Pasta with Squash, Brown Butter and Rosemary

We don't eat a lot of pasta in this house.  Not sure why because I do love a good plate of noodles.  I think in the past I've gotten the impression that if it doesn't have a good amount of red sauce on it, Abe's not that into it.  He does love my spinach lasagna, though, so that's my old standby.

When I saw this recipe, something about it just appealed to me.  It looked simple, but tasty.  Plus, I had most of the ingredients, which helps when you're 40 weeks pregnant (today is my due date!).  I just needed a butternut squash, which I figured would hold if I happened to go into labor before getting a chance to cook dinner (which didn't happen).

At first, Abe was a bit hesitant to call this dish a winner... I think his need-for-sauce bias got in the way.  But but the end of the dinner, he exclaimed that it was really tasty.  Phew.  I, myself, loved it.  It has a delicate, yet hardy flavor.  It makes for a great break from the red.  Adam gobbled his up, too, so this might be a nice dish for our little ones.

An easy way to peel the butternut squash is to cut a little off of each end, so there's a flat spot to stand it up on.  Then using a very sharp knife, just run it down the length to remove the skin.

The recipe calls for broken lasagna noodles, which gives the dish a homemade noodle feeling (people will think you're a fabulous cook!).  It's also a great way to use up those broken noodles that are almost always in the box.  Collect them as you use the whole noodles for other things and you will have enough in no time.  Of course, you can use a new box, like I did, and just break them up.

I got this recipe from my Rachael Ray magazine.  Photo is mine, for once (loving my new camera!).

Enjoy!

Pasta with Squash, Brown Butter and Rosemary
Serves 4

One 3-pound butternut squash- peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 onion,   chopped to similar size as squash cubes
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 1/2 teaspoon of dried)
Salt and pepper
2/3 pound lasagna noodles,  broken into pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, toss the squash, onion, olive oil and rosemary; season with salt and pepper.  Place on a baking sheet and roast until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain and transfer to a large bowl.

3.  In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5-7 minutes.  Stir in the lemon juice.

4.  Add the roasted squash, brown butter and 1/3 cup parmesan to the pasta and toss; season with salt and pepper.  Top with pine nuts and remaining parmesan.

Sloppy Bombay Joes

I'm a Food Network addict.  Little Adam has yet to be sat down in front of a cartoon or Yo Gabba Gabba, but he's seen his fair share of Barefoot Contessa and Top Chef.  I even got Jimi into the competitive cooking shows, which is pretty amazing for an 11 year old.  So, when The Next Food Network Star show started this season, I was glued.  And happily, my favorite contestant, Aarti Sequeira, a sweet natured Indian woman who reminded me a lot of my friend Loilene, won the show.  Her prize is her own show on The Food Network.  So I set my DVR.

This recipe is from her first show.  I love Indian food.  So, an entire show about taking an Indian twist on familiar foods is awesome.  I don't normally make sloppy joes, but I know they are always an easy hit with the boys.  Jimi isn't fond of Indian food, he claims, so I tested them out on Abe.  He really liked them.  And there's a funny story that comes with that.

I normally don't eat what I cook at home since I'm the only vegetarian.  I'll eat the sides or just the salad- no biggie.  This time, I wanted to try Aarti's recipe.  So I decided to make 1/2 of it with ground beef and 1/2 with veggie crumbles.  Abe's made it clear in the past that veggie crumbles are pretty much yuck, so I never use them.  Dinner was a hit and I packed up the leftovers in separate, but similar tupperware.  The next day I realized that Abe had taken the veggie crumble one, leaving me with the beef.  That evening, I asked him how lunch was and he raved about how great it was and how he shared it with a friend who loved it too.  So much for how gross veggie crumb is....lol.

If you're familiar with Indian food, you will love this.  If you're not, it's a nice way to get introduced to some new flavors.  Garam masala is one of the lead spice combos and can be found in the international section of the grocery store or any Indian/Middle Eastern market.   It can be made with ground turkey, beef or veggie crumbles.

This recipe is from Aarti Party on The Food Network.

Enjoy!

Sloppy Bombay Joes
Serves 4-6

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 serrano chile, seeded and finely minced (save the other half for the turkey)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water

Turkey:

• 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (if you using veggie crumble or something very lean, add more) 
• Small handful shelled pistachios, about 1/4 cup (I couldn't find this, so I omitted) 
• Small handful raisins, about 1/4 cup 
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds 
• 1/2 large white onion, finely diced 
• 1 red bell pepper, seeds and membrane removed, finely diced  
• 1/2 serrano chile, seeds intact (don't chop it up unless you like things spicy!) 
• Kosher salt
•  1 pound ground turkey (or beef or veggie crumble) 
• 1/2 teaspoon honey 
• 1/4 cup half-and-half 
• Small handful chopped fresh cilantro (soft stems included) 
• 4 to 6 hamburger buns 

Begin by making the sauce: Warm the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, until it shimmers. Add the ginger, garlic and serrano pepper. Saute until the ginger and garlic brown a little. Add the garam masala and paprika and saute for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile for the turkey, in large skillet, warm 2 tablespoons of oil. When shimmering, add the pistachios and raisins. Cook until the raisins swell up and the pistachios toast slightly. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Return the pan to medium heat, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of oil, and warm until shimmering. Add the cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle for about 10 seconds, or until some of the sizzling subsides. Stir in the onions and bell pepper; saute until softened and starting to brown. Add the serrano pepper. Saute for another couple of minutes, seasoning with a little salt. Stir in the turkey, breaking up the big lumps. Cook until opaque, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, your sauce should be ready. Pour the sauce into the skillet with the turkey. Stir and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the mixture has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
Once the turkey is cooked and the sauce has thickened a little, remove the serrano pepper. Add the honey, half-and-half, pistachios and raisins. Stir through and taste for seasoning. Before serving, garnish with fresh cilantro.

Toast the buns, fill with the turkey mixture and serve.

Spinach Ricotta Bites

I think a lot of my friends think that I am this great cook who is always making my family homemade meals.  While that rings true for dinner, most of the time, I tend to fall a bit short when it comes to lunch for Adam.  Lunchtime tends to sneak up on my and before I know it, I have a very hungry little boy who lets the whole world know he's needing food.  So, often times, lunch for him consists of a can of soup or a cut up soy dog and some veggies or fruit .  Once in a while, is fine, but I'd like to have healthier go-to options.

Oh and don't even ask when sad little meals are called my lunch....... 

I've been visiting a great website called Weelicious, a food blog created by a mom who wanted to share her kid-friendly and healthy meals.  The woman is a supermom and most of us shouldn't even try to come close to her greatness.  But we can take away some yummy recipes!

This one seemed appealing because it incorporates healthy foods and my latest food tool obsession- the mini muffin tin.  Adam loves anything he can carry in his own hand and eat on the go, so I had to go try it.  Much as expected, Adam loved it and kept asking for more (or in his case, "moah").  They are like cute, little quiches.

The recipe is super easy.  The only tip I wanted to pass along was a nifty trick I just learned of how to squeeze the water out of the spinach.  I used to use the clean dishcloth method, which always burnt my hands and just seemed sort of unsanitary.  Then I read to put the spinach on a plate, lay another plate right on top (facing the same way) and the press together.  Presto!  Dry spinach and not a burnt hand in the house.

Picture and recipe are from weelicious.com. 

Enjoy!

Spinach Ricotta Bites
Makes 20 bites

2 Tbsp Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (low or full fat ricotta will work)
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 10 Oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained WELL
1/4 Tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.  Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.

Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.

Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.

Simple Berry Sauce

Adam loves yogurt and can easily eat an adult size one for breakfast or snack.  I happily indulged him until I realized how much added sugar was in one (or high fructose corn syrup).  So I decided to try making a sauce that I could use in plain Greek yogurt.  Not only could I then control the amount of sugar going into my little one, but I could save some money.  Win-win. 

The recipe I found is so simple, I doubted how yummy it would be.  But it was delicious!  I mixed it to Adam's yogurt and he ate it up.  I even ate it on my yogurt and can see it working wonderfully on pancakes, waffles, french toast, ice cream........ 

I got the recipe from Weelicious.com.  The original recipe was for raspberry, but I had a carton of blueberries that was on its last leg, so I made 2 kinds.  The raspberries cooked faster because they were frozen, so I'd add a few more minutes to any fruit that has a tougher skin.  I used a potato masher with the blueberries too.  Next time, I might throw them in the blender.  Adam didn't mind the chunkiness, though.  If you want the sauce to be more like a syrup, omit the cornstarch.

Enjoy!

Simple Berry Sauce

12 oz of fresh or unsweetened berries (raspberries, black berries, blueberries...)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons honey (or agave nectar)

1. Combine berries and honey in pot, stirring to combine and using spoon (or potato smasher) to smash down fruit.

2. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer until fruit is soft.

3. Whisk corn starch and water in a separate bowl.  Add to fruit and stir until fruit thickens. 

4.  Cool and serve.  Store the rest in the fridge.

Zucchini Muffins

Now that I have a bigger kid (11) and a littler kid (20 months), I realize that some recipes that little Adam loves might work great for him, but not for older kids or us adults.  Adam is such a good eater that he will eat most anything I serve him (how many toddlers do you know who eat radish salad and Brussel sprouts?)  But I know that the older kids have more complex taste buds, so to label something as "kid friendly" might be a bit misleading if Adam's the taster.

So, I came up with a new category: Toddler-Approved.  These recipes will be something that you can serve to older kids and even adults, but will be more geared toward our littlest ones.  Don't hesitate giving it a taste yourself to see if maybe you found a new favorite!

I wanted to find something to quickly serve Adam in the morning and had a zucchini to use up.  So, of course, zucchini muffins came to mind.  But the real recipe is usually filled with sugar and not that healthy.  So I went on a new favorite food blog, Weelicious.com, and found a healthy version.  Adam loves them so much, he ate 2 full sized ones this morning alone (as I type this, he came running over for another bite!).

The recipe calls for agave nectar, but can also use honey or maple syrup.  I'm assuming you can also use sugar, but regular sugar might not be sweet enough for the limited amount used.   I used maple syrup.

I was out of eggs when I made it, so I used flax seed and water as a substitute.  They came out nicely, but I'll be using eggs or bananas next time.

Hope you and your little ones enjoy!

Zucchini Muffins
Makes 12 muffins (or 24 mini muffins)

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
2 Eggs, whisked
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/3 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
2/3 Cup Agave Nectar (or honey or maple syrup)
1 1/2 Cups Zucchini, shredded (about 2 small zucchini)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Place the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined.
5. Pour the zucchini mixture into large or small muffins cups.
6. Bake 15 minutes for small muffins and 20 minutes for large ones.
7. Cool and serve.

Seared Mahi Mahi with Zesty Basil Butter

A simple and easy way to serve up mahi mahi.  Not much else to say about the recipe, just that's it's great in its simplicity.  Well, Adam gobbled his up, so if a toddler likes it, it's pretty safe that most kids will.

I got this recipe from Foodnetwork.com.

I served it with boiled salted potatoes and sauteed zucchini.

Enjoy!

Seared Mahi Mahi with Zesty Basil Butter
Serves 4


3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus additional for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 (6 to 8-ounce) mahi mahi fillets

Zesty Basil Butter:

Combine the butter, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until the butter melts. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook the fish for 3 minutes; then turn and cook until just opaque, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer the fillets to individual plates.

Spoon the warm basil butter over the fish and serve.

Buccaneer Pork Kebabs

I had to look up what a Buccaneer was.... I guess it's a pirate who attacked Spanish ships in the Caribbean Sea.  So, feel free to slap on the eye patch, slam back a rum shot and belt out your best "Aaarrrr, matey!!" while dining on this tasty treat. 

For those who aren't familiar with jerk seasoning, it's a Caribbean thing.  Think spicy. This recipes adds a nice sweetness to balance the hot. 

I wondered where I'd get pickling spices, but the mix was right along the regular spices (and pretty cheap).  Not sure what I'll do with the rest of it, but hey, maybe you'll see a pickling recipe coming soon.  The jerk sauce was found next to the bbq sauces. 

I got the recipe from my Food Network "50 Kebabs" recipe booklet.  The photo comes from Foodnetwork.com.

Enjoy!

Buccaneer Pork Kebabs

How to make kebabs:

1. Cut the ingredients into similar-size pieces and prepare as the recipe directs. If marinating, refrigerate 1 hour for fish and up to overnight for meat and poultry.
2. Preheat a grill to high. Thread the ingredients onto skewers.
3. Grill the kebabs, turning, until the ingredients are charred and cooked to desired doneness, 3 to 15 minutes.

If you're using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 20 minutes before grilling.

Buccaneer seasoning:

Boil 1 cup water, 3 tablespoons each salt and brown sugar, 2 teaspoons pickling spices and 4 garlic cloves. Add 1 cup rum, then cool.

Add cubed pork tenderloin and marinate.

Skewer with pineapple. Grill, basting with bottled jerk sauce.