A Recipe to Please

Yesterday we gathered with some friends for a potluck of sorts. The host provides the main dish and the rest of us bring along the sides. The roasted vegetables I made for our New Years Day feast went over so well that I decided to do another version. The result was an amazingly flavorful combination of veggies. So, if you are ever in need of a dish to bring to a potluck, I would recommend this one.

First, gather your washed vegetables for a little chopping session. I chose beets, sweet potatoes, parsnips, butternut squash, onions, and garlic.

Toss together in a baking dish. I chose to roast the beets in another pan so that they wouldn't stain my stoneware. I'm not sure if it would stain, but it's new, so didn't want to risk it. Our friend gave us some stoneware for Christmas and I truly love the way it bakes. Kale chips baked on the pizza stone didn't burn like they usually do on my cookie sheet.

The marinade ingredients are maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I will put the recipe and measurements at the end of the post.

Measure out the marinade ingredients and then pour into a jar with a tight sealed lid (like a mason jar), and shake to combine the ingredients perfectly.

Drizzle it on the vegetable mix.

Mix it all together using a rubber spatula, making sure all the pieces are coated.

To prevent the vegetables from drying out, cover the dish with foil. Being a bit wary of the aluminum touching the food, I put down a layer of parchment paper first.

Bake until the vegetables are soft. This dish smells so amazing while it is baking.

Maple Balsamic Roasted Roots*

3 sweet potatoes

4 parsnips

half butternut squash or root vegetable of choice

1 large beet

1 large onion

1 head of garlic

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more as needed

salt and pepper to taste

Peel vegetables as needed and chop into cubes. The onions can be chopped either in large chunks or small, depending on your liking. Garlic cloves can be used whole or sliced in half.

Toss vegetables together in baking dish.

Measure out maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Pour into a mason jar or another container with a tight fitting lid and shake until well combined. Pour over vegetables as needed. If you feel like you have to much marinade, do not use it all and save the rest for salad dressing. Toss the vegetables and marinade together making sure to coat each piece. Top baking dish with parchment paper, and then with foil, sealing around the sides. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees F or higher for faster roasting time. The vegetables will take about 30-45 minutes, or longer if needed. Bake until all vegetables are tender.

* I realize butternut squash is not a root vegetable, but it's just so delicious. You could just use root vegetables in this recipe and that would be equally delicious.

Now for a little shout out to Meggie, for posting her vegan nacho recipe. Not all the ingredients were on hand, so I omitted the add-in's, opted for some green chilies from a can, and used it as a nacho dip. The nutritional yeast "cheesiness", definitely hit the spot. Thanks for the recipe, Meggie!

Acorn Squash and Sweet Corn Soup

Today is a short and sweet post. One about a soup I made last week. It didn't take long, and it was oh so delicious. If you try it, I hope you agree. It is a snap to make, especially if you have baked your squash ahead of time (instructions for squash baking and pureeing at the end of the post).

Hope you are all having a wonderful December day!

Acorn Squash and Sweet Corn Soup

serves 2-3

1 acorn squash baked until soft, and pureed

non-dairy milk of choice ( I used unsweetened almond)

1 cup frozen sweet corn

salt and pepper to taste

ground cayenne pepper

Mix together acorn squash puree and enough of the milk

to make it soup like. Heat on medium high and once the soup

is starting to get hot, add in the sweet corn. Season with salt and

pepper. Let the soup simmer or heat 10 minutes and enjoy with some

cayenne pepper sprinkled in.

I also added some Daiya vegan cheddar to my bowl before

ladeling in the soup. It was delicious.

This is how I bake acorn squash, or any squash. Wash the squash thoroughly, slice in half long ways, and scrape out the seeds (or scrape them out after it is baked). Pour some water into a baking dish and place the squash skin side up into the water. The water should be about 1/2 inch deep, or a bit more, as it sometimes will dry out while it is baking. Bake for about 45 minutes in a oven preheated to 375 degrees F. When you can easily pierce the squash with a fork, and the flesh is soft, it is ready. To puree, scrape the flesh out of the squash skin and blend with a bit of water until smooth. You can also refrigerate the cooked squash and then puree it right before you need to use it.

Fridays

Friday's are for....

sleeping in,

an attempt at breakfast in bed, but failing miserably by dropping it on the bedroom floor,

moving breakfast to the couch,

catching up on laundry,

filling up a box for goodwill,

spending time with friends,

and

Sweet and Salty Roasted Squash.

Here is the recipe!

Cut a butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the squash into slices and place in a parchment paper lined baking dish. Add the following ingredients.

1 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs maple syrup

1/2 to 1 teas. Tamari or Coconut Aminos

sprinkle with Cinnamon, salt, and pepper to taste

Mix everything together with a fork or use your hands (it's easier). Place in a oven preheated to 450 degrees. Bake for about half an hour or until browned and caramelized. Serve with rice that has allspice and currants added for a yummy fall dish.

Vegan Month of Food

November is the Vegan Month of Food (Vegan MoFo as it is fondly called) this year. Since I have been a horrible blogger and have been absent for 2 weeks, I have decided to take up the challenge and hopefully post some vegan food every day. It will be a feat if I accomplish this daily task, but I will try! For November 1st, I have a pantry challenge recipe that Matt and I deemed to be quite delicious. A pantry challenge recipe is a dish I make up using only ingredients I have on hand. I don't plan for these meals, and they are a really fun experiment

for me. It is also a lovely dish for a chilly fall day.

Butternut Squash Risotto with spicy vegan "sausage" - serves 4

2 cups cubed butternut squash (1 small squash works perfectly)

3/4 cup chopped leeks (or onion if that is what you have)

1/4 teas onion powder

1 teas garlic granules

1/2 teas Cajun seasoning (optional - I used it to compliment the spicy sausage, but if you are using a mild sausage, I would omit this spice)

1 teas dried rosemary

1 cup arborio rice

4 cups vegetable broth

1 Field Roast Grain Meat Co. Sausage (Mexican Chipotle flavor) sliced and halved

2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast

drizzle of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan boil the butternut squash in water until tender. Meanwhile bring 4 cups of water to boil and dissolve 2 bouillon cubes. In a large saucepan or soup pot saute leeks in a bit of water until translucent. Stir in your spices and the rice and add some of the hot broth. Continue to add broth and stir as the rice absorbs the liquid. Be careful to not let the rice stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

Once the squash is tender, drain and add it to the rice along with the rest of the broth.

Continue to stir the rice. While you are watching the rice, saute sausage slices in a bit of olive oil. Once hot, add them to the rice as well. Continue to stir until all the broth is absorbed. If your rice is still a bit crunchy just add water as needed and stir until it is soft.

Once it is cooked through add the nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Enjoy!
Hope you like this delicious Fall dish. I am really looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!

Since I haven't posted in so long here are some highlights of the past couple weeks.

* The wedding was lovely! Congratulations again Em and Aaron!

* Celebrated my good friends birthday and watched the documentary Babies.

*Spent the weekend with my parents and gathered up my childhood belongings.

*Reminiscing over said belongings.

*Antiquing with my mom.

* The amazing pyrex bowls shown above. I've been searching for that 1958 Chip Dip set for a while now, and happened to stumble across the pair! I was pretty elated with the find.

*Being back with Matt after the long weekend away (He was out of town as well).

What are some of your past week highlights? I would love to hear from you!