Squash your pasta guilt!

I've really put the fall harvest in action this week!  I'm sure you've noticed pumpkins and squash are everywhere.  These are great ways to put them to use while they are in season...

I was invited to be the guest chef at the Las Vegas Farmers Market with the Southern Nevada Health District and showcase healthy eating with some of the fresh produce available.

http://www.lasvegasfarmersmarket.com/Las%20Vegas%20Farmers.htm

Van Dyke farms provided us with some awesome goods to cook up and allow the public to sample.  We got kale, yellow squash, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes.  I simply cooked up some whole wheat pasta ahead of time.  On site, we sauteed some minced garlic and shallots.  We added in all the chopped veggies, along with some lemon zest and lemon juice.  I deglazed with white wine and stirred in canned cannelinni beans and the pasta to warm through.  We served with a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan for garnish.  It was excellent!  Everyone was loving our lemon veggie pasta.  Yellow squash, zucchini, and kale are all in season right now and are perfect to mix into your favorite dishes.

It got a little windy on day two but we survived!!  As I told everyone at the farmer's market, if we can whip this up at a table, in a tent, in that wind, you could easily do it at home!

At home, I decided to whip up some spaghetti squash.  Spaghetti squash is one of my absolute favorites and it is abundant right now!  A spaghetti squash looks like this:

First thing, place the entire squash in the microwave for 4 minutes to slightly soften.  Next, carefully, cut it in half lengthwise.  Place the halves face down on a cookie sheet in 1/2 inch of water and place in the oven at 375 degrees.

While the squash is baking, you make the sauce.  On this day, I used ground turkey and mushrooms.  Ground turkey is a great substitute for ground beef.  It is much leaner.  Try substituting ground turkey wherever you would normally use ground beef: tacos, lasagna, spaghetti and more!

I minced up some red onion and garlic and threw them in a saute pan with a few tbsp. of olive oil.

Next, I crumbled in the ground turkey, to brown.

I seasoned the ground turkey with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Note: Whenever I refer to "season with salt and pepper," I am using kosher salt, and grinding pepper from a pepper mill.   You can buy kosher salt in a box at any grocery store.  It just tastes better.  Once you start cooking with it, you'll never go back!  The only time you should use iodized salt when cooking is to season deep fried foods.  The small granules of iodized salt stick to a hot fried food better and more evenly than the kosher crystals.  Also, you may want to keep ground white pepper on hand as well.  In some dishes, the mild flavor and lighter color of white pepper is better.  Often, you have a pretty, light colored sauce, and you don't want to dirty up the aesthetic by adding big black pepper speckles.

I sliced up the shitake and button mushrooms.  You can use the entire button mushroom, but the shitake stems are too woody; you have to remove them first, then slice up the cap.

When the turkey and mushrooms were cooked, I added in canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and dried basil and oregano.  I turned the heat to low and allowed the sauce to simmer until the squash was ready.

After approximately 40 minutes, remove the squash from the oven.  Drain the water and flip over the squash halves.  Carefully scoop out the seeds from the middle.

Next, take a fork, and loosen the flesh of the squash from the walls of the squash by shredding.

The flesh will pull away from the sides in strings and look just like spaghetti noodles!  Keep shredding until all the flesh is loosened and removed.

You can use the squash shell as a bowl to serve in, or you can scoop out the filling.  Top with the tomato sauce mixture and garnish with some shredded Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

Isn't that fun?!?! You get all the joy of a bowl of spaghetti with none of the guilt.  The squash has added vitamins, minerals, and fiber that the pasta wouldn't! Take advantage of the seasonal offerings at your store or farmer's market!

Dinner for dummies.

Recently, I've been chastised for my culinary wonders being too difficult.  Although, I think you'll come up with any excuse not to cook, here it is: dinner for dummies.  The catch is, it's not going to look or taste like it was a breeze.  It's going to be a flavor explosion and your diners will sing your praises.

I'm going to call these "Microwave Enchiladas."  The beauty of this is, I used loads of frozen foods that you probably would already have hiding in your freezer.

For example, I ALWAYS keep a bag of frozen chicken tenderloins in the freezer.  I prefer the tenderloins over the breast because they are small, easy to work with, quick to defrost, and better to portion for one person.  However, the breasts would be perfectly acceptable as well.

I threw 3 tenderloins in the microwave for around 1 1/2 minutes to thaw them out.  Then, I cut them into small chunks with a pair of kitchen scissors.

Next, I used frozen chopped spinach, frozen brown rice, and corn.  I just so happened to have corn on the cob, so I removed the kernels with a paring knife; however, frozen corn would have been perfect.

This is so quick and easy you don't even have to cook rice!  This is a perfect example of a healthful way to utilize convenience foods.  Frozen fruits and vegetables provide the same benefits as their fresh counterparts.  Buying precooked frozen brown rice is more expensive than buying a bag of uncooked brown rice, but, for many, time is money.  So, you decide.  Which is worth more?

I drizzled approximately 2 tbsp. olive oil in a hot saute pan and tossed in the thawed, diced chicken.  I sprinkled it with salt and pepper and stirred it around, allowing it to cook for about 2 minutes.  Next, I added in the frozen rice, spinach, and corn.  I didn't thaw them.  I poured in a bit straight out of each bag.  I added in  about 1/4 cup salsa and allowed everything to heat through.

Note:  I saute everything at home with oil.  I rarely use butter.  Oils are a heart healthy substitute when cooking.  I buy a large can of olive oil for around $14 and it lasts for months. Splurge for the bulk version and you'll save.   However, olive oil is a more expensive oil.  You can cook with less expensive vegetable oil, or canola oil and get the same results.  

In the meantime, in a separate pan, I browned two tortillas.  I love using the uncooked tortillas.  You just quickly brown them in a hot pan and they taste fresh and homemade!  You could definitely use already cooked tortillas as well.  In my grocery store, the uncooked tortillas are refrigerated by the lunch meats and sliced cheeses.  There is a section with fresh salsa, mexican cheese, chorizo, and tortillas.

I scooped the filling into the now cooked tortillas, sprinkled in some Mexican blend shredded cheese, and rolled them up.  Next, I whisked together, some non fat sour cream, and roasted green salsa; approximately 1/4 cup of each.  I poured this sauce over the top and microwaved for 1 1/2 minutes. 

This delicious and nutritious lunch/dinner took around 10 minutes to prepare and used easy to find ingredients that you may already have.  

For dessert, I made some fresh whipped cream and served it with fresh berries.  There is NO substitute for real whipped cream.  It takes very little effort to whip it up with some powdered sugar until stiff.  

Mix one of these up with about 3 tbsp. powdered sugar in a electric mixer.  If you want to work on your biceps, you can do it by hand with a whisk.  Whenever whipping cream or eggs, it helps to start with a cold bowl.  Throw a metal mixing bowl in the fridge to chill while you are getting organized.  

Fresh whipped cream is a scrumptious way to dress up any fresh fruit.

This is a super easy meal you can be proud of and feel good about eating.  It provides a rainbow of colors for consumption and represents all of the food groups!  Of course, the microwave enchiladas could be filled with anything your heart desires: canned beans, cilantro, bell peppers, asparagus, onions, and more. 

What do you think?

Flavors of fall

I wish you could enjoy the wafts of roasting chicken creeping into my office from my kitchen...

The sky is gloomy and lugubrious.  The temperature is in the 60's and fall is just starting to arrive in Las Vegas.  I've spent the better part of today sipping coffee and enjoying my open windows.  I think it's fair to say that fall is my favorite season.  I prefer the comfortable weather, comforting foods, and promise of the holidays on the horizon.  

In the spirit of embracing the new season, I've been cooking delectable things this week.  I quickly put away all of my basket produce a few days ago.  I was thinking about what I was going to do with my fabulous new ingredients.  I had planned on whipping up a roasted cauliflower soup, so I went to the store for the additional ingredients.  When I came home and got to work, I realized I had moronically mistaken a head of iceberg lettuce for a head of cauliflower.  Well, crap! Now the basis for my whole meal was nonexistent.  Never fear! I decided to not let this teenie weenie obstacle evade my soup plans.

I chopped up about 5 new potatoes, about 20 baby carrots, and 2 stalks of celery.  I tossed all the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them at 425 until softened and slightly browned; about 1 hour.  In the meantime, I crisped up some bacon bits in a saute pan.

I thinly sliced a shallot, separated the rings, and tossed them in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  I sifted off all of the excess flour, and flash fried the shallots in the remaining bacon fat. 

I took all the roasted veggies out of the oven and blended them up with 1 pint of heavy cream, 1 can of chicken broth, and 3-4 cups of water.  I poured the pureed mixture into a pot and heated through on low heat.  I served the cream of potato, carrot, and celery soup with my crispy garnishes sprinkled on top and a slice of sourdough garlic bread. 

This soup was delectable!  Luckily, I was in the comfort of my own home and could like the inside of my bowl clean.    

You could use this method to make any kind of creamy vegetable soup.  Cauliflower would have been excellent (if I had any).  Other choices include parsnip, asparagus, broccoli, squash, or a combination like I chose.  The carrots really added a nice sweetness to this rendition.  

Today, I decided to roast a whole chicken.  I picked up two chickens for $10 while at the grocery store.  Buying a whole chicken is way more cost effective than buying just breasts, just thighs and so on.  In addition, if you make time on your day off to roast a whole chicken, you can use it throughout the week in a myriad of applications.  

I decided to stuff my chicken.  I diced up sourdough bread, and pears.

  

I took a major shortcut and purchased frozen, diced butternut squash.  

I mixed these three ingredients together with dried thyme, basil, rosemary, 1/2 stick melted butter, and salt and pepper.

I took the giblets out from inside the chicken and boiled them in about 1 cup of water. 

When cooked, about 10 minutes, I minced up the the giblets and added them to my stuffing.  Then, I poured the boiling liquid over the stuffing to moisten.  

I stuffed all this goodness inside the chicken, and placed it in a roasting pan.  I liberally seasoned the chicken with salt and black pepper and squeezed two lemons over the top.  I tucked the lemon halves in the pan and put it in the oven at 400.  

How long? People always ask.  Well, the answer is, "until it is done!"  This chicken took about 2 hours.  I raised the temperature to 425 for the last 30 minutes.  How do you know if it's done? You use a thermometer.  No fancy tricks here.  Stick a probe thermometer into the middle of the chicken; you are looking for 165.  

If it reaches 160, you can pull it out, and it will finish carry over cooking while you make your sauce.  Remove the chicken from the baking dish and pour the juice in the bottom into a small saute pan.  I added about 1/2 cup water, swirled it around and poured that into the pan too.  Whisk together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and a splash of water.  This is called a slurry; and it is one way to thicken a sauce.  Bring the juice to a boil and whisk in the slurry to thicken.  Allow the gravy to boil again while whisking.  

Plate up some chicken and stuffing and squeeze the baked lemon halves over the top.  Serve with gravy drizzled on top.  

"Fall" in love with boring ole' chicken all over again.  This was delightful.  The lemon really brightens up the whole meal.  You can use whatever you like inside your stuffing: apples, cranberries, potatoes, old bread, and more.  

And the best part...now you have loads of cooked, ready to eat chicken to use for the rest of the week.  You can make sandwiches, casseroles, chicken salad, anything your chicken heart desires.  

What are your favorite fall dishes?  Is there something you are looking forward to cooking this season?