Roasted Acorn Squash Wedges

My friend Jamie gave me an acorn squash from her neighbor’s garden, and it’s been making a lovely centerpiece on my fall-themed table for quite some time now. I’d googled a few recipes on how to cook it, and there seemed to be a few common themes: butter and brown sugar. I’ve never eaten an acorn squash before, but I figured 171,000 Google hits can’t be wrong… butter and brown sugar it is. I KNOW. Hey, everything in moderation, my dear readers.

Acorn Squash

Turn your oven on to 350 F. Start with an acorn squash. Cut in half. This turned out to be very challenging, and thankfully did not result with me going to visit my husband at his place of employment, the ER. “Hi honey… was cooking dinner and… would you care for some squash while you stitch me up?” So, be very careful, slicing up your acorn squash. (Please note, that is not proper knife technique but it is very hard to hold a camera and cutting utensils. I do not recommend trying.)

Slice squash, not fingers.

Then scoop out the inside, as if it were a pumpkin. I briefly considered saving the seeds to roast (and a google search later tells me you could do this), but decided to just focus on the task at hand.

Scoop the goop out.

Next cut the acorn up into slices, like a melon. Arrange the slices in a baking dish, and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Roast in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

Drizzle with olive oil.

While it’s cooking, mash together 2 T butter and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Try not to eat the concoction while you wait for the squash to roast. When they’re done, mash the paste on to each slice of squash and then stick it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Butter.

Ready to Roast, Round Two

After 30 minutes, they should be done. You can stick a fork in one just to make sure they’re squishy. Before serving, scoop up some of the sauce that’s gathered in the pan and drizzle on top, just to really seal the deal.

Drizzle the good stuff on there.

This would obviously work as a side dish, but I actually had this as my dinner tonight. I paired it with a slice of Ezekiel bread with some marionberry jam (Thanks, Seattle-dwelling Jen!!), and it was a delicious, if not a tad sweet, dinner. BUT, I’ve been fighting the urge to bust into the Halloween candy I bought today, so this hit the sweet spot cravings I’ve been having and was certainly a lot healthier. Very yummy, and now that I know what to do with acorn squash, I may be lurking around friends’ gardens more often.

Dinner is served!

The Stats:
1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Half acorn squash, scoop out the insides, cut into slices.
3. Drizzle with 2 T olive oil.
4. Roast for 20 minutes.
5. Mix together 2 T softened butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar.
6. Rub on squash slices when they’re done roasting.
7. Put squash back into oven for 30 minutes, roast again.
8. Drizzle yummy goop from butter/sugar back on to slices, serve.

According to my fave recipe analyzer, if you served 4 from this it’d be about 190 calories per serving. That actually surprises me – I would have thought it was a bit higher, taken into account all the butter and oil. But, youu can certainly find recipes that are a little heavier handed on the butter/sugar combo, and I thought my version had plenty of yummy goodness to drizzle on top. It definitely could be a great side dish for the holidays, or eaten as a main course like I did. Either way: deliciousness awaits you.

Goat Cheese Salad

As I’ve confessed, I like to rip off restaurant favorites and try to healthy them up a bit. One of my favorite meals here in town is a salad with fried goat cheese patties in it. Two places here serve it: 6th & Vine in downtown Winston and Riverburch Lodge. It’s a toss-up as to which one I like better. 6th and Vine might win solely because I usually eat it on their gorgeous back porch, and for better or worse, ambience is half my taste buds!

Anyways, I figured “Fried” + “Cheese” were probably two things I shouldn’t go too crazy with BUT on the other hand, goat cheese is one of the lowest in calories and fats. A few months ago, my Everyday Food magazine featured a recipe on how to make them using panko and it was way easier than I imagined.

I went to work and was so delighted with the results I had to share it. The key is to start with REALLY cold goat cheese, so it slices into nice disks. Then, you just drop each disc into a little bit of egg WHITE. After the egg white bath, they flip over to a bath of either panko crumbs or grind up a slice of WHOLE WHEAT bread.

After that they can go into a pan with just some spray olive oil and abt 1 tsp of oil oil per little disc. They don’t take long to crisp up before you need to flip them. The stats will depend on how much olive oil you use, and how many discs you put on your salad per person. Here’s a quick way to tally it all up.

I put three goat cheese discs on a salad with blueberries, a few chopped almonds, 1 T of olive oil and fresh ground pepper. It was words-fail-me delicious.

Goat Cheese Salad

Pumpkin Latte

To me, nothing says fall like that moment when my favorite coffee drink – the pumpkin spice latte – arrives in the store. However, I’ve got a version you can make at home that’s going to save you at least 80 calories and definitely some spare change.

A tall, nonfat version of the Pumpkin Spice Latte is 260 calories at Starbucks. Skipping the whip cream saves about 60 calories, but I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve to make this at home. Watch and learn!

Pair one with my yummy pumpkin cookies for a sweet treat!

Pumpkin Cookies

I don’t bake very often, but these are a favorite of my sister Katie, who was born on Halloween so I like to her indulge her with these. They are a fall favorite in our house. You can add in walnuts or dark chocolate chips for something extra, if you want.

Ingredients for Pum'kin Cookies

Ingredients:
2 c all-purpose flour
0.5 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, softened
1.5 c white sugar
1 c pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

How To:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

Leveling off the flour

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

Drop by rounded tablespoons

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven.

If you want to add even a little bit more decadence, you can make a glaze from powdered sugar and water and drizzle a little bit on top. A splash of vanilla extract or cinnamon in the glaze works too.

Stats: I make them pretty small, and made 4 dozen cookies from it. Without any of the extra add-ins, each cookie is 70 calories. You can use this website if you use any add-ins or you make more or less than me, to recalculate.

The perfect treat to go along with my Pumpkin Latte!

Gobble 'em up!

Meal Plan Follow Up: Pork with Peanut Sauce & Chicken Marsala

This was Monday’s recipe in my meal plan for the week, and I gotta tell ya’ll, it is one of my faves.

Pork with Peanut Sauce

Unfortunately, I rarely follow a recipe exactly, so I forgot to tell you about a few tweaks I made. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s a few pointers.
- If you bought pork tenderloin, broil it. It takes about ~8-10 minutes on each side, and it’ll have this delicious, crispy outside and perfectly tender inside. Plus, it’s way faster than the grill / oven.

Broiled Pork Tenderloin

- I use about half the peanut butter called for in the sauce, and gently bump up the soy sauce / rice vinegar to taste. I’ve made this the original way, and it’s a little too peanut butter-y of a texture and taste. I like it to be more runny, with just a hint of the PB taste. This is also key for cutting some of the calories. I forgot I had actually made this and posted it about 2 months ago, and you can see here the thicker texture as well as thinner pork chops. This week’s was much better… what can I say, my cooking is a work in progress!

Tuesday I made the Chicken Marsala. I listed the recipe here. Again, tweaks. (I’d be a terrible chemist and/or engineer.)

Chicken Marsala

I love the sauce on this… it tastes even better the second day when the chicken has hung out in that sauce and just soaked it all up. This recipe originally came from WW “Simply the Best” cookbook, and they list the stats at 390, including the brown rice (which I did not list on the recipe). Sure beats Olive Garden’s 770 calorie version!

After I made it, I decided the grapes really didn’t add much. I think I would leave them out in the future, and put mushrooms back in. What’s chicken marsala without mushrooms?

I usually note in my cookbooks when I made a dish, what the reactions were, and any changes I’ve made. The last time I made this dish was actually November 26th, 2006. This is when I first start taking pictures of my food. I think I’ve come a long way in photography, as well as cooking. Here’s the original picture from nearly 3 years ago. I have no idea what setting I was using that made the dish look so…gray.

Original Chicken Marsala, Early Photography Days

Tonight, Chef Salad is still on the menu and I’m looking forward to a lighter dinner. Okay, sort of light, this salad does involve bacon and cheese. Everything in moderation, right?

Simple Suppers: Week of September 14th

You ready to eat? Me too. Eliminate the “what’s for dinner” dilemma with some simple meal planning. Or, cheat and use mine.

Diner beware, this meal plan was based on what was on sale at my Harris Teeter (North Carolina) and what was in my freezer. I also rely on a lot of pantry staples that I keep on hand. I’ll include links to all the recipes, so double check to make sure you have all the ingredients you’ll need.

Pantry Staples: Spices, Vinegars, Soy Sauce

I really love when a lot of my recipes overlap on an ingredient or two. This week’s overlap, for some reason, seemed to be scallions and sour cream. Which is delightful, since both those objectives almost always seem to turn into science experiments in my fridge!

Get Hungry! I’ll give you the quick run-down, then details to follow.

Mon: Pork Tenderloin with peanut sauce, sauteed broccoli and a green salad
Tues: Chicken Marsala with whole wheat linguine, asparagus
Wed: Chef’s Salad
Thurs: Black Bean Tostadas with Spicy Chicken Sausage

Details here:

Monday: Pork tenderloin (half-price @ Teeter), with peanut sauce, sauteed broccoli and a green salad. I’ll be making the sauce and broccoli from this recipe, but subbing pork instead. You can, of course, stick with the flank steak si vous plait.

Peanut Sauce

Tuesday: Chicken Marsala with roasted asparagus (on sale @ Teeter). This recipe originated from the Weight Watcher’s Simply the Best cookbook, and it’s wonderful. And EASY. (Yay easy.) You can eat it solo, or serve it over brown rice or whole wheat linguine. Matt will be having it over linguine, because we have some in the pantry. I’ll be eating it solo, because we don’t have that much in the pantry. To roast the asparagus, after you snap off the ends and wash them, throw in a ziploc baggie with 1 T of Olive Oil. Shake, shake, shake, and lay out on cookie sheet. Add a pinch of kosher salt, and roast in the oven at 400 for 10-ish minutes.

Wednesday: Chef’s Salad. I like this one because it’s a little bit decadent with the bacon (Oscar Meyer – on sale @ Teeter) but it uses a really light homemade dressing. I’ll actually sub half of the sour cream it calls for and put in Stonyfield Plain Lowfat yogurt. (Also on sale at Teeter. I know, isn’t this amazing???) You can order the meat from the deli and just ask them to slice it very thick, 1 inch, and chop it into pieces yourself.)

My Favorite Swap Ingredient

Thursday: Black Bean Tostada with Spicy Chicken Sausage. Brace yourself, I’ve got another Everyday Food recipe. (That’s my #1 source of recipes, so expect many to come from there.) I’ll use this recipe, and I’ll add in al fresco au natural chicken sausage to my hubby’s, so his isn’t a vegetarian option. For the chicken sausage, just tear open the casing, and brown in a nonstick skillet and mix in with the black beans. The spicy jalapeno one is the best for this.

By Friday, we like to kick our feet up and let someone else do the cooking. No, unfortunately, not our personal chef, just restaurant eating. Or, one of our willing friends or neighbors. So, I rarely plan through Friday. Hope this is enough to get you started on meal planning, using your pantry staples and grocery store sales. Get cooking!

*If you want to calculate the calorie counts for any of these meals, just plug your ingredients and servings into this here website and let them do their calculating magic.

Salmon & Simple Sauce

My husband voted this “best dinner in our new house”… so you’re receiving this recipe with very high marks from the dinner critic! (We’ve been in our new house since May, so that’s about 4 months of dinners!)

If you’re nervous about cooking fish, I understand. It’s taken me almost 4 years of cooking to really feel comfortable with recognizing when it’s done, and it turns out fish cooks a lot faster than I ever realized. But the health benefits and taste make it worthwhile, so start practicing! Harris Teeter had wild-caught Alaskan salmon sale last week, so I couldn’t resist these beautiful guys.

Salmon Fillets

I seasoned the salmon with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper and then roasted it at 450 degrees (pre-heated oven) for about 10 minutes. You can tell it’s done when you stick the figure in, give it a slight twist and it starts to flake.
While the salmon is cooking, I whisked together 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard*, 2 tsp of brown sugar and a small chopped up green onion. When the salmon was done, I just poured the mixture over the top of it.
I served it with a green salad, as well as roasted squash and steamed green beans. The whole meal took about fifteen minutes from fridge to table. I’m not sure whether to be delighted or depressed that all these time-consuming recipes I’ve done in the past were beat out by this fifteen minute, five ingredient all-star. But I definitely know it will be a staple in the future.

Salmon with Simple Sauce

If you’re not a fish eater, the sauce would be delicious poured over pork chops or turkey breast as well.

*I only had dijonnaise, which worked just fine and gave it a slightly creamier texture.

Chicken Marsala Recipe

Serves 4

1 tsp canola oil
3/4 # skinless, boneless chix breast, cut into strips
4 scallions, chopped
1 T flour
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup dry Marsala wine
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
Pinch of pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook, until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate. (5-6 mins.)
2. Spray the same skillet with cooking spray and add the scallions. Cook until softened, then add flour and stir for 1 minute.
3. Gradually stir in the broth and wine, cook and stir constantly for 2 minutes until it boils and thickens.
4. Add in the chickens, grapes and a pinch of pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.

Eat solo, or top on brown rice or whole wheat linguine noodles.

Credit: Weight Watcher’s Simply The Best cookbook (I’ve made some edits, but this is where it originated.)

Restaurant Redo: Village Tavern Potato Chips

On our first date, Matt took me to Village Tavern, a favorite restaurant to many here in Winston-Salem. VT became our favorite date night place, and we’ve been there for every important celebration meal since we lived in Winston. After Matt proposed to me in a nearby garden, we walked over to Village Tavern where I found both of our families waiting there as a surprise to celebrate with us. A few weeks ago when we went to VT we were asked to fill out a survey of our experience. One of the questions was “How many times have you visited the Tavern?” We did some quick math and figured out that after 9 years in Winston, we had probably been close to fifty times.

All that is to introduce my at-home VT chips. VT is known for their delicious homemade potato chips – they are so perfectly sliced, and there always seems to be a mixture of some soft chips and some crispy chips. We don’t get the chips every time, as we know they’re not exactly the healthiest choice but they are one of our favorite treats.

So I decided to see if I could master the VT chips at home, and try to health-ify them a little bit. I use 4 oz of potatoes per person (FYI, each 1 oz of raw potato is abt 20 cals) and slice them reeeeeally thin. Laid them out on a cookie sheet, sprayed them down with Pam Olive Oil and baked at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. A quick sprinkle of Kosher salt and paprika and onion powder and they were done. SO. GOOD.

VT Chips

Don’t worry, VT, we’ll still be back but I’ll definitely be making these chips at home! My next step is to purchase a mandolin so I can make the slices a little more even – that was the only challenge with cooking these because mine were slightly uneven, and some of the slices were still a little undercooked as other ones were getting crispy.

(As you can see, we really went for pretend restaurant at home. These chix soy patties from Morningstar make me feel just like we’re eating another Southern favorite, Chik-Fil-A patties!)

Fave Product: Morningstar Chix Patties

Fake Out

Summer Salad

I really thought I had nothing left in the fridge and that I was desperately overdue for the grocery store. BUT, I also had a really anxious doggy on my hand and I wasn’t really in the mood for all the structure that crating him requires right now. So I started digging in all the drawers of my fridge and came up with this really lovely meal:

Salad greens with an apple, piece of cheddar cheese (sandwich slices) and a few almonds sliced. Sprinkled with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and some fresh ground pepper. Accompanied by Fage 0% with 1 T honey and a few more almonds.

Fresh Summer Lunch

Sometimes desperate times force you to get creative! My fridge wasn’t half as Mother Hubbard as I thought!