Butternut Squash and Fontina Soup

I had a few reasons to be excited about moving into a house last summer (no downstairs neighbors, no climbing a flight of stairs with groceries, a garage to park in, four seasons...) but one of the things I was looking forward to the most was the garden.  

My mother-in-law has a remarkably green thumb and can grow almost anything.  In the spring, dozens and dozens of tulips and daffodils come up out of nowhere, and there are waves of flowers that come throughout spring and summer in different parts of the garden.  Then she has garden boxes for planting vegetables.  

In the past, Adam told me there was an enormous garden plot in the backyard and they used to grow most of their summer vegetables there, but since only two people have been living here for many years, it shrunk down, and is now fairly small, but there was still room for me to plant tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, squash, some greens, pumpkins and a few other things.  It was a delight to wander around the garden on warm summer evenings, looking to see what was ready for picking.  

I really was looking forward to getting a few butternut squash out of the garden, because it is my favorite winter squash, but sadly, one of the vines ended up producing pumpkins (my fault or the seed packet? We will never know), and the actual butternut squash vine only produced one small squash.  I had envisioned squash soup through all of fall, and was a little disappointed at the lackluster turnout.  Thankfully, kind friends and neighbors came to the rescue and we ended up with a few butternut squash.  

I had never found a butternut squash soup recipe that I loved (although I had eaten some delicious ones, so I knew it was possible), so I was thrilled when I threw a few random fridge leftovers in with the butternut squash and made a creamy, rich and thoroughly delicious soup.

This is very likely to become the staple butternut squash soup in our home.  It was so good.  I hope it helps fulfill your fall squash dreams, too.  

Happy Cooking!  

Butternut Squash and Fontina Soup

1 large Butternut Squash, roasted

1 onion, diced

1 Tbs olive oil

6 - 8 fresh sage leaves, chopped into small pieces (or 1 tsp dried sage leaves)

1 cup shredded fontina cheese

1 cup cream

1 tsp salt

2 cups veggie broth

To roast the squash: 

Preheat oven to 400°F Chop the squash in half vertically from the stem to the bottom.  Scoop out the seeds in each half and discard them.  Pour a small amount of oil on a rimmed baking sheet, lined with a silicone baking mat or foil.  Place squash fleshy inside down on the sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes until it is very easily pierced with a fork.  Remove baking sheet from the oven and let squash cool.  Then use large spoon and scoop out the flesh and discard the skin.  

To make the soup:

Sauté onions in the oil for 5-7 minutes, until they are translucent and soft. Add sage and squash and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  

Add the broth and salt and stir.  

Cover and bring mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat and let the soup simmer for 8-10 minutes 

Remove soup from the heat, and put it in a high speed blender.  Blend up until it is very smooth and then put back on the heat, add the cream and the shredded cheese and then heat until the cheese is melted.  

Enjoy!

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Harvest Quinoa Salad

***this post is in collaboration with Anolon.  All opinions are my own.  As always, thank you, thank you for supporting the brand that make this blog possible. You guys are the best!

As I get older, I am finding that quality is much more important than quantity to me (as is evidenced by many, many of the posts on this blog).  I would rather have one great pair of jeans that makes me feel like a million bucks than 10 pairs of jeans that make me feel fat or ugly.  

The same is true in my kitchen.  I want to love all my dishes and cooking equipment, and have them last for a long time, especially now that I am blogging and need to take photos of a lot of my food.  Good and beautiful cooking equipment is essential for me.  

For a long time, we only had two small frying pans, and many of my recipes had to be transferred mid-cooking, because they were overflowing.  It was the worst.  Then I got this gorgeous stainless steel frying pan from Anolon.  It was life changing.  Seriously. 

It is huge, so it holds a large salad like this one pictured here, my pot pie sauces and just about anything else you could throw at it.  It has a nice large lid, and has a fancy copper stripe around the bottom right above the base.  And it cleans up beautifully.  It is a heavy, high quality pan that will last me for years.  And I really look forward to keeping it for a long, long time.  

If you need a new pan, this one's for you.  Trust me, it is fabulous, and you won't regret it!  

Harvest Quinoa Salad:
serves 4-6

1 Tbs olive oil
1 red pepper, destemmed, seeded and diced
1 cup fresh green beans, cut
2 medium carrots, ends chopped off, cut into wheels, and then quartered to create little chunks
1/2 small onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Cook the quinoa according to the package directions.

In your fabulous Anolon 12" skillet, heat your oil over medium on the stove.

Add the onion and carrot and sauté for about 7-8 minutes, until the carrots begin to soften and the onion is translucent.

In a smaller pot or frying pan, heat the balsamic vinegar over medium, until it begins to boil.  Turn the heat to low and let it cook for about 3 minutes, until it thickens (turn on your stove vent, or you might pass out from the fumes).

While the vinegar is reducing, add the beans, and pepper to the frying pan with the onions and carrots, and cook them, stirring occasionally for another 2 or 3 minutes.

When the beans and red pepper are beginning to soften, add the cooked quinoa, and stir.  Remove from the heat, and plate.  Pour the reduced vinegar over the top, and enjoy.

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Zucchini Pesto Pizza

I made this pizza 3 times in the last week and a half (that sounds kind of insane when I write it down...).  Partially to use up zucchini, it was super easy, and because I was trying to get it just right for this blog!  

The first time, the parmesan was pretty overwhelming (I used a pretty strong parmesan).  The second time, I made it on a whim, because I needed to make something quickly, and I used less parmesan, and it was still really good, but not as strong.  The third time was a happy medium where I added a little mozzarella to offset the strong Parmesan flavor. 

 It takes about 30 minutes to make this, from start to finish, as long as your pizza dough is already made.  Definitely worth putting on your meal plan this week.  

Zucchini Pesto Pizza

1 pizza crust

2-3 Tbs basil pesto

1/8 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 Tbs olive oil

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

Pour your oil in a skillet set over medium heat.  Add the zucchini and arrange them so no edges overlap.  Cook for about 3 minutes, until the edges begin to brown, them flip the zucchini over and cook for another 2 minutes on the opposite side.  

While they are cooking, sprinkle a little cornmeal evenly onto a silicone mat.  Roll out your dough.  Spread the pesto on top of the dough.  Once the zucchini is cooked, place it evenly (like pepperoni), on the pizza.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, then top with Parmesan cheese.  

Cook in an oven preheated to 450°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is browning and the cheese is crispy.  Serve immediately.  

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Curried Vegetables and Rice With A Vegan Cashew Sauce

The last few years, I have been really into eating vegetables.  I generally eat a salad (or vegetable heavy leftovers) for lunch and for dinner, we usually have a vegetable heavy dinner.  This is my favorite kind of meal, because it leaves me feeling satisfied and energized, and not too stuffed.

This dinner is vegan, simple, and really, really good.  The first time I made it, I wasn't totally sure what I was going for, but it worked pretty well, and I knew I was on to something.  After a few slight modifications, it is pretty much perfect, and exactly what I had hoped it would be.  Hopefully you will love it as much as we do!

Curried Vegetables and Rice
Serves 4

1 1/2 cups rice

Roasted Vegetables:
1 large sweet potato, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 zucchini, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 tsp garlic powder (or 1 small garlic clove)
1 Tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

Cashew Dressing 
Adapted slightly from The Scaling Back Blog

1/2 cup roasted cashews
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp lime juice
1 clove garlic
4-5 Tbs water
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp honey

Cook rice according to package directions.

Preheat your oven to 400°F.  On a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, combine the sweet potato, zucchini, onion.  Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, curry powder and salt, then drizzle with the olive oil.  With clean hands, toss until all the vegetables are evenly coated.  Place in the hot oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the sweet potato pieces can be easily pierced with a fork.  Flip some of the vegetables every 5 minutes with a spatula, to keep the vegetables from getting dry.

While the vegetables are cooking, combine all the dressing ingredients in a small food processor or blender and blend until fairly smooth (it may still have some graininess).

Once your vegetables and rice are done, place rice on the plate, top with a large helping of the vegetables and top with sauce.  Serve with greens if you like.  Enjoy!

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Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Everyone needs a go-to pasta sauce recipe.  This is mine.  I have been a longtime fan of Mel, and this recipe is one of my very favorites.  Her original recipe features sun-dried tomatoes (which are terrific, btw), but I decided to throw in something a little more exciting to highlight the summery nature of this recipe!  These Mezzetta roasted red bell peppers are mild enough for a kid to eat, but add a hint of spiciness and a lot of flavor to the sauce!  

This recipe is the perfect base for your grilled meats: chicken, steak or maybe even pork!  Hopefully you can get your grill on with this recipe!  

If you love entering giveaways, like I do, hop over to the Mozzetta contest page to enter their summer grilling giveaway to get yourself set up for all your summer patio parties!  The prize pack is pretty epic and will make your summer eating delicious!

Original recipe source here

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9 Delicious Summer Salads

With summer here, I don't usually want to make something in the oven, so we end up eating a lot of hearty salads.  A lot of salads are very 'meh' in my book.  If I am going to eat a huge serving of greens and veggies it had better be a good one.

These are the salads I come back to again and again.  A few are my own, the rest are recipes that I wish I had come up with.  I hope you like them, too!

*** On an unrelated note, for some reason, my hover over Pinterest button is not working.  I am not super great with html, so it is taking me a while to fix it.  For the time being, if there is something you want to pin (Like the Raspberry Ice Cream Bars from Tuesday), check out my Pinterest boards. I pin everything I put on the blog on boards there.  If you are looking for something specific, drop me a line at measureandwhisk[at]gmail[dot]com.  Thanks!

Thai Noodle Salad (Vegetarian) - This is a nice main dish salad, because it has noodles in it.  The dressing is to die for, and it has a ton of vegetables in it.  I bet you could add a nice grilled meat to it, if you don't want a vegetarian option.

Quinoa, Bacon and Feta Salad - Every time I make this, I wonder why I don't make this weekly.  It is a fresh, incredibly delicious salad.

Carrot and Chickpea Salad (Vegetarian) - I think I ate eight bowls of this for dinner one night when I was pregnant.  It is delicious.  Also, I always use roasted peanuts instead of walnuts, and almost always leave out the cilantro.

BBQ Chicken Salad - YUM!  Great for making when guests are coming!

Arugula and Toasted Almond Salad (Vegetarian) - Light and fresh.  A great side dish.

Bacon and Pear Salad with Pink Dressing - Adam and I rave about this one.  The dressing is to die for!  Just half the recipe, or you will be eating it for weeks.

Apple, Cheese and Crouton Salad (Vegetarian) - I made this one many times in France last year.  It is worth remembering!

Carrot, White Bean and Dill Salad (Vegetarian, Vegan) - This one is a weird combo, but trust me, it is fabulous!

Beet, Kale and Carrot Salad with Cashew Dressing (Vegetarian, Vegan) - Another salad where I can eat the dressing plain.  YUM!

Now it's your turn?  Do you have any salad recipes that have changed your world? 

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Roasted Carrot and Parmesan Quiche

As a food blogger, I try a lot of new ideas for dinner.  Some of them work, and some of them don't.  It is always depressing when we have to spend the next 3 days eating something semi-lousy that I made as an experiment.  Thankfully, I am getting better at making my experimentations turn into something delicious.  This quiche, for example, was an absolute winner.  If I owned a restaurant, this would be on the menu.  

I had been googling carrot quiche, because I needed to use up some carrots and had almost nothing else in the fridge.  Thankfully, I had some eggs, milk, and ingredients for a crust, so I whipped this baby together, and it has become a regular on the dinner table.  It is light, fluffy and absolutely delicious! 

Roasted Carrot and Parmesan Quiche:

serves 4-6

2 large carrots, tops and bottoms chopped off, and quartered lengthwise

1 Tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

a pinch of pepper

1/4 tsp thyme

1 butter crust

1 cup whole milk

3 medium eggs

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup freshly shredded parmesan

1/16 tsp pepper

Spread your carrots out on a silicone lined, rimmed cookie sheet.  Pour olive oil over the top, and toss the carrots a bit, until they are covered with oil.  Sprinkle the carrots evenly with salt, pepper and thyme, and mix with your hands to coat them evenly in spices.  Cook the carrots in an oven preheated to 400°F for 20 minutes, until they are soft.  

Meanwhile, make your crust (or roll it out and put it in a pie pan). Line it with foil, and pour raw rice into it, to keep the center from puffing up while you cook it (you will cook it first, without the filling, then bake it again, with the filling, to ensure the bottom and sides get cooked all the way.  When your carrots come out of the oven, bake the rice-filled crust for 25 minutes at 400°F.  

While either the carrots or crust are in the oven, prepare your filling.  In a medium-sized bowl, combine, milk, eggs, thyme, salt, paremsan and pepper.  

Once the crust comes out of the oven, very carefully remove the rice-filled foil, and save for next time.  If there are any stray pieces of rice left in the crust, make sure you use your fingers, or a small set of tongs to remove the pieces, don't try tapping the rice out over the sink (I dumped an entire crust into the sink that way, once...).  

Fill the now-empty crust with the milk/egg filling, then gently set the cooked carrots on the top in a star shape, with one end in the center, and the other ends of the carrots fanning out into a wheel.  

Cook in the the oven, preheated to 400 °F for 45 minutes.  Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.  Then eat immediately.  

Enjoy!

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Two Potato Parmesan Pizza

Maybe you saw Monday's post, but I would REALLY LOVE if you went and voted for me every day on the Mrs. Meyer's Maker Semi-Finalist Website! All you have to do is click the heart next to my name (Landen M) and it records your vote!  Thanks in advance!  You are the best!

Now onto the actual post for today!  I have been thinking a lot about food lately.  This shouldn't surprise you, considering this is (mostly) cooking blog, but lately I have been thinking about the process of buying food.  A few years ago, I started an Etsy shop and sold reusable produce bags (I actually sold a bunch of different things, but I closed my Etsy shop down a few months ago, and transferred it to an Instagram account if you want to take a look.  I don't update it very often).

I always felt a little weird trying to explain what they were or how to use them, but I really believed in them then, and now.  After I made my own, I got a little lazy and would think, "how much difference will my 12 produce bags and 4 grocery totes a week make?" Then I would remind myself that I go to the store at least 52 times per year, which comes out to 832 plastic bags that I didn't bring home.  That is significant.

There are a lot of green living movements sweeping the nation right now, and I have gotten caught up in some of them, but I really feel like the ones that I have tried out have benefited my life.
Obviously the reducing waste movement is one of them, but the other one that I have been pretty fascinated by is the local food movement.

Does it ever strike you how weird it is to get oranges from half-way around the world when they are grown 30 miles away from you (well, maybe not you, but they're grown that close to me)?  I usually don't think much about it, but a few months ago, I checked out a book about purchasing local food and not spending a fortune doing it.  The author's words got me out to a farmer's market, and I kept having persistent little thoughts about what more I could do to go local.

Finally I bit the bullet and decided to do a CSA (a subscription box of veggies from local farm) a few weeks ago.  We did one a few years ago, but I always felt like it was tough to use all the vegetables, and some of the vegetables just didn't appeal to me.  On the other hand, there were a few veggies that I really came to love (red cabbage, kale, and colored carrots, to name a few).  I got to try out new things that I would never have picked up on my own and had to figure out how to use them (scary, but fun!).

I finally figured that I needed to put my money where my mouth was, even if it meant making some sacrifices (local fresh food will more than make up for the sacrifice!).  We have a small food budget, which meant some trimming in a few areas, because our CSA portion takes up a lot of it.  One of the main foods that we decided to cut out is meat.  We eat about 80% vegetarian anyway, but we decided that for the next 6 months, we will be eating vegetarian at home.  Meat is expensive.  And nice, organic, locally-raised meat is very expensive.  So you will be seeing lots more vegetarian dishes.

The one great thing about vegetarian dishes is that they are usually super easy to add meat to!  I will probably start suggesting what kind of meat to serve with a certain dish if you have meat lovers in your home.  I am going to try to start adding vegan, gluten free options as well.  Hopefully this will help anyone who has dietary restrictions!

Two Potato Parmesan Pizza
makes 1 medium pizza

1 pizza crust
3 Tbs olive oil
1 large sweet potato, thinly sliced
1 large red potato, thinly sliced
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs white flour
1/6 cup whole milk
1/8 tsp garlic powder
sprinkle of salt and pepper (to taste)
2 Tbs shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
liberal sprinkling of rosemary
light sprinkle of coarse sea salt
Sprinkle of cornmeal for your parchment paper (optional)


Pour 1 Tbs of olive oil into a large frying pan.  Heat over medium for 20-30 seconds, then, pick up the frying pan, and tilt it to spread the oil around.  Add as many potato pieces to the pan as will fit and arrange them so that none of them are overlapping.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to soften and begin to have brown spots.  Flip them over and cook for another 2 minutes.  Once they are soft, remove them from the heat and set aside.  Repeat with remaining potato and sweet potato until all are cooked.  Set aside.

Roll out your pizza dough on parchment paper or a silicone mat that has been lightly sprinkled with cornmeal.

In a frying pan, melt your butter. Slowly sprinkle the flour over and stir until it is completely mixed into the butter. Slowly add the whole milk, stirring constantly. Add the garlic powder, salt, pepper and parmesan, stirring to mix them in evenly. Heat through and remove from heat when the cheese is melted.  Spread this white sauce over the pizza dough in a thin, even layer.

Put cooked potatoes in a single layer on the crust alternating red potato and sweet potato, overlapping slightly.

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, rosemary and finish with sea salt.

Cook on a hot pizza stone in an oven preheated to 425°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are browning and the cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

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Toasted Chicken Sandwiches with Walnut Pesto and Pear

I cook 7 nights a week almost every week, and very regularly at dinner, our conversation turns to food. Usually regarding the food we are eating for dinner.   At some point, I will ask Adam, "What do you think?" "What worked for you?" "What did you like?"  For the outsider, it might sound like I am fishing for compliments, but Adam knows what I am really looking for.  I actually want to know what he thinks about it, and I value his opinion a lot.  I want to know if someone besides me will like it.  If it is worth making again.  

When we first started doing this a few years ago, the constructive criticism hurt my feelings, even when I was the one who had asked for it.  It took me a little while to get used to receiving real, honest feedback and to not take it personally.  

I think a lot of people (me included) have a hard time saying what we really think, particularly when it is critical of someone else, and worry that if we are totally honest, even in a constructive way, we will offend (which we probably would), however, after many, many dinner sessions like this, I have come to rely on Adam's opinion.  He often has good ideas, and will help me come up with great ways to improve a dish, or serve it in a more interesting way.  He is never demeaning about what I make, or how I made it and is usually very complimentary about the food, and grateful that I made dinner.  

As I cook more and more, I have come to realize that being complimentary all the time can be a hindrance.  Sometimes it is worth stepping back to look at the dish and determine if it is good or if it is just 'not bad.'  I put forth a lot of effort when I cook, and I don't want to make something that is just 'not bad.' 

I want to make delicious food as often as possible and constructive criticism that will help me grow and make my food taste better is worth hearing, even if it is hard to get at first.  This isn't to say that you need to start a food discussion at every meal you eat, or that you should be completely honest about liking or not like a meal, but I have come up with some of my best food pairings through these discussions.  

Having discussions about food regularly has also made me more willing to try new things, knowing that Adam will have my back even if it doesn't turn out, and he will help me figure out how to make it better. We have established an environment of trust, where we know that anything that comes out of the other person's mouth is to be helpful and said in a loving and encouraging way.  I think that is key.  Criticism just to point blame or pick out faults isn't worth saying.  But an open and honest discussion about food is one of the high points of our evening meal.  

Now, I am curious to hear if you ever have discussions like this at the dinner table?  Do you analyze your food? I would love to hear your opinions and ideas in the comments!  

Toasted Chicken Sandwiches with  Walnut Pesto and Pear

Makes 3-4 sandwiches

6-8 slices of toasted French bread
1 soft pear, thinly sliced
1 chicken breast, cooked and thinly sliced (see recipe below for cooking and seasoning)
1/4 cup walnut pesto (see recipe below)

Spread walnut pesto on one side of one slice of bread.  Top it with chicken slices.  On the other slice of bread, place a 5-6 slices of pear (more pear will keep the sandwich from being dry, and make it slightly sweet).  Enjoy!

Spiced Chicken:
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
1 chicken breast or 2 boneless skinless thighs, thinly sliced, with the fat cut away and discarded
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp garlic powder

Place the chicken on a foil lined baking sheet, so that the pieces are spread out and not touching each other.  Turn your oven broiler on low.  In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, sugar and garlic.  Once combined, sprinkle the mixture evenly over the chicken.  Place the chicken on the middle rack of the oven for 7-9 minutes, then flip the chicken and cook for another 3-4, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Walnut Pesto:
makes about 1 cup
adapted slightly from a recipe by Chef Drew Curren of Italic

2 Tbs olive oil
1 cup walnuts, chopped quite finely
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil on a medium setting.  Add the chopped walnuts and cook for 2 or 3 minutes until they just begin to toast.  Pour the balsamic vinegar over the top and stir frequently until the vinegar begins to reduce and forms a sort of glaze over the walnuts.  Add some salt and pepper and stir.  Remove from the heat and add the shredded cheese.  Store for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

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Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Butternut squash was a totally foreign food to me for many years. I don't think I had ever seen one (that I recognized, at least) until I was in college.  This is not to say that my mom didn't expose us to different foods, because she did, I just think that it wasn't a popular vegetable when I was growing up.

I feel like the internet/Pinterest has made a lot of foods more accessible for your average home cook.  Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it feel like the under-appreciated vegetables like radishes, cabbage, and leeks are getting a moment in the spotlight?  I am still warming up to radishes, but I really like cabbage and I adore leeks now, and previously cabbage was a tolerated vegetable, and I couldn't have identified a leek to save my life.  

Anyway, back to butternut squash.  My first encounter (sorry, Mom, if you fed them to me earlier; I have no memory of it) with them was in college.  I worked in the Theater Department's costume shop, and one of the many perks was that my bosses were incredible cooks, and a few times a month, one of them would bring something delicious to share with everyone.  Those were glorious days! 

One day I peeked into the crockpot sitting on the communal food table, and the substance inside was bright yellow and completely unidentifiable to me.  When I discovered it was butternut squash soup, I was quite nervous.  I think the smell of butternut squash baby food might have come to mind, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it.  

After a moment's debate, I went for it, and--lo and behold--it was like liquid gold.  It was incredible.  Creamy, thick, and delicious.  I immediately requested the recipe and have had a happy relationship with butternut squash ever since.  

This recipe isn't based on that soup at all, but it is creamy, cheesy, and slightly peppery.  I think next time I will add leeks, because the only thing that could make this sauce more delicious is leeks.  

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce:
Serves 4

1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium-sized butternut squash
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cups water/vegetable broth
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

First, peel your squash.  Slice it in half, then cut off the top and bottom of the squash and discard them.  Remove the seeds and the stringy center. Now chop the remaining squash center into small cubes.

In a large frying pan, add the olive oil and the butternut squash.  Add the garlic powder, salt, oregano, basil and black pepper and stir until the spices are relatively evenly distributed in the squash.  Stir for a two or so minutes on medium-high, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover.  Stir the squash occasionally to keep them from browning.

Once the squash is soft and can be easily pierced with a fork, dump the squash into the blender and add the broth and milk.  Blend until smooth.  Pour mixture into a stock pot and turn to medium-high heat until the soup is heated through.  Add the cheese and let it melt.

Serve over pasta (semolina pasta, like a macaroni or penne) is a great choice for this one.

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Squash, Red Pepper and Kale Tacos

Tacos are insanely time consuming when I make them.  I often marinate meat, make a special spice blend when I include Italian sausage, roast vegetables, make homemade tortillas, or sauces to go on them...  Basically, tacos are a huge production in our house.  You would think I would save them for special occasions, but I make them all the time, and love doing it.  Thankfully Adam is a big taco fan, too, and he will try any new taco flavors I throw at him. He is also a huge sport and almost always makes the tortillas.  

These tacos are considerably less time consuming than my average homemade taco, and if you bought the ranch (but you really should make it!) and the tortillas, it would be an incredibly fast and easy dinner.  These are also some of the best tacos I have ever made.  They have very few spices, but the flavors go together marvelously, and the lack of spices really showcases the vegetables.  We couldn't get enough of them!  They really were marvelous! 

If you make them (or any of my recipes) and post them on instagram, I would love it if you  would tag me (@measureandwhisk), so I can see them in action on your table!

Squash, Red Pepper and Kale Tacos:
makes 8 medium sized tacos

1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 1/2 - 2 red bell peppers, seeded, cored and diced
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups of kale (3 or 4 chopped leaves), destemmed and chopped
1/4 cup cheese (cheddar, mozzarella or monterey jack will work), shredded
1/2 cup ranch dressing
8 tortillas

Heat a large frying pan, on the stove over medium heat.  Pour in your oil, then add your squash.  Stir for a minute, ensuring that squash is well-coated in oil, then cover with a lid and let cook for 3 or so minutes.  Uncover and stir, then let it cook, stirring around every 30 seconds to a minute.  Once the squash is beginning to soften, add your diced red pepper and lightly salt and pepper the mixture.  Cover again with the lid, and let cook for another 2 minutes, lifting the cover 2 times to stir.  Check to make sure the squash is soft, then remove from heat.

Build your taco by first shredding cheese over a warm tortilla.  Add your squash/bell peppers, add your kale, then top with ranch dressing.  Enjoy!

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Red Pepper and Chickpea Curry

Yesterday, my computer stopped working.  We have been expecting it for some time now, but you get sort of complacent when it just keeps on chugging, then suddenly, all your photos disappear, photoshop is gone, and your whole week of blogging goes up in smoke. Such a nightmare. 

Thankfully I was able to recover some of my photos, but I will most likely have to postpone two of the recipes (truly a shame, because they were both so fun and tasty!) until I can do another photoshoot with them.  They will come, but probably not for a few more weeks.  I am so sorry for the delay.

On a happier note, this was a very solid dish.  I am a big fan of curry, so a good curry dish always hits the spot. I think there is room to grow here, but taste-wise, it is delicious.  Good seasonings, vegetarian, and healthy. After some consideration, I have changed the recipe slightly from when I made it, because I think extra sauce would make it extra yummy.  

This dish can also be adapted for the meat-lovers in your family!  Just make some pan-fried chicken or beef strips to add to the top, and you have a perfect dinner for the whole family!  

Red Pepper and Chickpea Curry:
Serves 4 
Adapted from How Sweet it Is

1 Tbs coconut oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 can peas
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs yellow curry paste
salt and pepper to taste

Cook your rice according to the package directions (or if you have a rice maker, cook some rice in that).

In a large frying pan, heat your oil over medium-low heat.  Add your onion and let it cook for about 5 minutes, until it starts to look translucent.  Add your diced red pepper, garlic, and ginger and curry paste and stir the mixture a few times and let them cook for about 3 more minutes.

Add your peas, coconut milk and water and increase the heat to a boil.  Once it boils, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about 3 minutes.  Add the chickpeas and stir to incorporate.  Let them cook for another 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and pour over your cooked rice!

Enjoy!

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Caramelized Onion and Kale Quiche

Did you see my vlog post about menu planning?  I mentioned in the accompanying blog post that I was going to post 5 of the 6 recipes here.  Why am I not posting all 6 recipes?  I didn't end up making the pesto panini, because we ran out of flour this week, and then I ran out of time to make the wheat bread after I ground some whole wheat into flour.  So sadly, no panini.

By the way, not only did we run out of flour this week, but we also ran out of butter and I just about lost my mind.  I felt like I couldn't make anything.  No bread, no muffins, no cookies.  How can anyone live like that?!  It was sort of horrible.

Anyway, this quiche is the first of the five.  It was an experiment because I decided to try putting a little cornmeal in the crust, and it was surprisingly delicious!  I would definitely recommend it.

I tend to be the type who plays it safe in the kitchen, but blogging is forcing me to try new things and experiment. It has been fun, but kind of terrifying.  Every time I try something new, I expect the worst, but am pleasantly surprised when it turns out well.  This is such a fatalist attitude, but it keeps me from being really bummed when something doesn't turn out.

Do you play it safe in the kitchen?  Is there anything you have been wanting to try but have been afraid to go through with it?  Something that maybe I would enjoy trying?

Caramelized Onion and Kale Quiche:

makes one 8" quiche

Crust: 

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 cup white flour

1 Tbs sugar

1/4 tsp salt

8 Tbs (1 stick) butter, cold and diced

2 -3 Tbs cold water

In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar and salt.  Add your diced butter, and turn on the stand mixer and let the mixer run for about a minute, or with two knives, cut the butter into small pieces.  You want the butter to end up resembling small peas.  Add 2 Tbs of water and mix again until the dough starts to come together.  Add the 3rd Tbs if the dough is still a little dry.  Once it has formed into a nice mass, wrap in plastic and place it in fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Preheat your oven to 350°F and remove the crust from the fridge about 10 minutes before you need to roll it out.  Once it is warmed up slightly, flour a clean countertop and roll out the dough into a large, thin circle, big enough to fill your pie pan.  Gently lift it off the counter and put it in the pie pan.  Pinch the edges of the crust.  Place it in the oven to cook for about 15 minutes, or until the dough no longer looks shiny.  Do not let it brown.  Make the filling while your pie crust is in the oven.  Once your crust is out of the oven,  set it aside until you have finished the filling.  

Filling: 

1 Tbs butter

1/2 onion, diced

1 cup kale, destemmed and ribboned

1 cup milk

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 eggs

1 Tbs wheat flour

In a large frying pan, melt your butter and add your diced onion.  Cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.  Add the kale and cover the pan for about 3 minutes, until the kale is wilted.  

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, eggs and wheat flour.  Whisk until combined. 

Once your crust has finished cooking, place the onions and kale in an even layer across the bottom of the crust.  Pour the milk mixture over the top.  

Place in the oven and let it cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the middle of the quiche is set.  Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and enjoy!  

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Tomato and Corn Quiche

I sort of hate eggs. I dislike boiled, deviled, sunny-side up, you name it; because just about any way you prepare them, they come out smelling like sulfur.  Does that bother anyone else? I can handle scrambled eggs if they have enough cheese and seasonings, but other than that, I am almost never a fan.  

Inside a dish, eggs are a completely different story. Eggs make things rich and creamy, light and fluffy, and many of my favorite recipes include eggs as a main ingredient (e.g. macarons, ice cream, mousse, etc). 

Quiche, despite it being heavy on the eggs, is easily one of my favorite meals.  It is easy, fast, and tastes delicious.  I can throw in almost anything I have and it will taste great.  You can make it with a crust or without one, but if you come to our house, it will always have a crust.  Adam doesn't think a quiche is a quiche without a crust.  I don't blame him.  Crust is delicious.  

Tomato and Corn Quiche
Makes one 8" quiche

1 butter pie crust (I use this one)
1 Tbs butter
1/2 onion diced
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 small tomato, diced
1/4 cup corn (canned, frozen or fresh)
1 1/2 Tbs freshly shredded parmesan

Cook the crust dough for 15 minutes, with something heavy and heat proof inside (I set 3 ramekins inside, but I have heard that dried rice with a sheet of tinfoil in between the crust and the rice works too) until it no longer looks doughy.  Pull it out of the oven and set aside.

While your crust is baking, cook your onions.  Start by melting your butter in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook until the pieces are translucent and soft.  Remove them from the heat.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the eggs, milk, basil, pepper, and salt.  Stir until they are evenly blended.  Add the diced tomato and the corn.  

Pour mixture into the crust and sprinkle the parmesan over the top.

Bake the entire quiche for 25-30 minutes or until the center is firm.

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