Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Stuffed vegetables are hearty, delicious and filling. I've stuffed peppers before but never squash.

I can't find where I saved this recipe originally, if this is your recipe, thank you for such a delicious dish.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Stuffed Acorn Squash
1 acorn squash
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 cup cooked grains (rice, quinoa, millet, or even just breadcrumbs)
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning or a combination of sage, marjoram, oregano, thyme and rosemary
salt and pepper

Directions:
While the squash is roasting in the oven, sauté the onion, garlic, celery and mushrooms until soft. Add grains, broth and herbs and mix well. Spoon into the squash and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves 4-6.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Spicy Brussels Sprouts

How do you record your thoughts, ideas and potential recipes to blog about? I have a notebook I carry with me. When I have a thought or hear about a recipe I want to make, I jot it down. Quite some time ago, I made a note to make David Chang's Brussels Sprouts recipe. Last weekend, as I was sorting my stack of recipe clippings, I found the recipe from November 2009's Food & Wine.

I halved the brussels sprouts, coated them in olive oil and kosher salt and roasted them in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I didn't have any fish sauce, so I substituted chicken broth. To prevent this recipe from being too spicy, I omitted the red chili. I love the idea of rice krispies being the topping for the brussels sprouts. Having your oil just the right temperature is they key to browning and not burning the rice krispies. Mine was a little too hot and we raced to turn off the alarm so the smoke detector didn't set it off. Seems I do that a lot in my kitchen. I also learned to be really cautious when pouring the cayenne pepper into the already smoking oil. That's one way to clean out your sinuses.

I really enjoyed the sweet and salty flavors of this recipe. Tim said he liked them but preferred this recipe.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Roasted Radishes - Foodie Friday

After a long, cold winter everyone seemed ready for the opening weekend of the Omaha Farmer's Market. The market begins at 8:00. We arrived around 8:15 and made several trips around the block before we found a parking spot. The stands were filled with lettuce, asparagus, rhubarb, radishes, bedding plants and herbs. I was happy to see all of my favorite vendors with stands at the market again this year.

Aren't these radishes beautiful? Traditionally I use radishes in salads. What else can I do with these radishes? Of course, I googled and found this recipe on Kalyn's Kitchen for Roasted Radishes. Radishes can be strong and even a little bitter. Wonder if roasting them will make them milder and sweeter like it does with other veggies? Yep, it did!!! Even my husband who's not always a fan of unusual vegetable cooking techniques loved these. He had seconds! If you're looking for something different to do with radishes, give this recipe a try!



Roasted Radishes with Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seed
Makes 3-4 servings
Recipe courtesy of Kalyn's Kitchen
Only slightly adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

20 medium radishes, trimmed and cut into fourths (use all red, or a mixture of red and white)
1 1/2 T roasted peanut oil
1-2 T soy sauce (I used about 1 1/2 T)
2 green onions (scallions) sliced thin
1 T sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan

Preheat oven to 425 F. Wash radishes, trim ends, peel if needed, and cut into same size pieces. Cut the white icicle radishes into diagonal pieces, and the red ones into half or fourths, depending on how big they were. Cut green onions into thin slices.

Toss radishes with peanut oil, then roast about 20 minutes, stirring one or two times. When radishes are tender and starting to brown, remove from oven, toss with soy sauce to coat and mix in green onion slices. Put back in oven and roast about 5 minutes more.

During final five minutes roasting time, put the sesame seed in a dry pan and toast over hot stove for about 2 minutes, or until starting to brown. Remove radishes from oven, place in serving bowl and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Do you like broccoli? It's one of those veggies that sometimes gets a bad wrap. Which president was it that went public about his dislike of broccoli? I think it was Bush. I love roasted vegetables! When I saw this recipe at Savoring Time in the Kitchen, I knew I had to make it. This recipe uses bread crumbs, a key ingredient in my favorite brussels sprouts recipe. Even my husband, who's not a big broccoli fan liked this recipe.

Oven-Roasted Broccoli
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown, 2007, Food Network
4 servings

1 pound broccoli, cleaned and trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cut the broccoli into bite size pieces. Trim the dark green from the stalk and cut into 1/8-inch thick, round slices. Place the broccoli into a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, kosher salt and pepper and set aside.

Spread the panko into a 13 by 9-inch metal sheet pan and place into the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove the panko from the oven and add to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Toss to combine. Return the mixture to the cake pan, place in the oven and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese and serve immediately.

Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts

While shopping at Costco recently, my husband suggested we purchase brussels sprouts! Amazing! This is a guy who a year or so ago refused to even think about eating brussels sprouts.

I have a couple of brussels sprouts recipes that we love. There's this one, given to me by son and this one I found on the internet! I wanted to make something different this time. I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks, Heidi Swanson's wonderful blog!

These are delicious and so easy to make!



I am sharing this with all of the other Foodie Friday participants over at Designs by Gollum. Check them out, there's a ton of great posts.

Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts
24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice - I used Robusto

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don't overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they're tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese.

Glazed Carrots with Sage

The sage in my AeroGarden is growing like crazy. What do you think of when you think of sage? Thanksgiving dressing!! I remember as a child helping my mom with dinner and putting the sage in the pumpkin pie instead of the pie spice. Not sure what we did but I always laugh when I think of sage.

I have a big bag of carrots in the frig. Big bags of veggies at Costco are almost the same price as the smaller bags at the regular grocery store. I always make glazed carrots with brown sugar and honey. I need some different carrot recipes. I found this one on line and made a few modifications.




Glazed Carrots with Sage
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces
1/2 of a small onion, thinly sliced
10 to 12 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, and sage and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to brown (about 8 minutes). Season with a touch of salt and pepper, add the wine and the chicken stock, and bring to a simmer. Cover the skillet and cook for about 12 minutes or until the carrots are tender (if necessary, add more stock or water as they cook to prevent scorching).

Uncover the skillet and simmer off enough remaining liquid so that the carrots are coated in a nice, moist glaze. Check for seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if needed, and serve.

My notes on this recipe: These were so flavorful. The sage adds a nice woodsy flavor to the carrots. This recipe will be one I will make again and again!

The New Green Bean??

Are brussels sprouts the new green bean? You can't read a food magazine, watch a food show or read a food blog these days without seeing a recipe for brussels sprouts.

I've always liked brussels sprouts, even growing up when they were boiled and didn't have the most appealing fragrance. It's amazing the wonderful toasted flavor, fragrance and color of roasted brussels sprouts. Even my husband, who is a green vegetable convert, likes these. Of course, that may have something to do with the bacon.



Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

2 (10-ounce) packages Brussels sprouts
2 ounce piece slab bacon cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Wash and then peel off any loose or damaged leaves from the sprouts. Trim the root end and cut each sprout in half.

Cook the bacon and walnuts in a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat until bacon just begins to crisp and walnuts are toasted, about 4 minutes. Transfer the bacon and walnuts with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside. Add the Brussels sprouts to the skillet and season with salt and pepper.

Put the pan in the oven and roast the Brussels sprouts for about 30 minutes, add the bacon and walnuts and continue to roast until the sprouts are cooked through and golden, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

Stuffed Eight or Cue Ball Zucchini

I was thrilled to see these at the Farmer's Market this week. I purchased one at the market last month. After getting home and doing some searching about how to prepare, I realized I should have gotten two of them. They're perfect for stuffing!!!

Stuffed Eight Ball Zucchini

2 Eight or Cue Ball Zucchini
1 clove garlic
1 shallot
1 1/2 cups couscous (prepared)
1 can rotel tomatoes
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
Salt and Pepper

Cut the tops of about 1" from the top. Save the top if you would like your eight ball to have a lid.

Scoop out the insides, making sure to leave a wall on the sides. I used a melon baller and a regular spoon. Steam the zucchini 8 minutes, until slightly softened.

Chop the zucchini, I used a Pampered Chef Mix n Chop and it worked perfectly.

Heat a skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil. Saute garlic and shallot about 2 minutes (don't overcook). Add the chopped zucchini and saute 3 -4 minutes. Stir in breadcrumbs, parmesean and about 1/2 of the can of tomatoes (no juice). If mixture seems to dry, add a little of the liquid from the rotel peppers. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 400. Place zucchini in glass baking dish. Using a spoon or scoop, carefully fill the zucchini with the stuffing mixture. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and hot. Cover with tops for serving, if desired.