:

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained (optional)

2 teaspoons olive oil

pinch of salt

1/2 large onion, chopped

1/2 leek, chopped (or just use a bit more onion- I just needed to get rid of this!)

1 celery stalk, sliced thinly

1 head of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 eggplant, sliced and cut into quarters (about 2 cups chopped)

1/2 zucchini, sliced and cut into quarters

1/2 cup of mushrooms, chopped OR 1/4 reconstituted dried mushrooms, chopped

1 cup dry red wine

1 28 ounce can crushed tomato

1 14 ounce can diced tomato

1-2 cups water, chicken broth, or liquid from reconstituting the dried mushrooms

2 bay leaves

Spices: Oregano, basil, black pepper, sage, thyme, etc.

Splash of red wine vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onion, garlic, celery, and the salt.  Saute until starting to brown and slightly softened.  Add the eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms.  Continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have begun to brown.  Add the wine and de-glaze the pan.  Add the canned tomatoes, the liquid of your choice, and the bay leaves.  Add the cooked ground beef, if using.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer for about 2 hours (give it a stir every once and a while), or until vegetables are all cooked through and the sauce has thickened.  Add the spices to taste, as well as a splash of red wine vinegar.  Remove bay leaves.  Done!