Pumpkin! (with orzo and sage)

It is official: I am finally done with my PT classwork.  Crazy and exciting all at the same time.  Now I am spending my days working at a pre-school for blind children for the next 16 weeks.  It has surprised me so far, and I am actually enjoying it.

Even though I have been getting home late, I have been trying a few new recipes, and this one turned out quite good.  For a little more punch, I would increase the sage and the garlic.  I found this recipe through The Kitchn, and thought that it would make a lovely fall pasta.  It is fairly light but maintains rich fall flavors.  Enjoy!  

Pumpkin Orzo with Sage

• 2 cups orzo 
• 6 cups water
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped finely
• 1/4 pumpkin (make the rest into pumpkin puree)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Garnish

• Fresh Basil
• Tomato
• Parmesan

1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Peel pumpkin using a potato peeler
3. Cut 1/4 of the pumpkin into small squares, about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Toss pumpkin squares with 1 part of the olive oil, cinnamon, sage, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, and pepper
5. Spread in a single layer in a baking dish for 30-35 minutes until easily pierced by toothpick
6. Heat water until boiling, then add orzo and stir occasionally
7. After 8 minutes, drain orzo and put back into pot. Add pumpkin cubes, pine nuts, and rest of olive oil.
8. Garnish with tomato, Parmesan, and fresh basil

Settling In and Peach Crisp

The craziness has ended.  Wedding fun has wrapped up, I am basically finished with my classwork for PT school, and fall is approaching fast.  The HE needs a new name, but I am not feeling witty at the moment, so he will have to wait.

This summer has been amazing, and ended with a wonderful wedding.  We were so lucky to have all of our friends and family gather to celebrate our marriage.  My mom and some great friends and family took on the task of preparing the food, which turned out fantastically.  I will post some recipes soon.  All of my energy, heart, and soul went into the wedding, and I was so pleased to have it turn out beautifully.

Now we are back to sanity, and settling in as husband and wife. Still sounds funny. I have realized how much I miss cooking. Over the past two weeks, I have been making all my favorites: roasted chicken (I still need to actually write down how I do that), stuffed squash, grilled vegetables, and homemade pizza. I was going to post the pizza recipe, but I attempted my own crust that was very far from perfect, so that will have to wait. Today was drizzly and northwest-like in Denver, so we made simple baked potatoes followed by easy, single-serving peach crisps. Palisade, Colorado is famous (apparently) for their peaches, so this is in honor of local peach season.
Fall is my favorite food season (yes, each season has a reason I love it), so look forward to deliciousness.


Peach Crisp
Serves 4

• 2 medium to large peaches
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch salt
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Roughly peel peaches and dice into 1/2 inch cubes
3. Combine peaches, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Stir well
4. Drizzle honey over top, and mix again until all peaches are coated
5. In a separate bowl combine butter and brown sugar with a fork, until reasonably mixed
6. Add oats, and mix with hands or mash with spoon until oats begin to clump together
7. Divide peaches into 4 small ramekins
8. Divide oat mixture into 4 and press onto tops of peach mixture
9. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown and warmed through

Welcome Summer: Artichoke Pasta Salad

Hello followers.  It has been a long time since I have posted.  The brief update of my past few months follows.  The HE and I have been frantically planning our upcoming wedding, I spent April and May living in Gunnison, Colorado with no internet access unless I was at the coffee shop, at the end of May we spent 2 weeks in Turkey with our dear friends Matt and Mackenzie (see Mackenzie's photos here), and we just returned from a long weekend in Telluride for the Bluegrass Festival.  All of this chaos has left little time for my dear SG.  I am sorry.


To make it up to you, I am posting my all time favorite pasta salad recipe.  I am a little bit obsessed with it actually.  It is light, tasty, and so easy I take it to a few more potlucks than I should.  Using the marinade from the artichoke hearts ties the flavor together and decreases time spent making elaborate dressing.  Win-win. So enjoy, and I will try my hardest to get something else delightful up here soon.

Artichoke Pasta Salad

Modified from allrecipes.com

• 2 cups whole wheat rotini pasta
• 1 (12 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped if desired (save ½ of marinade for dressing)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ cup pitted olives (green or kalamata)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• Fresh Basil
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 yellow or red bell pepper, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste 

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil; add pasta and boil until al dente. Drain well and rinse with cold water.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine pasta, artichokes, pepper tomatoes, olives, parsley, basil, oregano, garlic.
3. Dressing: ½ of the artichoke marinade, vinegar and oil.  Mix well then pour over salad.
4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Before serving, season the pasta dish with salt and pepper to taste.

Nearly Perfect Bran Muffins

The past month has flown by; I can't believe it has been that long since I posted on SG.  So much has happened.  That guy formerly known as the boyfriend gets a new name "Husband Elect" HE for short, therefore I have become a wedding-blog-stalking nut.  I also finished my sixth semester of classes in grad school, meaning I have had the entire week free of school.  

While wandering aimlessly about the grocery store today, I thought of the perfect afternoon activity: bran muffins.  I grabbed some bran and some eggs and went merrily on my way.  When I got home, I was shocked to find that every bran muffin recipe I found required buttermilk.  Determined to not return to the store, I convinced myself that yogurt would work.  Searching yogurt and bran muffins actually revealed a link to cookiemadness.net.  This recipe had way too much oil and sugar, so I added honey, removed the sugar and threw in a banana for good measure.  The results were far better than I could have guessed.  The best news is they are pretty healthy.

Yogurt Bran Muffins

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 banana
• 2 cups unprocessed bran (find in bulk bins)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 ½ cups plain yogurt
• ½ cup chopped pecans

1.       Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside

2.       In a large bowl mash the banana, add eggs, honey, vanilla and oil, and thoroughly combine; mix in bran until coated

3.       Add yogurt ½ cup at a time to the banana-egg mixture, alternating with flour mixture

4.       Mix until just combined, add pecans if desired

5.       Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until lightly brown around the edges, move to cooling rack and store in airtight container

A Brief Tale of Corn, and Cornbread of Course!

From Cheap, Healthy, Good

Happy Thursday!  Tomorrow is Friday, and I have self-determined that by 8 AM my annoying case of the sniffles will be gone.  Instead of playing in the mountains and working on my fantastic tan line today, I spent the day watching a Disney movie and reading Stieg Larsson's murder mystery: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  While the day was fantastically relaxing, it was also rather unproductive.  Therefore, this post is my productivity for today.


Corn.  Discovered in Cuba by Christopher Columbus, corn was subsequently introduced to western civilization.  According to the boyfriend's current read: The Omnivore's Dilemma, corn is everywhere.  The stuff is so cheap, its made into adhesives, sweeteners, oils, clothing, livestock feed, and much more.  However, we primarily consume this versatile food unknowingly in its most processed forms.


Cornbread uses cornmeal, which can be found in two varieties: steel-ground and stone-ground.  Stone-ground cornmeal is the healthier choice as it retains some of the hull and germ (read: more fiber).  This recipe is another that I adjusted a bit from Cheap, Healthy, Good.  It goes perfect with some chicken chili!


Cornbread

Adapted from Cheap, Healthy, Good

• 1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal, divided
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 tablespoon of granulated white sugar (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 7/8 cup low-fat buttermilk (3/4 cup plus two tablespoons)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• ½ tablespoon flour
• 1/3 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
• Oil to coat the pan
• 1-2 tablespoons honey

1.       Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with oil, and line the           bottom with parchment covered in more oil.

2.       To a medium bowl, add 1/3 cup cornmeal. Set aside.

3.       In a small bowl, combine remaining 2/3 cup cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk it all together. Set aside.

4.       Go back to the first bowl, with the 1/3 cup cornmeal. Pour water into it. Stir until it's thoroughly combined and stiff. Slowly whisk in the buttermilk until the mixture is lump-less. Whisk in egg and butter. Pour the flour mixture into the cornmeal mixture and stir until everything is barely moist. (If desired, before adding batter to the pan, stir corn kernels with flour in a small bowl until just covered. Then, add corn to the batter, stirring lightly until just mixed.)

5.       Pour batter into pan and drizzle honey over the top. Bake 20 minutes or so, until it's risen slightly and top is golden brown. Remove from oven. Remove bread from pan. Cool on wire rack at least 5 minutes. Serve.

Spice-Rubbed Tempeh Wraps

On Monday, the USDA released the 2010 dietary guidelines for Americans.  Americans are being encouraged to reduce obesity by eating less and eating better.  While these seem like common sense principles, this is a huge move for the industry-funded USDA.  One way to eat better, and consume fewer calories is to go vegetarian a few days a week.  So try tempeh!

Tempeh is one of those "meat-replacement" foods that frequently appears in vegetarian restaurants, but I never seem to cook it at home.  Similar to tofu, tempeh is soy-based.  However, tempeh is made from the whole soy bean, and therefore has a firmer texture, more dietary fiber, and higher protein content.  

Sorry, the tempeh is kind of hiding

A few weeks ago I spotted a package of tempeh when stocking up on my weekly quantity of tofu, and grabbed it figuring inspiration would follow.  It sat in my fridge for at least a week before I mustered up the energy to get creative with my little block of goodness.  At first, I planned on baking these little tempeh sticks, but it was taking too long, and looked very bland.  The best thing about these wraps: they take about 15 minutes, start to finish.  

Spice-Rubbed Tempeh Wraps

Makes 4 wraps

• 1 8oz package of tempeh
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon  coriander
• ½ onion, cut into half moons
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large avocado, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
• Whole wheat tortillas
• ½ can black beans, rinsed
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 4 leafs lettuce, torn or chopped into large pieces

1.       Slice tempeh into sticks, ¼ inch wide and about 3 inches long (width of package). 

2.       Combine paprika, chili powder, cumin and coriander in a bowl, and rub each tempeh stick in the spices (if they are not sticking, get them a bit wet). 

3.       Put olive oil in sauté pan, and heat over medium heat.  Add onion and any remaining spices. 

4.       Once the onion begins to soften, increase the heat to medium-high and add the tempeh.  Cook until browned on all sides.

5.       Pour black beans into a pot and warm over low heat (~3-4 minutes)

6.       Warm tortillas in oven 1-2 minutes

7.       Lay tortilla flat and add tempeh, onions, avocado, bell pepper, beans, cilantro and lettuce.  Fold over one end and roll from sides.

SG Returns with North African Chickpea Salad

Happy 2011, and I apologize for the neglect. With ski season (and my goggle tan) in full swing, I seem to overlook food experimentation for nachos and slope-style. Also, there is that little thing called grad school. 

However, I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks at home over Christmas and in celebration of Christmas Eve Eve (the boyfriend’s holiday with my family), we made some grilled Mahi Mahi and I remembered this lovely chickpea salad. 

Awhile ago, while perusing archives of Cheap, Healthy, Good, a favorite food blog, I found this delightfully simple recipe that looked straightforward and tasty. I ended up making a few modifications (enter: more carrots and honey), resulting in a fresh and mildly spicy dish. It is best made a day ahead of time to allow the dressing to soak into the beans, but I never seem to be that timely.

North African Chickpea Salad (6 servings)

Adapted from cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com

• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 carrots, peeled and grated
• ½ cup raisins
• 3 Tablespoons fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1-1/2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (about ½ teaspoon)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon honey
• salt and ground black pepper

1) In a large mixing or serving bowl, combine chickpeas, grated carrots, raisins and mint. Stir. 

2) In a separate small bowl, combine oil, honey, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and paprika. Whisk it together, like you would a dressing. Pour over chickpea mixture and stir thoroughly to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature or a little chilled. Great for picnics.