Month: November 2010

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats

My family was on a roll with starting new traditions this year, including breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. We decided to try Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats, adapted from a recipe from the American Heart Association. With just a few minutes of preparation the night before, breakfast cooked while we slept.

Some people had to get up at 5(!) am to put the turkey in the oven, while others of us slept in a little (or a lot) later. But no matter when you got out of bed, there was a hot bowl of oats ready. I decreased the amount of sugar from the original recipe, so these oats were not overly sweet but they were spiced well. The walnuts on top added a little crunch, and it was a great way to start the day.

2 c. steel cut oats

5 c. water

2 c. skim milk

1 c. pumpkin

1/3 c. brown sugar

2 T cinnamon

3/4 t nutmeg

1 c. dried cranberries

1 t vanilla extract

Chopped walnuts, for garnish

Mix oats, water, milk, pumpkin, sugar, spices, cranberries, and vanilla in a large bowl. Pour into a large crockpot coated with cooking spray. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with chopped walnuts.

Molten Lava Cakes

We have a lot of great recipes to cover this week, but let’s take it in chronological order. On the night before Thanksgiving, when the pies were baked and the turkey was stuffed, my family had a birthday celebration. We started with a great meal of take-out Indian food, at my suggestion. I can’t believe how far my family has come since our great Indian feast this summer! My nephew is a man of few words, but he did say “yum” when served some Chicken Biryani. And perhaps the best compliment was my Dad saying that my chana masala was better than the restaurant version.

We then moved on to the main course, and by that, I mean dessert. My sister prepared molten lava cakes using this Paula Deen recipe. My request was for something “chocolatey”, and she delivered. All I did was hang out in the kitchen, snapping photos. She started by melting butter and chocolate in a glass bowl set in a pan of hot water.

Once that was melted, she added eggs, and flour and sugar.

When those ingredients were combined, she added a pinch of vanilla and chocolate liquor.

Then, she poured the mixture into small glass dishes, and put them in the oven. In less than 15 minutes, the lava cakes were done, and ready to be adorned with vanilla ice cream.

Yeah, I think we all liked them! They were very rich, and each bite had an intense chocolate flavor. This is not an everyday recipe, but perfect for a special occasion. Thanks to my sister for making it happen! What’s in the gift bags you ask? Don’t worry, you’ll see later.

Thanksgiving

I am off to celebrate Thanksgiving Eve, Thanksgiving, and the Day after Thanksgiving. Each has it’s own recipes which I’ll share when I come back to the blog on Monday. Have a great holiday!

Mushroom Thyme Muffins

Muffins have kind of a bad reputation, usually the size of a softball and laden with added sugar. But these just might be the most elegant and nutritious muffins that I have ever made. I adapted the Cottage Cheese Muffins on 101 Cookbooks to include mushrooms and thyme, as suggested.

I over baked them slightly, although there’s nothing wrong with a muffin that’s (very) golden brown. The texture is somewhere between a traditional flour based muffin and a mini quiche. But the taste is incredible, even though I used canned mushrooms and dried thyme. I imagine they would be even more wonderful with fresh vegetables and herbs! Go ahead and try these, or come up with your own variation. They would be a great at a holiday brunch.

1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms, drained

1 tsp. olive oil

1 c. cottage cheese

1 c. almonds, ground in food processor

1/4 c. whole wheat flour

3/4 c. Parmesan cheese, divided
1 t baking powder

1 t thyme

4 eggs

1/4 c. water

Salt & Pepper

Saute mushrooms in olive oil for 5 minutes, and then set aside to cool briefly.

Mix cottage cheese, ground almonds, flour, 1/2 c. Parmesan, baking powder, thyme, eggs, water, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper.

Coat a (12) muffin tin with cooking spray, and fill evenly with batter. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. of Parmesan. Bake at 400F for 25-35 minutes.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Cranberries

No, I am not testing recipes for Thanksgiving side dishes, because the truth is that as much as I love to cook, the holiday isn’t at my house and I don’t do much (any) of the cooking. However, this weekend I was thinking about the cranberries in my refrigerator, and wondering if I could roast them. I had some butternut squash on hand too, so I decided to give this a try.

Please be warned – although roasting generally brings out sweetness, this dish is still quite tart. You might get a few ‘faces’ at the table if you serve this as a side dish, especially if they are expecting something similar to sweet cranberry sauce. So if you’re serving this on it’s own, I’d add another tablespoon of sugar.

I decided to toss the squash and cranberries over a spinach salad with white beans, with a balsamic vinaigrette. When all the flavors mixed together, it was just right. Not to mention, quite a pretty salad!

1 20 oz. package butternut squash, peeled and cut
2 c. cranberries, rinsed and drained
1 T canola oil
1 T brown sugar
1 t cinnamon

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl, and place in a 13″x9″ dish. Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes, or until squash is softened, stirring occasionally.

Must-Have Thanksgiving Foods

With Thanksgiving around the corner, everyone seems to be talking about their favorite holiday foods. To be completely honest, I could skip the turkey entirely. I could forget about the mashed potatoes. Gravy – meh. I do enjoy the turnip, but I could wait until St. Patrick’s Day. Nothing beats a piece of my Mom’s apple pie, but it might be even more fun to eat after a smaller dinner.

The one recipe that makes my Thanksgiving is this stuffing. The one that contains sausage and ground beef, with some Italian bread, cheese, and eggs. The one that’s even better when cooked outside of the turkey, and gets nice and brown on top. I’ve blogged for 2 Thanksgivings, and still don’t have a great picture of the stuffing, but I’ll try again this year. Trust me though, a picture will not do this dish justice.

What’s your must-have dish on Thanksgiving?

Spotted!

Today I wanted to highlight a post by Caitlin of Healthy Tipping Point on freezer friendly meals. You all know that I think a well stocked freezer is the key to success in healthy eating for really busy people. And especially this time of year, we’re all really busy! She even highlighted this Fall Minestrone that I made a few weeks ago.

I forgot my packed lunch yesterday, and had to scramble to find something to buy. I ended up with a very lame sandwich. It made me so thankful that most days, I do remember to put a container in my bag, and can count on a healthy meal.

So go ahead and cruise my section on soups and stews, and find something to cook this weekend to enjoy in the work days before Thanksgiving, or to stock your freezer.

Vindaloo Vegetables

It was Sunday, and I needed to cook lunches for the week. I wanted something vegetable heavy, and a little spicy. I have 2 people to thank for this recipe, Robin Robertson who published the original recipe in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, and Fat Free Vegan for adapting it and publishing it on her website. I adapted it further, removing the step which calls for cooking the onion and carrot in a frying pan before adding the vegetables to the crockpot. Really, I am just too lazy to take out another pan! I also increased the ginger and cut back on the cayenne.

But this dish was incredibly easy to put together. Within a half hour, the crockpot was going, and I was studying. (Or tweeting, or looking for more recipes…) And then 6 hours later it was done, and the smell was incredible. I cooked some brown rice, and then put together lunch containers for the week.

1 T minced garlic

2″ cube fresh ginger, peeled and diced

1 mini (0.5 oz.) box raisins

1 t coriander

1/2 t cumin

1/8 t cayenne pepper

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1/2 c. cold water

3 carrots, peeled and diced

3-4 c. cauliflower florets
2 zucchini, diced

1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1 c. hot water

1/2 c. frozen peas, thawed

Place garlic through water in food processor, and pulse until well blended. Pour in the bottom on a large crockpot. Add carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, and beans. Mix tomato paste and hot water, and pour over vegetables. Toss ingredients to ensure all vegetables are coated, and cook on low for 6 hours. Add frozen peas in the last half hour of cooking.

Pineapple Cupcake

So last week my Mom and I had some unexpected time together, and decided to bake cupcakes. Well, the starting point was a can of crushed pineapple that my Mom wanted to use. And then Google helped us figure out that the pineapple could replace the water in a cake mix. Yup, there was a yellow cake mix in the cabinet so we were in business.

Really, that’s it – you just follow the cake mix instructions and substitute a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple for the water. Well, my Mom followed the instructions and made the cupcakes, and I did some homework.

But then we needed frosting of course! We used the old fashioned method of whipping up a tablespoon or two of butter, adding a splash of milk, and then mixing in enough powdered sugar until it looks like frosting. My nephew was not too happy about the mixer (he hates the noise) but when he got a tiny lick of the frosting, he recovered well. And we all enjoyed our cupcakes later that night.

Fall Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

My cooking group’s theme this month was “Breakfast for Dinner”. We’ve done that theme before and it’s always a good one, and this year we even wore our pajamas and slippers. It was a very relaxing evening of chatting and eating…..

My contribution was this fall fruit and yogurt parfait. If I were serving this at home, I would have made the parfait in wine glasses. But I was taking this to South Boston and there aren’t enough cup holders in my Hyundai, so I used a more easily transportable pie dish. The fruit at the bottom was inspired by this recipe, which is good enough to stand on it’s own. The cranberries make it less sweet than you might expect, but it works well with the yogurt, and the granola adds some crunch. It’s perfect for a fall breakfast, or um, dinner.

There were more great dishes at our meal, and I’ll be back to talk about those later!

2 Macintosh apples, peeled and chopped
1 pear, peeled and chopped
1 c. cranberries
1/2 c. water
1 tsp margarine or butter
2 T sugar
2 c. plain nonfat yogurt
1 c. granola

Place apples, pear, cranberries, water, margarine, and sugar in a saucepan. Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes, until fruit is soft. Remove from heat, and allow to cool completely before spreading in a pie dish. Chill fruit layer for 2 hours, or overnight. Spread yogurt on top, and then sprinkle granola over the entire dish.

-Recipe adapted from Russianseason.net