Roasted Acorn Squash Salad + Speaking Honestly

I am going to be completely honest with you.

There are very few things I like about Fall.

I know, know.  Your shock and dismay are not lost on me.  I know I am supposed to be a lover of the seasons changing, of the leaves going from green to reds and golds, of the thought of scarves being tied around my neck.

And in a way, I do like those things. Honestly.  I mean, I have never seen the Northeast during this time of the year, but I bet it is fantastic.  And yes, I do appreciate getting to pull a pair of boots out of the closet. The smells, oh... even I must admit the smells are great.  Cinnamon and apples baking, pumpkin soup cooking.

So I guess it is not that I dislike Fall, it is just that I like Spring and Summer better.

And Winter?  Except for Christmas, I could totally do without it.  (Now before you get all "but-you-live-in-california-so-you-don't-know-what-winter-really-is..." -- and you are totally right -- let me share what Winter means to me: rain and shortened days. That pretty much is the sum total of Winter after Christmas has passed. So no, I do not like Winter.  I really, truly don't.)

But despite all that, there is something that Fall totally takes the cake on: the produce.

I adore Fall produce.

Pumpkins.  Apples.  Brussels sprouts (yes, even brussels sprouts).

Pears, cranberries, sweet potatoes... my list can go on and on.  I love 'em.  They are full of flavor and full of color.

My favorite of all the Fall produce, though?  Squash.  I mean, I know it is technically "winter squash", but those butternut and acorn squashes that come out around this time of year?  I cannot get enough.

Summer is fantastic, but summer squash will never be able to compete with these guys.  Need proof?  It's right here:

ROASTED ACORN SQUASH SALAD

Recipe adapted from Gourmande in the Kitchen

SERVES 2 •  PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 50 MINUTES

ingredients

• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• small acorn squash
• tablespoon olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup honey
• 5 oz. fresh greens, washed and dried
• 2 oz. goat cheese

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  While it is preheating, cut squash in half and scrape out seeds.  Cut the squash into quarters, leaving the skin on.
2. On a large baking sheet, place squash skin side down.  Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast until tender, about 40 minutes.
3. While squash is roasting, make reduced apple cider vinegar: pour the vinegar in to a heavy bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat.  Add honey and stir, allowing to come to a simmer.  Cook until the vinegar is reduced to about half of the original volume.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
4. Once cool, toss greens with about 1 tablespoon of the reduced vinegar.  Store the rest of the vinegar in a sealed container. 
5. When squash has finished roasting, remove from oven and let cool slightly.  Place on plate and top with greens, almonds, and goat cheese.  Drizzle more vinegar if desired.

COST: $3.49        COST PER SERVING (2): $1.75

Unprocessed    //    Gluten Free    //   Vegetarian

Do You Hear the People Sing? (Roasted Acorn Squash Pasta)

In T-minus two hours I will get to do something I have been waiting for since August: see Les Miserables!  (Actually by the time this post goes up I will have seen it, but bear with me, at this moment the excitement is flowing.)

//source//

Here is something about me you might not have known about me, but I am a major musical girl.  Love love LOVE them.  I first discovered this as a teenager, roaming the streets of London with my senior class.  Piccadilly Circus offered us any musical we could want, and I made the call: Les Mis.  I had never heard of it before, yet I was scared to watch Phantom (true then, not true anymore...), so I just went with it.  My friends did not argue.  From the moment I stepped into that theater and watched this beautiful and ugly story unfold before my eyes, I was hooked.  Anna and the King, Phantom of the Opera, Grease, Miss Saigon (which I have seen both in English and in Portuguese!)... I cannot get enough.  

But none has touched me like Les Miserables.  

Maybe it is because it was my 'first love', maybe it is because both London and San Francisco did it right.  I don't know, really.  But I do know this: I have been waiting for this moment (first chance to see it on the big screen since it came out two days ago) ever since I saw the preview in Aug.  I have been counting the days. And I no longer have to say, "One day more..."

But first we dine on our roasted acorn squash pasta with kale and toasted almonds.  Vegan and full of rich vegetables, not to mention quite tasty...  (Asked in my best Chandler voice) Could tonight be any better?!

How about you -- Yay or nay for musicals? Favorites?

Roasted Acorn Squash with Kale and Almonds

Recipe from Everyday Food, Dec. 2012

Prep: 10 Min    Total Time: 40 min    Servings: 4

ingredients

• 1 acorn squash (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch wedges, then crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
• 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 pound medium pasta shells
• 1 bunch curly kale, tough stems and ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together squash, garlic, and 1 tablespoon oil and arrange in a single layer; season with salt and pepper. Bake until squash is soft and lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes, tossing halfway through. Remove garlic from skins and toss with squash.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 1 minute less than package instructions. Add kale and cook 1 minute. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain. Return pasta and kale to pot, add squash mixture and remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine, adding enough pasta water to create a light sauce that coats pasta. Serve topped with almonds.

COST: $3.53   COST PER SERVING (4): $0.89

Of all the things I've lost... (Zucchini-Squash Cream Cheese Cake)

It just sat there on the shelf, staring at me.

Where did it come from?  And why was it here?

I flipped the lid open.  Still closed, never been used.  Seriously, why was this almond extract sitting on the shelf inside my cupboard?

I had a slight recollection of purchasing it.  Lucky's.  I bought it at Lucky's.

But why?

Opening up this blog, I started scrolling through my posts.  Nothing that looked like it was supposed to have almond extract added to it, no mention of me forgetting to add an important ingredient.

Yet there was one notably missing post.  One of these weekly Sundays with Joy posts.  Where it should have been, one week after zucchini pancakes and one week before s'mores brownies, was nothing but a line separating two other, non-related posts.

Quickly I opened up the document to which recipe I missed, and lo and behold, blueberry pancakes with a citrus glaze stared back at me.  A recipe in which I had bought all the ingredients.  I picked them out, swiped my card at the check out stand, brought them home and put them away... and then forgot all about them.

So that's why we had so many blueberries about a week ago!

Sigh.  I am too young to have these 'senior' moments, aren't I?!  Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised... my mother did by me a key chain when I was in high school that said --

Of all the things I've lost, 

I miss my mind the most.  

I guess this moment was destined to happen.

Another moment that was destined to happen?  Zucchini-squash cream cheese cake.

My local grocery store was out of zucchini so I went for the next best thing, zucchini-squash.  I added some other ingredients, like nutmeg, and I had a sensory masterpiece.  You should have smelled this thing as it was cooking!  Oh my word, it was all I could think about.  I tried to clean but wound up just hanging out in the kitchen, just to be closer to the smell...

And I made cream cheese frosting from scratch!  This was a proud moment for me, friends.  There are those times when I realize that I can do what Betty Crocker does and I just cannot believe it.  This was one of those moments.

The end result?  Heaven on a plate.  The BEST baked something-or-other that I have ever made.  My husband agrees, so there, proof.

Zucchini-squash cake.  Oh yeah.

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook, which you should totally get.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 extra large egg or 1 1/2 regular size
1 t vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 cup shredded zucchini or zucchini-squash, or even carrots ;)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease 9x13 cake pan/loaf pan and set aside
3. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in medium bowl.
4. With either hand mixer or standing mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed.  Add egg, mix.  Add vanilla, mix.  Add butter, mix until very smooth.
5. Add flour mixture to bowl and stir to incorporate.  Beat until mixed.  Add zucchini squash and stir. 
6. Batter is very thick at this point.  Spoon into pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.  Top with cream cheese frosting (that either you make or you buy -- check the recipe HERE). 

COST (without frosting): $3.36
COST (with frosting): $5.87

Cost per serving (10): $0.34 or $0.59

Potato and Zucchini (and Squash and Carrot) Pancakes

Remember when I went to Vegas?  Of  course you do, because what I do is the highlight of your life, I know.  So off to Vegas we went and to the kitchen I did not go.  Not too shabby of a trade, but not so good for keeping up with my Sundays with Joy baking group. 

Here is the thing: I am committed to seeing these 100 recipes through with these girls!  Why?  Because I am having a lot of fun, I made a personal commitment and want to see it through, and I am learning tons.

I am about three months in and I took a moment to stop and think about what I have learned from this process so far.  Some of these things I learned explicitly (like, Joy told me in her book) and some of these things I learned from personal experience (remember those sour muffins that I had to throw away?  Not something Joy told me to do in the book).  But all of these things have come directly from my attempt at baking my way through the Joy the Baker Cookbook. 

And the best part?  It is continuing on...

like these potato and zucchini (and squash and carrot) pancakes.

Thank you, Joy.

Potato and Many-Veggies Pancakes

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker's Potato and Zucchini Pancakes.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups shredded potatoes
1 cup shredded squash
1 cup of shredded zucchini
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 T of olive oil, divided
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon of salt, divided

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix shredded potatoes, squash, zucchini, and carrot and put into colander with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, saute onion and garlic in 1 T of olive oil.  Set aside when translucent.
3. Beat eggs together with baking powder and flour in large bowl.  Add onion and garlic.
4. After veggie mixture has sat for 10 minutes, push down to squeeze excess water out.  Add to the large bowl with rest of salt (1/2 teaspoon). 
5. Heat half of the remaining olive oil over medium heat and turn oven on to 170 degrees with a plate in there to transfer pancakes when they are done. (This will keep them warm without extra cooking.)
6. Taking a 1/4 cup scooper, scoop out potato mixture and put in skillet and flatten out.  You can fit about 4-5 pancakes per batch.  Flip when bottom is golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.  Cook both sides and then transfer to plate in oven.
7. Continue until all are cooked up.  Top with sour cream and enjoy! :)

COST: $5.26      COST per serving (6 servings of 3 pancakes each): $0.88