Roasted Squash + Ginger Apple Quinoa

 

Another night cooking with ingredients from the Hamptons I decided to stay on the apple track and add one of my all-time favorite Fall produce, the acorn squash. LifeThyme market has the best roasted vegetables in their hot bar these days, loaded with all types of squash, carrots, onions...picking up dinner from there has become quite a habit but I thought I'd put my own spin on things tonight and do things my own way.  This recipe was pretty much a test so the measurements are not exact. Feel free to play with your own flavors and let me know what you come up with!

Roasted Squash + Ginger Apple Quinoa

(Serves 2-3 as a main)

1 acorn squash, quartered and seeded

pure maple syrup

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup cooked quinoa

almond slivers, toasted

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

fresh parsley, chopped

2 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/2 apple, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the squash cut-side up on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, pure maple syrup, sea salt and black pepper. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until you can easily poke with a fork.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a medium skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for a few minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the mushrooms and the apple and saute a few more minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute or so and then add the dijon mustard and toss until all of the flavors start to combine.

Add the cooked quinoa, some of the almonds and the parsley to the skillet and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle with a bit more pure maple syrup and toss to your liking.

Serve over the acorn squash and top with more almond slivers for a nice crunch.

Hamptons + Fall Recipe

 

Just back from the weekend spent with my husband in the Hamptons celebrating our one year anniversary. The weather could not have been better.  The crisp air, the sun shining and the sea breeze somehow melts you back grounded to reality and takes your mind to another place.  We spent our time there apple and pumpkin picking, farmers' market hopping and eating at our favorite local spots. We came back to the city yesterday with both a weight lifted off of our shoulders and bags and bags full of  farm fresh produce to cook with all week.

There is something about hand-picking your own food literally off of a tree that inspires you to cook to another level, or maybe it's just the incredibly fresh ingredients that make you think that you did a better job.  Either way, the taste of my 'usual' thrown-together avocado-and-tomato-toast breakfast that morning was bursting with so much more flavor than usual...

 

First dinner back...brussels sprouts and apples. I was first inspired by this dish from 101 Cookbook when I made it as a side over the Holidays last year. This time I added tempeh pieces to create a one skillet meal. I like to use Lightlife Wild Rice Tempeh. It has a nutty flavor and texture that adds 21 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber per serving. I served this over brown rice for a main but you can leave out the tempeh if you prefer and keep this as a side dish (as I did for James) and serve alongside a roasted chicken or pork chop, for the non-vegans of course.  

 

Brussels Sprouts + Apples

(Serves 2-3 as a main)

1 large apple, cut into small wedges

the juice of one lemon

4 ounces tempeh, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

a couple splashes of pure maple syrup

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

12 ounces brussels sprouts, washed and cut into quarters or shredded into 1/8-inch ribbons

extra-virgin olive oil

Celtic sea salt

Soak the apples in a bowl filled with water and the juice of the lemon. Set aside.

Blanch the brussels sprouts in salted boiling water for a minute or two, just until the color turns brightly green (you can skip this step if shredding the brussels sprouts into 1/8-inch ribbons). Set aside.

Heat a large pan and add a splash of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Add the tempeh cubes and cook, sauteing until golden brown, about 5 minutes or so.  Stir in the garlic and then add a splash of maple syrup (about 1 Tbsp), and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Drain the apples and add them to the skillet, cooking another minute or so. Scrape the apple and tempeh mixture into a bowl and set aside. 

Cook the brussels sprouts in the same pan by first adding another splash of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt and turning up the heat to medium-high. Once the pan is hot, toss in the brussels sprouts and add another smaller splash of maple syrup and cook, sauteing for a couple of minutes until you get some golden edges and the rest are brightly colored. Stir the apple mixture back into the skillet and half of the pine nuts and gently toss to combine. Remove from heat immediately and serve with the remaining pine nuts.

Local and [farmer's market] Fresh

Ahhh...another night cooking in the Hamptons. It's hard not to be completely inspired to cook good food out here. Driving around you pass farmers markets left and right with local produce and fresh fish markets with their catches of the day. We went to Round Swamp Farm yesterday to get inspired. This is one of my favorite places here. They have it all, local from land to sea and they also carry specialty products that are hard to find. They had extra large JUMBO prawns that immediately caught my eye. I was like a kid in a candy store (really, sort of embarrassed looking back by my reaction). We grabbed a few of these and made a round through their market picking up local corn, heirloom tomatoes and other fresh ingredients to prep for dinner.

I decided to start with a recipe that I came across on the blog, Green Lemonade. I love this blog! It is Noelle's journey to living a healthier and more natural life and it is completely inspiring. She recreated the Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Salad from East Hampton's Blue Parrot . Noelle made a macadamia nut pesto instead of the restaurant's cilantro pesto and since cilantro is probably the only ingredient that my husband will not eat, I decided to go the same route. This was just incredible. The textures of the ripe tomato with the creamy avocado and crunchy macadamia nuts with the fresh basil was a party in my mouth. You can find the full recipe here. Let me know what you think!
We followed with a Sweet Corn Quinoa and Simply Grilled Jumbo Prawns. I added diced cherry tomatoes, cucumber, green onions and pine nuts to the quinoa and dressed it with a sweet Dijon vinaigrette. The meal came together so beautifully, we already had the leftovers for lunch today!

Sweet Corn Quinoa

Serves about 4

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 ears of sweet corn
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup cucumber, diced
2 stalks scallion, thinly sliced
pine nuts, toasted

Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp good Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt

Cook the quinoa according to directions and set aside. Grill the corn, set aside to cool and then once cooled, cut the kernels off of the cob. Set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the corn, tomatoes, cucumber, green onion and quinoa.

To make dressing, mix all ingredients in blender until smooth. Stir into the salad and top with toasted pine nuts.

Simply Grilled Jumbo Prawns

Serves about 3

6 large prawns, shells on
olive oil
freshly ground pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste

Using kitchen shears, cut a slit along the top part of each shell and clean the prawn by quickly running under cold water. In a bowl toss with a little olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Put directly on a high heat grill and cook for about 3-5 minutes, turning once until it turns pink and is just cooked through.

Arrange the prawns on top of a bed of the sweet corn quinoa. Serve and enjoy.