Butternut Squash Soup

I like happy colors in the winter just as much as I like a hot meal. Combine both of these likes to make a soup I love!! Unlike the versions in restaurants, I omit the heavy cream or cream cheese to make a lighter vegan  version that is more savory and less like pie filling.

Butternut Squash Soup

2 medium white onions

3 ribs celery

2 carrots

3 coins ginger

1/2 butternut squash

1/2 calabeza squash (or pumpkin, acorn, kabocha, etc)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

pinch of cayenne

Salt to taste

Optional: 1 sweet potato

1. Turn your oven to 375 with the rack in the middle.
2. Scoop out the seeds and "guts" of the squash. Place cut side down on an aluminum foil covered sheet pan. If you're including sweet potato, roast it with the squash.
3. Bake for 1 hour until fork tender.
4. Cool until it can be handled.
5. While the squash is roasting, prepare the vegetable stock. In a large pot, saute onions in a little olive oil. When transparent, add celery, carrots, and ginger.
6. Add water to cover and simmer for about an hour.
7. Scoop cooled squash into the vegetable stock using a spoon.
8. Using an immersion blender, puree the whole pot together. Serve hot or cold with a handful of pumpkin seeds and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Barbecued Steak

Ever get a craving for man food? I mean, I usually tend to stick to girly foods like yogurt, chicken, and salads, but every once in a while, I get a craving for a good steak - a real 'meat and potatoes' kind of meal. (That craving, funnily enough, usually coincides with a strong desire to use the awesome cast iron grill pan my mom gave me.) And so, tonight, I went to the grocery store for inspiration.

As I perused the produce, this beautiful, plump sweet potato leaped out of the bin and into my arms, simply begging me to take it home. Who am I to turn down such a tantalizing tuber? I added it to my basket and continued strolling down the aisle until I stumbled upon some baby spinach. Hmm, I thought to myself, I haven't had sauteed spinach in quite a while. I do love spinach. The next thing I knew, I had all the ingredients for a delectable meal.

I came home, cranked up the oven to about 400 degrees, washed the sweet potato, wrapped it in foil, and put it into the oven. Then, I made a scaled-down version of my quick and easy barbecue sauce to use as a marinade for the steak. I let the steak marinate for about forty-five minutes as I regretted buying such a large sweet potato. After the potato finished cooking, I took it out of the oven and switched on the broiler. Then I heated up my grill pan, seared my steak, and popped it into the oven to finish cooking while I sauteed the spinach. By the time the spinach was cooked, the steak was ready to come out of the oven. I unwrapped my potato, topped it with a little butter and brown sugar, and - voila! - dinner was served. I love it when a good meal just flows so naturally!


Orange and Garlic Sauteed Spinach

• 1 tbs. butter
• 1.5 tbs. minced garlic
• Baby spinach, about 3-4 handfuls
• Half of an orange
• A pinch of kosher salt

1. Melt butter in a large pan over low heat.
2. Add garlic and cook for a minute or two until very fragrant.
3. Add spinach, stirring a little bit until it's almost wilted.
4. Squeeze the orange over the spinach.
   
5. Add salt to taste. (You won't need very much.)

Cheatin' Barbecue Sauce

• 1.5 tbs. ketchup
• 1/4 tsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 tbs. Coke (use more or less, depending upon your desired consistency)
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. paprika
• Cracked black pepper (a few grinds)

1. Combine ketchup, soy sauce, and Coke. (If you want a thick barbecue sauce, use less Coke; if you prefer a more watery sauce - which I do - use more.)
2. Add the rest of the seasonings, adjusting for your own personal tastes. (Be forewarned that while this sauce is sweet, it does have a bit of residual heat. If you're not okay with that, you should probably take it easy on the Cayenne and red pepper flakes.)
3. The more you let this sauce sit, the better. It'll keep for several weeks if you put it into an airtight container in the fridge.

Barbecued Steak

• Barbecue sauce (see recipe above)
• Steak (Flank or skirt work well. I used one that was a little smaller than an index card and about 3/4" thick.)

1. Brush barbecue sauce onto meat and seal into an airtight container to marinate for at least an hour, but up to overnight.
2. Turn on the broiler.
3. Preheat oven-safe grill pan until it's super hot.
4. Sear steak on both sides. *NOTE: Here's how to get those awesome cross-hatch grill marks: Place your steak on the hot grill. Do not jiggle it. And for goodness' sake, do NOT press on it! (You'll squeeze all the juices out of it, resulting in a tough, dry steak.) After a minute or two (depending on the thickness of your steak), use tongs (NOT A FORK - again, the juices!) to turn your steak 45 degrees. Let it cook for another minute or two before flipping the steak and repeating the process.*
5. If your steak is thick, you may want to finish cooking it by sticking the steak - grill pan and all - under the broiler. If it's thin, you may be able to simply cook it to your desired doneness in the pan. **ANOTHER NOTE: Do not use a thermometer - or worse, cut into your steak - to check how done it is. Yet again: you will cause all of the juices to leak out. Instead, use your palm and your fingertips as your guide to doneness. "What are you talking about?" you say. I'm so very glad you asked: Turn your hand so your palm faces upward. Now touch your index finger to your thumb. Seriously, do it. Now poke at that fatty part of your palm, right beneath your thumb. Do you feel that? That's what a rare steak feels like. Now try it with your middle finger and thumb - that's medium rare. Use your ring finger for medium and your pinky for well-done. (Although, if you like your steak well-done, I'd suggest you make chicken instead.) You're welcome.**
6. Once your steak is finished cooking, move it to a plate and let it rest for a few minutes. (Yes, you actually have to do this. It allows the juices to redistribute. If you skip this step and just cut into your hot steak, its juices will end up on the plate instead of your mouth and all of your work will have been for naught.)

Baked Sweet Potato with Banana

Nothing says autumn like the smel of warm cinnamon wafting out of the kitchen after coming in from a nippy day. I love whipping up this easy side dish to get the oven going. Also makes a great breakfast!

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Banana
Serves 4 as sides

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
1 ripe banana cut in one inch pieces (feel free to substitute for apples or pears)
1/4 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/4 inch grated ginger
1.5 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 generous squirt of honey
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup slivered almonds to top

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Prep the sweet potatoes, banana, and cranberries. Toss into a glass baking dish, preferably one with a cover. I used a 9 inch round glass dish with 2 inch sides.
3. Top with the brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and honey. Stir to incorporate.
4. Add 1/4 cup water
5. Cover with aluminum foil or the cover.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Stir contents to re-incorporate the sugars. Covering the baking dish should have made the sweet potatoes cook mostly through.
8. Top with the almonds and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.
9. Cool for 5 minutes prior to serving.

Sweet Potato and Apple Mash

This recipe takes some pretty homey ingredients and makes a filling and sweet side dish! It goes great for Thanksgiving, as a side for pork chops, or for me, a hot breakfast when I'm sick of oatmeal. Because the ingredients are already sweet as is, you shouldn't need to add a ton of sugar to make the dish sing. And once you figure out how easy it is, you'll be making apple sauce and mashed sweet potatoes all the time!

Sweet Potato and Apple Mash
makes 4 side portions

2 small-medium sweet potatoes
1 golden delicious apple
1/4 inch ginger, grated
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
1/3 stick of butter (Optional, apologies in advance for your arteries)
generous squeeze honey

1. Wash and peel sweet potatoes and apple. You don't have to be perfect - leaving a bit of skin on is okay for fiber and nutrition, but try to get like 90% of it. (I like leaving a bit of apple skin especially for texture, but if you do so, it has to be chopped fine.) Cut sweet potatoes into 1.5 inch chunks. Core apple and cut into 6-8 slices.
2. Heat a nonstick pot (stainless steel for me) and add sweet potatoes. Add 1/4 cup water or apple juice and the coin of ginger. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 
3. Stir the sweet potatoes and add more water if you notice the bottom of the pot is dry. Add the apple slices on top and cover again. Come back in another 10 minutes.
4. Hopefully by now you're starting to see the sweet potato soften. Go ahead and add the brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, and honey. If you'd like the mix to be spicier, add ground ginger. Mix well and continue to simmer with the pot lid off. 
5. As the sweet potato softens, mash it with a fork. The apple should have cooked down the apple sauce already. Mash the two together. As more sweet potato cooks and the mixture becomes thick and difficult to work with, add the butter a tea spoon at a time. The mixture will become much smoother.
6. Season and add butter to the consistency you like. I like mine mostly smooth, but its totally your preference.
7. To make it more fancy, sprinkle some toasted nuts over the top, or mini marshmallows.

Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Ginger

A little while ago, I was exhausted after a very long day at work. I desperately wanted comfort food, but I really didn't have much energy. So, after surveying my fridge, I discovered a huge sweet potato that I'd bought a few days earlier. Eureka!

I had visions of Thanksgiving - the ultimate comfort food holiday. Incidentally, I missed last Thanksgiving entirely because I had Swine Flu - ugh! I decided to reclaim at least part of my lost holiday and make this awesome, entirely satisfying dish.

Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Ginger
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 tbs. freshly grated ginger
2 tbs. butter
1/4 cup ginger tea (or water, but ginger tea gives it a really good flavor)
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. sour cream (optional, but makes the dish a little creamier. And no, you don’t taste it!)
A few pinches of salt

1. Toss sweet potato, ginger, butter, tea, and brown sugar in a two-quart, microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.
2. Place bowl in microwave for 8 - 10 minutes, stopping to stir the mixture every two minutes or so.
3. Once all of the sweet potatoes are softened, mash the bowl ingredients together.
4. Blend in sour cream (either with a fork, a potato masher, or an electric mixer - it depends on whether you want them to be lumpy or smooth). Taste.
5. Add salt to taste. **Remember: A little bit goes a long way! The goal is not to make salty sweet potatoes, but rather to bring out the subtlety of the other flavors.**

Makes about four to six servings, depending on how you portion it. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for four to six weeks.