Autumn Rainbow Quinoa Salad

The food blogosphere is littered with quinoa salad recipes...I'm almost embarrassed to post one. Almost. I would like to be eating more quinoa, but every time I think about buying it I wince at the price. I probably need to go to the bulk bins at the co-op more often. Anyhoo, I have this family gathering tomorrow and there are plenty of veggies from the Last Week to use, so I thought this would be a good thing to bring. 

We do have almost a full rainbow going on here: red (cranberries & red quinoa), orange/yellow (acorn squash), green (watercress & green onions) and purple (cabbage). And it's got sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes going on. Some nuts and/or apples would be good in this too, and you can nix the cheese for a vegan salad.

- Cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups salted water. When cooked, toss in a good handful of dried cranberries and let cool.

- Cut an acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice into wedges (don't bother peeling). Toss with some olive oil, salt & pepper and about a tablespoon of maple syrup. Roast on a baking sheet at 400 until soft. I broiled mine for a bit at the end. Cool slightly and cut the wedges into smaller pieces (or you could leave them whole and top each serving with a couple of wedges).

- Combine quinoa, squash, 2 chopped green onions, some thinly sliced purple cabbage, a handful of chopped watercress or spinach, and some cubed or crumbled feta cheese.

- Dressing: whisk a dab of dijon mustard, a dab of pomegranate molasses, juice of 1 lime, some pepper and around 1/3 cup olive oil. Pour over the salad and mix well.

Tastes pretty good now and I'm hoping it'll improve in the fridge overnight!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Recent fridge assessment found a lot of odds & ends & leftovers, and two acorn squash waiting patiently. I only used one squash for two of us (and have plans for the other) and ended up with leftover stuffing, but...put an egg on that and it's breakfast!

You can use whatever cooked grains, veggies/fruits and spices you want for the stuffing. This was an odd conglomeration of leftover rice, an onion, half a red pepper, a small carrot, some Russian kale, and a handful of dried cranberries, with some random spices. Saute the veggies, add the grains, moisten with a little stock or water. Some kinda protein would be good too, but I didn't bother.

For the squash: cut in half along one of the ridges (you can microwave it a bit first to soften, but if you use a sturdy sharp knife and go in stages, it works well). Scoop the seeds out. Rub the cut sides with a little oil and bake cut-side down at 400 until softened - mine took a little over 20 minutes.

Turn the squash over, sprinkle with salt and fill with the stuffing. Top with some cheese and bake for a few more minutes, til all is hot and melty.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Purple Cauliflower

The CSA keeps going! Turns out we have one more week after this one. Now we are officially inundated with sweet potatoes, so it's time to break out the immersion blender and make soup. We also got a head of purple cauliflower, and I couldn't resist garnishing the bright orange soup with these colorful florets. The cauliflower garnish is entirely optional - or you could use regular cauliflower or broccoli. You also won't use much, but leftover roasted cauliflower/broccoli is a nice thing to have on hand.

The amount of liquid in this soup will depend on how many sweet potatoes you use. I used two huge ones, one medium sized and one tiny one. I also threw in some leftover roasted acorn squash that was hanging around in the fridge. I ended up using a whole box of broth and the whole can of coconut milk, but err on the conservative side and you can always add more if needed.

- Peel a whole mess of sweet potatoes & cut into large chunks.

- Saute 1-2 chopped onions in a large pot with some olive oil. When soft, add a few chopped garlic cloves & cook briefly.

- Add spices: 1 tablespoon (or less) curry powder, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, a bit of garam masala (optional) and some salt.

- Add sweet potatoes, stir briefly, and pour in chicken or veggie broth (or water) to just barely cover.

- Cover the pot and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.

- Optional: roast half (or a whole) head of purple (or regular) cauliflower: cut into small florets, toss with a little olive oil, salt & pepper, and roast on a baking sheet at 400 for about 20 minutes, until browned.

- Puree soup with an immersion blender or cool slightly & puree in batches in a blender.

- Add most of a can of coconut milk (more if it needs more liquid, or more broth/water) and a splash of lime juice. Taste for salt & reheat if necessary.

- Garnish each bowl with a few pieces of cauliflower and some chopped parsley or cilantro, if you have it.

More cauliflower pics, 'cause it's so pretty:

Roasted Roots Over Spinach Couscous

This is infinitely variable - you can use any mix of roots (in any quantity), any spices, top with an egg or maybe some sausage for added protein. I used all CSA veggies - sweet potatoes, carrots, celeriac (finally using the celeriac!), baby turnips and radishes. I thought it might need a little drizzle of something at the end so I mixed together a tad of olive oil & balsamic vinegar...but I think I could have skipped that. 

Roasted Roots:

- Cut assorted root vegetables into similar-size pieces, and place in a large bowl.

- Slice a couple of garlic cloves thinly and add to bowl.

- Toss with olive oil, salt & pepper and whatever spices you want (I used smoked paprika, Penzey's roasted garlic and Black & Red).

- Roast on a baking sheet (use two if necessary so veggies have room to brown) at 425 for about 20 minutes, or until done. Broil to get extra browned, if you like.

Spinach Couscous:

- Prepare instant couscous according to package directions.

- After adding couscous to the water, toss in some spinach leaves, then cover & let sit for a couple minutes.

- Toss to mix in spinach (it will wilt from the heat) & add some grated cheese if you like.

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Avocado & Greens Bowl

We were really tempted to be lazy and order pizza tonight, but we have a lot of veggies on hand (I think this is the last week of our CSA), so I decided to be good and make something. I also had an avocado in a perfect state of ripeness that needed to be eaten. I briefly thought about going to the store to pick up things for this - didn't have onion or cilantro, and only half a small Chinese takeout container of leftover rice, which didn't seem like enough. I decided to make do with what I had, and it turned out delicious! Most of the seasoning was from garlic...and bacon. This could be easily vegan without the bacon, of course. Also...all our bowls were dirty so this was really a "plate," not a bowl...whatever!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

- Peel two large sweet potatoes & cut into large cubes.

- Toss with olive oil, salt and spices - I used Penzey's Chili 9000, cumin & roasted garlic.

- Roast on a baking sheet at 400 for about 20 minutes. I broiled for a few minutes for extra brown-ness.

Black Beans with Bacon & Garlic:

- Cut two strips of bacon into half-inch pieces and cook in a pan until crispy. Drain bacon pieces on paper towels. Save some of the bacon fat for greens, and leave some in the pan.

- Briefly saute 2 cloves of chopped garlic in the bacon fat.

- Add 1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed. 

- Season with chili powder, cumin & a splash of lime juice. Add bacon pieces back in.

Garlicky Greens:

- Saute 1 clove chopped garlic in a little bacon fat (or olive oil).

- Add chopped greens - I used a mix collards, kale and chard. Season with salt & pepper and cook until wilted & tender. Add a splash of lime juice.

To serve:

- Make a bed of cooked rice or other grains. 

- Pile the sweet potatoes, beans and greens around the rice.

- Add a bunch of sliced avocado.

- Drizzle the whole thing liberally with Cholula Chili Lime hot sauce.

Moroccan(ish) Vegetable Stew

Not purported to be authentically Moroccan, hence the (ish). From our CSA, this used an acorn squash, sweet potato, zucchini, kale and 4 large plum tomatoes. Sub veggies of your choice - any type of hard squash would be good. Vegan! Oh, and I forgot to get a pic. Not that exciting to look at, but tasty!

- Saute 1 chopped onion in olive oil until soft. Add 4 cloves of garlic, minced.

- Add spices: about 1 tablespoon cumin, smoked paprika, a bit of cinnamon, a bit of tumeric, and I threw in the last bit of a jar of Penzey's Turkish seasoning. Add a good amount of salt.

- Add cubed & peeled hard veggies - 1 acorn squash and 1 sweet potato.

- Add 4 chopped plum tomatoes (or used canned) and 2 cups of water or veggie broth. I also added a splash of apple cider.

- Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Optional: use an immersion blender to puree just a small amount of the stew to thicken.

- Add cubed zucchini, kale & 1 can chickpeas. Simmer until zucchini is tender. 

- Add about a tablespoon of pomegranate molasses (this is great stuff - kind of like balsamic vinegar but fruitier), and some hot sauce.

- Serve over rice or couscous.

Mac & Cheese with Roasted Cauliflower & Tomatoes

Made this to feed the band at practice tonight. It had a truckload of cheese in it, but it DOES have some vegetables...used up 1/2 a head of cauliflower and one of our large tomatoes, plus a store-bought red pepper. You could easily add more veggies to this - a whole head of cauliflower would be fine, some greens, roasted squash...anything. This made a ton of sauce so it could definitely have more "bulk." I also tried adding an egg to this - not sure if it made much difference, but...bit o'protein!

- Cut a half or whole head of cauliflower into small florets. Toss with some olive oil, salt and spices (I used a garlic-onion blend and smoked paprika) and roast on a baking sheet for 20 minutes at 425.

- Grate up a bunch of cheese - I used a package of Cabot extra sharp cheddar, and most of a wedge of gouda. It was probably at least 4 cups grated.

- Make the cheese sauce: in a medium-size pot, melt 1 stick of butter over med-low heat and add 1/2 cup of flour. Whisk and cook for about a minute, then slowly add 1 quart of milk. Increase heat and whisk frequently. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and dry or prepared mustard. Cook until thickened but not too thick. Then remove from heat and whisk in most of the cheese - hold back some to top the casserole. Let sauce cool a bit while you:

- Boil 1 package of pasta - I used mini penne, but regular elbows would be fine. Drain when quite al dente as it will cook more in the oven.

- Beat 1 egg and add a couple spoonfuls of cheese sauce to temper it - then whisk egg into the pot of sauce.

- Combine pasta, sauce and vegetables (I also threw in a diced red pepper).

- Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish and pour in pasta mixture. Cut a large ripe tomato into 6 or 7 slices and lay on top.

- Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Then top with reserved cheese and broil for about 5 minutes, until starting to brown and crisp.