Baked Squash With Wild Rice

Adapted From: Sarah Brown’s World Vegetarian Cookbook

Serve this rich, elegant winter dish at a dinner party and they’ll never notice that it’s healthy & vegetarian. Instead of cooking the small amount of wild rice, I cook a large amount and use the leftovers for meals later in the week.

Serves: 4

2oz (50g)                   wild rice

4 small or 1 large    squash

2 TBSP                      vegetable oil

12oz (350g)              leeks, cleaned and finely chopped

1oz (25g)                   walnuts or hazelnuts, chopped

pinch                          nutmeg

300mL                       double cream

salt & pepper

1.    Cook the wild rice in plenty of boiling water for 35 – 40 minutes or until the grains have cracked and curled. Drain and leave to cool.

2.    Slice the lid off of each small squash and remove the seeds and cut away a little of the flesh, leaving a thick shell. If using a large squash, cut in half lengthways. Scoop out the seeds. Cut away a little of the flesh.

3.    Reserve the squash flesh. Cut a little slice off the base of each squash so that the shells do not wobble.

4.    Season the inside of each shell.

5.    Heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the leeks for a few minutes, then stir in the squash flesh, chopped walnuts/hazelnuts, nutmeg and cooked wild rice. Season well.

6.    Divide the vegetables into the squash shells and pour over the cream. Cover with lids and/or foil.

7.    Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 – 60 minutes (until the squash is cooked).

8.    Serve hot & ENJOY!

Kristen Yarker, MSc, RD helps moms and dads support your picky kids to get good nutrition today…and instill a life-long love of healthy eating. After 7 years of moms asking for help with their eating too, Kristen created 40 Days to a Healthier, Happier You women’s weight loss program. Find out more at www.KristenYarker.com

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Squash Soup with Ginger

This squash soup, with its bright orange colour and warming ginger is my “chicken” soup that I eat when I have a cold or the flu. Or when I’m looking for comfort food to warm me on a cold day.

This is a “Kristen” recipe – very imprecise but also very flexible. It takes some time with all the chopping. I recommend making a big batch because it freezes well.

Ingredients

Vegetable oil (preferably olive oil)
Member of the allium family (onion, garlic, leek, shallots)
Ginger (I like about an inch)
2 or 3 kinds of orange vegetables like winter squash (my favourite is butternut but any kind will work including pumpkin), carrots, yams, sweet potatoes
Vegetable stock, chicken stock or water (water will make the blandest soup – use as a last resort)
Orange juice
Salt or seaweed
Fresh ground pepper

Directions

1.           Finely chop the members of the allium family.

2.           Grate the ginger.

3.           Peel and chop the orange veggies. Cut squash, yams, and sweet potatoes into ½ to 1 inch pieces. Cut the carrots into coins. Carrots take longer to cook than squash and yams/ sweet potatoes are in the middle. So, you will want the carrot pieces smaller than the squash pieces and the yam/ sweet potato pieces middle in size.

4.           In a large, heavy bottomed pot, add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot. Heat it over low-medium heat. Add the allium family members and cook until onions/ shallots are translucent or the leeks have softened.

5.           Add the ginger and orange vegetables and sauté for a few minutes, stirring frequently.

6.           Add enough stock to just cover the veggies. Add seaweed or salt. Cover with a lid, turn up the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and boil gently until the orange veggies are soft, stirring periodically. Add stock/ water while cooking, if needed. 

7.           Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

8.           Using a blender or hand-held mixer, puree the soup, adding orange juice one splash at a time until you reach your desired consistency and flavour. 

9.           Return to the pot and re-heat. Serve hot, topped with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper.

10.       Enjoy!

Miso Tahini Soup

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

INGREDIENTS

orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, one per person
olive oil (see below)
Spicy Dipping Sauce with Sriracha (optional, but good)

Seasoning Mix Ingredients:
(You'll want to make this over and over so my recipe makes enough spice mix for several batches.)
2 T ground coriander
1 T ground fennel
1 T dried oregano (use any Mediterranean oregano like Greek Oregano or Turkish oregano, but not Mexican oregano for this.)
1 T Aleppo Pepper (or use a smaller amount of cayenne pepper)
2 T kosher salt
- See more at: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2007/10/spicy-sweet-potatoes-fries-recipe.html#sthash.vUtPwU9L.dpuf

orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, one per person
olive oil (see below)
Spicy Dipping Sauce with Sriracha (optional, but good)

Seasoning Mix Ingredients:
(You'll want to make this over and over so my recipe makes enough spice mix for several batches.)
2 T ground coriander
1 T ground fennel
1 T dried oregano (use any Mediterranean oregano like Greek Oregano or Turkish oregano, but not Mexican oregano for this.)
1 T Aleppo Pepper (or use a smaller amount of cayenne pepper)
2 T kosher salt
- See more at: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2007/10/spicy-sweet-potatoes-fries-recipe.html#sthash.vUtPwU9L.dpuf

1 small-medium delicata squash (or any winter squash), seeded and sliced into 1/4-inch crescents
1 medium white turnip, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
4 cups water
4 tablespoons white miso, or to taste
1/4 cup tahini
zest of one lemon
3 cups of cooked brown rice
1 avocado, sliced
1 bunch of chives, minced
toasted nori (or kale), crumbled, for serving
toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS

Add the squash and turnips to a large pot, cover with the water, and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let cool just a bit.

Pour a few tablespoons of the hot water into a small bowl and whisk in the miso until blended. Stir the thinned miso back into the pot along with the tahini, and lemon zest. Taste, and adjust the broth to your liking.

To serve, place a generous scoop of rice in each bowl along with some of the squash and turnips. Ladle broth over the vegetables, and finish with a few slices of avocado, a sprinkling of chives, toasted nori, and sesame seeds.

If you have leftovers and need to reheat the soup, you'll want to do so gently, over low heat, to preserve the qualities of the miso. Don't boil the miso.

Serves 4.