Baked Pasta with a Squash, Ricotta and Garlic Sauce

This delicious and cheesy pasta dish is comforting while still being healthy!

My husband came up with the idea to make a pasta sauce from butternut squash. He will come up with recipe ideas from time to time, and then I help him try to implement them. He thought of putting ricotta in the sauce (he really likes ricotta) and I suggested the roasted garlic. We went through a few iterations, and actually decreased the amount of pasta in the end, to make more room for delicious roasted vegetables.

Baked Pasta with a Squash, Ricotta and Garlic Sauce
Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:
Cheesy sauce:
1 medium butternut squash (or other winter squash), about 2 1/2 lbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 head of garlic
10 oz ricotta cheese (2/3 of a 15 oz container)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 - 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

Veggies:
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, cut into half moons
2 medium heads of broccoli, chopped into florets
1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
Olive oil
salt and pepper

Pasta:
8 oz short pasta (penne, rotini and cavatappi work well) - whole wheat is healthiest!
1 cup shredded cheese (use your favorite)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Peel the butternut squash and cut into rounds. Spread out in a single row on the baking sheet, spray well with cooking spray, and season with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and cinnamon. Bake squash for 30 minutes, flipping over every 10 minutes and re-spraying, or until soft and caramelized.

Roasted butternut squash

Gently remove the outer papery edges of the head of garlic. Using a sharp knife, cut off the top 1/2 inch or so, just to expose the individual cloves. Put on a piece of foil and drizzle with a little oil, then wrap up the foil so it is completely covered. Roast at 400 for around 45 minutes, or until soft and caramelized but not dried out. To save time you can put it on the same baking tray as the squash, and check on it after the squash has finished cooking. Let garlic cool, and then squeeze out the individual cloves.

Roasted and caramelized garlic

Put the squash, garlic, and ricotta in the bowl of a food processor. Add about 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth to start, as well as 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Process until very smooth. Add additional vegetable broth, if necessary, to make a sauce-like consistency. I try to make mine similar to a thick marinara, or almost like a can of pumpkin puree. Depending on the water content of your squash, you may need more or less liquid.

Once the sauce is made, you can refrigerate it for up to 3 days before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

Line two baking sheets with foil, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400 F. Spread out the onions and cauliflower on one tray, and the zucchini and broccoli on another tray. Drizzle the veggies with some olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until veggies are soft and caramelized. The zucchini might cook faster than everything else, so remove it before it falls apart if the rest of the veggies haven't cooked.

Reduce oven to 375 F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, stir well to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom, and cook according to instructions on the box. Check 1-2 minutes before the recommended time. Once the pasta has finished cooking, reserve some of the pasta water and then drain the pasta and return it to the pan. Add the squash ricotta sauce and all of the roasted veggies, and mix well. If the sauce is too thick to stir, add a few splashes of the pasta water.

Pre-baking

Spread out well in a 9x13 pan. Cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle cheese evenly over the top. If the pasta looks a little dry, add a few splashes of the reserved pasta water (don't stir after you add it). Bake for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Notes:
Feel free to use any vegetables that you love or that are in season! Sauteed greens would be great, as would some roasted eggplant or sauteed mushrooms.

The squash ricotta sauce can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before mixing together the pasta.

You can make this entire dish in advance, and store it in the fridge for up to 1 day before cooking. Increase covered baking time to 30 minutes, and you may have to increase uncovered baking time to 20-25 minutes (keep an eye on it).

Store leftovers in the fridge - they reheat really well!

For anyone counting containers (21 day fix or 80 day obsession), this is:
1 yellow 
2 green 💚💚💙 
1 blue 

Just pair your favorite protein with it and you have a full meal!

Harvest Rice Bowl with Squash and Brussels Sprouts

Harvest Rice Bowl with Squash and Brussels Sprouts

This is my FAVORITE fall dish! It has all of the best parts of fall - delicious squash, caramelized brussels sprouts, apples, cranberries! As listed below, it makes a giant amount. Feel free to cut everything in half if you don't want as much food. Also feel free to switch out any of the ingredients. Want to use chopped figs or raisins instead of the craisins? Want to use pear instead of apple? Go for it!

Harvest Rice Bowl with Squash and Brussels Sprouts

Yield: 10-12 side servings

Adapted slightly from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut or acorn squash (or 2 big sweet potatoes)

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp garlic powder

2 lbs brussels sprouts

salt and pepper

1 1/3 cups brown rice

3-4 oz sharp cheddar cheese (white or yellow)

½ cup slivered almonds or pine nuts

½ cup dried cranberries

1 large (or 2 small) apple

Dressing:

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp honey

1 clove garlic, minced (or ½ tsp crushed garlic)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel and dice the squash into ~1/2 inch cubes. Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, cinnamon, chili powder, garlic powder, and lots of salt and pepper. Spread out onto a foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring a few times throughout, until soft and caramelized.

Trim brussels sprouts, and then shred (cut each one in half, and then slice the halves). Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread out onto a foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until tender and slightly charred.

Meanwhile, cook brown rice according to package instructions. If you have it, replace some of the water with vegetable stock. (We cook brown rice in our Instant Pot and it turns out perfectly every time - for this recipe you would want 1 2/3 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth or water)

Dice the cheese. Core and dice the apple (you can leave the peel on). Toast the nuts until golden brown and fragrant (5-7 minutes at 350 F usually works well).

Mix up the dressing – it works well to add everything to a mason jar and then shake up really well. Just make sure the lid is screwed on tight. 

Using a GIANT bowl, add rice, squash, brussels, cheese, apple, nuts, and cranberries. Toss well. Drizzle over some of the dressing and toss until everything is coated. You probably won’t need all of the dressing, so don’t pour it all on at once. Store leftover dressing in the fridge – it is good on salad.

Serve warm or at room temperature. 

If you are bringing this somewhere, the rice, cranberries, brussels sprouts and butternut squash can all be made and mixed up in advance. I would then re-heat that portion, and then mix in the cheese, nuts, apple and dressing right before leaving. 

Baked Coconut Shrimp

Every once in a while I'll go through my Pinterest account, and I'll look for recipes that I pinned but never tried. There are so many great recipes that are posted and shared every day, and it's impossible to try them all! I will come across something that I want to try out right away.

The original recipe

Last week I came across this recipe for baked coconut shrimp, and I knew I wanted to try it out. I have been on a big shrimp kick lately, and this sounded like a new delicious way to make them. I already had all of the ingredients on hand (shrimp, eggs, cornstarch, shredded coconut) so it was easy to try out. I made them as directed, and liked it, but immediately wanted to try and make it better. (Note - if you don't care about the changes I made and why I made them, feel free to skip straight to the recipe!)

I'm really picky with how my shrimp are cooked. If they are overcooked they end up tasting like rubber. The original recipe had said to cook them far longer than I was comfortable doing. I went with my gut and ended up with perfectly cooked shrimp, but a pale coating that wasn't uniformly cooked. I knew I would have to make some changes to get both perfectly cooked shrimp and a crispy coating.

My testing station

I wanted to make some changes to the coconut itself. When added as is (shredded, straight from the bag) you can end up with a ton of coconut on your shrimp. My husband tried some and said he liked it, but it was perhaps too much coconut. I put some in a mini food processor so the pieces were much smaller. I also tried a few different versions, with mixing the coconut with another ingredient. The original recipe is gluten-free, so I tried using almond meal with the coconut, but unfortunately it didn't work very well. The almond meal is a much finer consistency than my chopped coconut, so the two ingredients didn't stick to the shrimp uniformly. (It might work well if you use chopped almonds rather than almond meal - please let me know if you try this!)
Panko breadcrumbs were actually the perfect size to match the coconut, and helped make the coating crispier.
*Note - I have read that you can crush rice crackers to use as a substitute for panko breadcrumbs if you are looking to keep this recipe gluten-free*

Better, not perfect

I added some seasoning to multiple steps of the recipe. I added salt and pepper straight to the cornstarch, and added salt, pepper and cayenne to the coconut and panko mixture to add a little heat. I think this helped with the overall flavor. Feel free to modify the amount of cayenne added if you would prefer more or less spice. In addition, I tossed all of the shrimp with the cornstarch mixture at once, since it helped uniformly coat the shrimp better, and also saved me from an additional step in my assembly line.

The first time I made this recipe I overbeat the egg whites. It said to take them to soft peaks, but I think they ended up being too fluffy to easily stick to the eggs. You want them to still be slightly foamy, so you get a lighter coating on your shrimp. Otherwise you will end up with a lot of egg whites, which will not only affect the flavor, but will also affect how long they need to be cooked. This website has some good pictures that shows the progression of beating egg whites. The picture for Step #4 is pretty much where you want them. If you take them all the way to soft peaks (the picture in Step #7-A) they are too far. Don't fret if that's where you end up - it will just take a little more effort to coat the shrimp, and you may have to knock off some of the egg whites before coating with coconut.

Finally, this is probably the biggest improvement on the dish. I pre-toasted the coconut and panko! This way I could get away with cooking the shrimp for less time, while still having a crispy exterior. The coconut and panko get golden brown before they are used to coat the shrimp, and then they get a little extra golden in the oven. Spraying the pan as well as the coated shrimp with nonstick spray encourages some extra browning.

Recipe: Baked Coconut Shrimp
Yield 2 large servings or 4 side servings

Notes:
The length of time you need to cook the shrimp is highly dependent on both the size of the shrimp and your oven. I am giving a recommended cooking time, but feel free to check a little early.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/3 cup plain panko breadcrumbs
1 lb shrimp; thawed, de-veined and peeled
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper, divided
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (use less if you are sensitive to heat)
2 egg whites (room temperature)

Directions:
If your shrimp is frozen, put it in some lukewarm water to thaw while you are getting everything else ready.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

While the oven is preheated, chop up the shredded coconut. This is really simple in a mini food processor, but you could probably chop by hand with a sharp big knife. The goal is to get small uniform pieces.

Put the chopped coconut and panko on the baking sheet, and toast for 8-10 minutes. Make sure to stir every few minutes, since everything around the edges will cook more quickly. Set aside and let cool slightly. Increase the oven temperature to 400 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (you can re-use the one from toasting) and spray well with nonstick cooking spray.

Pre-toasting

Nice and golden brown after toasting

Peel your thawed shrimp. Cut out the vein if it wasn't already removed. Pat them dry.

In a large container, preferably one with a lid, add the cornstarch and 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.

In a large bowl with high sides (or the bowl of a stand mixer), add your two egg whites.

Mix the coconut and panko with the remaining 1/4 tsp salt, the remaining 1/4 tsp pepper, and (up to) 1/8 tsp cayenne. Pour about half of it in a wide shallow container or plate. You may need all of it, but it is best to add it bit by bit so you can save any leftovers that don't come into contact with the shrimp.

Once you have everything else ready, you can beat the egg whites. They can deflate easily so you want to wait until you are ready to start. Start on low-medium speed until the egg whites become foamy, and then increase the speed to high. This can be done using a stand mixer or a hand mixer. The egg whites are ready ~15 seconds after they turn white. You want them to still have small bubbles and look slightly foamy, but be white all the way through and no longer translucent.

Still a little foamy, not quite at soft peak stage

Throw all of your shrimp into the container with cornstarch. Put the lid (make sure it is tightly closed) and shake well until all of the shrimp are coated. They don't need to have a heavy coating, so shake off excess as you go.

My assembly line (after I had finished breading all of the shrimp)
The round container at the upper right is my extra coconut and panko

Holding the shrimp by the end (where the tail was), dip it lightly in the beaten egg whites. You want a thin coating of egg white so the coconut will stick, but you don't want too much there. Tap off any excess. It really helps if you keep one hand dry (for picking up the shrimp) and the other hand as your 'dirty' hand (for dipping in egg).

Place the shrimp in the coconut mixture. Either use your dirty hand to gently flip it over, or use your clean hand to sprinkle the top with coconut. Pick it up with your dirty hand and let any excess shake off.

Place the coated shrimp on the prepared baking sheet, and continue with the rest of your shrimp. If you run low on your coconut/panko mixture, pour more into your shallow container/plate. Once you have coated all of the shrimp, spray with nonstick cooking spray. It helps if you spray from a distance (about 1 foot above) so you don't knock off any of the coating.

Coated, sprayed, ready for the oven!

Put the tray in your preheated 400 F oven. After 6 minutes, pull out the tray and flip over all of the shrimp. Spray them again. Bake for the following amount of additional time:
Shrimp that are 31-40 count/lb - bake an additional 3 minutes
Shrimp that are 21-30 count/lb - bake an additional 4 minutes
Shrimp that are 16-20 count/lb - bake an additional 5 minutes
* This time is approximate and depends on your oven - check one of the shrimp early to make sure they are not overcooked*

Serve with sweet chili sauce (I love the one from Trader Joe's).

These are delicious and so much healthier than the fried version! Even if you split it into only 2 servings, it is less than 500 calories a serving while providing you with over 50 grams of protein. (These calculations include all of the coating - if you don't end up using all of it, there are even fewer calories per serving)

Disclosure - I have included affiliate links in this post. If you buy any of the products I recommend on Amazon, I get a tiny tiny percentage of the sale, but it's still the same price for you

Individual Empanada Tartas

When I first posted my recipe for Empanada Tartas, I had no idea it would be so popular! Not only is it a delicious dish, but I think a lot of people watched the episode on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and wanted to know how to make the giant empanada.

We have made the Empanada Tartas for so many different occasions. It is the perfect weeknight dinner along with a salad or side dish. It is also great for a party.

This time, we wanted to try to make individual empanadas, and we were so pleased with how they turned out! You get the same delicious flavor, but all in a neat little package. I think these would work really well at a dinner party as an appetizer.

The beauty is that you can use whatever you want in the filling. You must use cream cheese - it adds the perfect tang and creaminess. Goat cheese would work equally well. After that, you can just stuff them with your favorite cooked vegetables. Just make sure not to use anything too wet since it would make the whole thing soggy. I really like putting a slice of roasted sweet potato or butternut squash on top of the cream cheese, and then piling whatever vegetables I have in my fridge on top. Onions, mushrooms and peppers are a great combo. In the pictures below, I sauteed some onions, brussels sprouts and corn. See the original post for more ideas and instructions.

Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Filling:
~4 tbsp cream cheese (whipped or brick-style) - goat cheese could also be substituted
~ 1 1/2 cups cooked vegetables (see above)

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl. Using your hands (or a pastry blender or two knives), work the butter into the flour until you have small pieces/ribbons of butter that are no larger than the size of a pea. Put the whole bowl in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to keep it cold.

In a small bowl, mix together the egg, water and vinegar.

Pull out your bowl from the fridge/freezer and add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Use a fork or spoon to gently mix together until there are no visibly wet areas. Use your hands to help form it into a ball. It will seem like there is too much flour - that is okay!

Lay out a piece of plastic wrap onto your counter and dump the contents of the bowl on it. Use the plastic wrap to help guide the dough into a disc - it helps to act as a shield so it won't stick to your hands, and will help some of the excess flour adhere to the dough. Wrap the disc well with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 1-1.5 hours.

At this point you can roast up some veggies, if you don't have them already. Make sure you let them cool completely before adding to the dough.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Lightly flour a large work surface. (I like to use this pastry mat, since it has measurements on it.) Once the dough has been chilled, set it out and divide it into 12 equal portions. I like to use a food scale to make sure they are all equal in size, but you can definitely estimate it. The easiest way to do it by hand is to divide it in half, divide each of those portions in half, and then divide each of those into 3. Making small divisions feels a lot easier.

Keeping the rest of the dough portions covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel, roll out each one until it is a 5 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle, but it does help if it is symmetrical since you will be folding it over.

Put ~1 tsp of cream cheese on one side of the dough, then top with ~1.5-2 tbsp of your veggies.

Carefully stretch the other side of the dough over it to close. Crimp the edges closed - you want to make sure it is sealed really well so nothing leaks out. Transfer to your parchment paper-lined baking tray, and repeat with the remaining 11 pieces of dough. Put 6 empanadas on each tray.

* If at any point the dough starts to feel too warm/soft, put it back in the fridge. The entire tray can even be kept in the fridge while you are working on them. You don't want the butter to melt out before baking, so keeping everything cold is essential.*

Brush the top of the empanadas with your egg wash. Bake until golden brown and flaky, for about 25 minutes. Make sure to switch positions of the baking trays halfway through. I like to swap from top to bottom racks, and to also rotate each pan 180 degrees.

Let cool for 5 minutes before eating.

These are best right out of the oven. If you are reheating them I find it works best to microwave for a short amount of time, just to warm (15-45 seconds, depending on how many you are heating at once) and then put them in the oven or toaster oven to crisp up. Keep leftovers in the refrigerator. 

Disclosure - I have included affiliate links in this post. If you buy any of the products I recommend on Amazon, I get a tiny tiny percentage of the sale, but it's still the same price for you

Roasted Eggplant and Cauliflower Salad with Farro, Almonds and Goat Cheese

I keep buying eggplant at my local farmers market because it is only $1 for a giant eggplant. Then it sits in my refrigerator for a week while I try to come up with the next recipe to make with it. First, I made Smitten Kitchen's Baked Orzo with Eggplant and Mozzarella. It was fantastic and I had it for lunch every day for well over a week.

I wanted to try something different this week, and I came across a recipe for Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds and Goat Cheese on The Kitchn. I thought it sounded really tasty, but I wanted to make some changes, highlighted below.

The dish turned out so well! It tastes incredible! It is the perfect combination of salty and sweet, creamy and crunchy, silky and chewy. I had made it up for my lunch for the week, but I kept on walking by and sneaking tastes. As soon as I made it I decided I needed to get another eggplant at the next farmers market, just to make it again. I have now made it two times in the past week, and it is my new favorite lunch.

• I thought that 1/3 cup of olive oil sounded high, and reduced it to 3 tablespoons while keeping everything else the same. 
• I didn't have any fresh garlic so I used jarred crushed garlic, around 1.5 tsp of it. 
• I took a trick from the recipe from last week, and I salted the chopped eggplant heavily and let it sit in a colander for 20-30 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients. Then, I rinsed and dried it well. This helps reduce some of the water content so it roasts more evenly. It is also probably why it took less time for mine to roast (noted below). 
• My gigantic eggplant was 1.5 lbs so I used 1/2 lb of cauliflower. I think the two vegetables work really well together once roasted, plus it was another thing I got at the farmers market! If you don't like cauliflower or would prefer to only use eggplant, then use 2 lbs of just eggplant and it will be just as delicious.
• I did not have smoked almonds so I used raw almonds that I then chopped and toasted in a 350 F oven for ~8 minutes
• I don't love parsley, and never have it on hand, so I omitted it. I did not miss it. 
• The green onions are not optional - they add such a nice flavor to the whole dish that I think you must include them. I mixed them into the dish instead of sprinkling on top, mostly because I misread the recipe, but I'm glad I did - you can taste them in every bite.
  Pro tip - after you use the green part, stick the white part (the root) in some water and they will continue to grow! 
  
• My lemon was giant (yes, also from the farmers market) so I only needed 1/2 of it to get 2 tbsp of juice
• If you don't have fresh lemon juice, you can use bottled lemon juice (this is what is pictured below)
• I roasted the eggplant for less time than suggested since I didn't want it to completely fall apart while mixing everything. I roasted the eggplant for 25 minutes, stirring it after the first 15 minutes. I roasted the cauliflower for 35 minutes, stirring after the first 15 minutes and again at the 25 minute mark. 
• I wanted to bulk this up a little to make it heartier as a meal. I cooked some pearled farro and mixed it in. Note that farro cooks differently if it is pearled, semi-pearled, or not pearled at all (I forget what it is actually called then). Mine is pearled and cooks in 15 minutes. I think it is easiest to cook farro just like pasta - to throw it in salted boiling water and cook until al dente, then drain. If you don't have farro, feel free to add in some brown rice or your favorite whole grain. 
• I really liked the creaminess from the goat cheese, so I mixed all of it in while the dish was still warm and it mostly melted. If you would prefer separate crumbles, then wait until everything has cooled to add, or crumble some on top while you are eating. 

Roasted Eggplant and Cauliflower Salad with Farro, Almonds and Goat Cheese
Adapted from The Kitchn
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs eggplant (2 small or 1 really big one)
Kosher salt
1/2 lb cauliflower
1/2 cup raw almonds (untoasted and unsalted)
1/2 cup pearled farro
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
4 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1.5-2 tsp of the jarred stuff)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions/green onions, green tops only
2 oz goat cheese

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 F. If you also have a toaster oven, preheat that to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets and one small baking sheet with foil.

Cut up the eggplant in a 1 inch dice. Add to a colander, either set in the sink or over a large bowl, and sprinkle with kosher salt generously in multiple layers. Let the eggplant drain a little while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Chop the cauliflower into bite-sized florets. I like small pieces because you increase the surface area (more browning) and it is easier to eat.

Roughly chop the nuts. If you have a toaster oven, roast at 350 F for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Keep a close eye on them since they can burn very quickly! If you don't have a toaster oven, then start off with your regular oven at 350 F and cook them in there. Once the nuts are done, set them aside to cool. If you used your regular oven, turn it up to 400 F.

Meanwhile, bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add your farro, and cook according to package instructions. If you are using pearled farro like I did, it should cook in about 15 minutes. Semi-pearled will take longer, and whole farro (not pearled at all) will take the longest. Once it has finished cooking, dump it into a separate colander to drain.

In a small bowl, add the olive oil, vinegar, honey, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Whisk thoroughly to combine.

Rinse off the eggplant and then pat dry with paper towels. Add to a large bowl, and pour the marinade over it. Toss well, and then quickly transfer the coated eggplant to one of your prepared baking sheets. If you leave the eggplant in the marinade for too long, it will soak up all of it, leaving none for your cauliflower.

Next toss the cauliflower in the remaining marinade, and pour that on the second large baking sheet. Put both baking sheets in the oven. After 15 minutes, stir everything very well. Put the baking sheets back in for an additional 10 minutes. At this point, the eggplant should be done (golden brown and soft without being completely collapsed). Stir the cauliflower well and put in for an additional 10 minutes, or until soft and caramelized.

Now it's time to mix everything together. Add your farro, eggplant and cauliflower to your large bowl (use the same one you tossed the veggies in before cooking). Pour the lemon juice and soy sauce over them, and toss gently. Add in the green onions, toasted almonds, and goat cheese and toss again to distribute all of the ingredients.

Either enjoy immediately, or let cool completely before storing in the refrigerator. This is best served warm, and reheats well in the microwave.

Wondering what the white stuff is on the fork?

That would be the last bit of goat cheese, scraped out of its package.

We really like goat cheese in my house

Perfect Brown Rice (Instant Pot)

I am not being paid to say this, but I love my Instant Pot. It is big and it takes up a lot of space, but it cooks so many things perfectly for me. One of them is brown rice. I used to cook rice on the stove, and I would always end up over-cooking or under-cooking it, and it never seemed to take the same amount of time every time. Now I know that I can throw the ingredients in the pot, turn it on, and come back to perfectly cooked rice. I'm not going to pretend to tell you that the Instant Pot takes less time. By the time it reaches pressure, cooks, and then the pressure drops, it takes just as long as doing it on the stove. Every minute is hands-off, so you can just start it and walk away.

Note: I am listing amounts of rice below, but you can cook as little (or as much) as you want. Just make sure to use 1 1/4 cups of liquid for every 1 cup of rice.
This is mostly unseasoned brown rice, so it is very versatile for any meal. Feel free to add salt to taste if you are eating it on its own.

Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
1 1/4 cups vegetable stock (or water)

Directions:
Add the rice and vegetable stock (or water) to the inner pot of your Instant Pot.

Put on the lid, and make sure the valve is set to 'sealing.' Press manual and then press + until the display reads 23. After that you don't need to press any buttons - it should beep when starting within a minute.

After it has finished cooking, the machine will beep several times. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release on the lid. The machine will automatically switch over to 'keep warm' mode. If you press the keep warm/cancel button at the bottom right, it will turn everything off and will generally come down from pressure more quickly. When releasing pressure, use a towel to protect your hand and quickly flip the valve from 'sealing' to venting.' A lot of steam will come out as soon as you switch it, so get your hand out of the way to avoid burns! Otherwise, you can wait until pressure releases naturally.

Use a spatula or a rice paddle (shown below) to scoop out all of the rice and put in a container to cool. Use immediately, or let cool and store in the fridge and use within 1 week. It will become fluffy again once reheated.

Savory Empanada Tarta with Roasted Vegetables and Cheese

Most nights when there isn't really anything on TV, Joey and I will put the Food Network on. There's usually something interesting to watch, and if we're lucky, we find a meal inspiration. A lot of the time, our inspiration comes from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I know that a lot of people don't like Guy Fieri, but I do like seeing the variety of cuisines featured on the show.

Recently, we saw an episode that featured a cafe called Maria Empanada in Denver, CO. Their empanadas looked fantastic, but the star of the episode was her empanada tarta - a savory tart that was made with her empanada dough, smeared with cream cheese, and then layered with roasted vegetables. It looked so good! While I copied down most of what she said, I didn't have any plans to try making it right away. However, Joey immediately started searching for empanada dough recipes, and we decided to make it for a potluck dinner we went to recently.

It was such a hit! We only got a slice each at the potluck dinner, so we made it again just 4 days later. The dough is so easy to work with, and has turned out crispy and flaky every time. You really can use any filling you would like, but the flavor of the roasted vegetables works really well, especially with a generous layer of tangy cream cheese. The second time we made it, we had some leftover ricotta cheese, so we put in some dollops between layers.

Empanada Dough
Recipe from Epicurious

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Instructions:
In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl. Using your hands (or if you prefer to keep your hands clean, a pastry blender or two knives), and work the butter into the flour until you have small pieces/ribbons of butter that are pea-sized. Put the whole bowl in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes, to keep it cold.

In a small bowl, mix together the egg, water and vinegar, until homogeneous.

Pull out your bowl from the fridge/freezer, and add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Use a fork or a spoon to gently mix together until there are no visibly wet areas. Use your hands to help it form into a ball. It will seem like there is too much flour - that is okay!

Lay out a piece of plastic wrap onto your counter, and dump the contents of the bowl on it. Use the plastic wrap to help guide the dough into a disc - it helps to act as a shield so it won't stick to your hands, and will help some of the excess flour adhere to the dough. Wrap the disc well with plastic wrap (get another sheet if necessary), and put it in the fridge for 1-1.5 hours.

Empanada Tarta:
Note: these are just suggested vegetables to use - feel free to use your favorite.

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash (or similar squash), peeled and chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped
Olive oil
salt and pepper
3 tbsp cream cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Ricotta cheese, if desired
Herbs, if desired

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line two baking sheets with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.

Toss the veggies with olive oil, spread out on the baking sheets, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until tender and slightly caramelized. Let cool and set aside.

Shake out some flour on a large work surface. Once the dough has been chilled, set it out, and sprinkle some flour on top of it. Roll out until ~1/4 inch thick, and it extends beyond a 9-inch springform pan (or deep dish pie pan) by a couple of inches in all directions. Carefully transfer to your pan, and let it sink onto the bottom. Press it down on the bottom and onto the sides of the pan - if there is excess, push that down onto the top of the pan so the sides stay up. Put it back in the fridge while you are waiting for the veggies to finish cooking/cooling.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Once everything is ready, take the dough back out of the fridge. Spread the cream cheese on the bottom. Make sure the veggies aren't too hot (it will just melt the butter in the crust), and sprinkle them over the cream cheese until they have just covered the bottom. Sprinkle with ~2 tbsp parmesan cheese, and any fresh herbs or dollops of ricotta, if desired. Add another layer of veggies, another layer of parmesan cheese (and desired herbs/ricotta). Gently peel the dough off the sides of the pan, and fold over the veggies, still leaving a large portion uncovered.

Cover the pan with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and bake another ~25 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and flaky.

If cooked in a springform pan, let it cool 5 minutes, and then remove the sides. Let cool another 5 minutes, and then enjoy!

See how messy my dough was! But it all works out in the end, I promise

Here is the first layer of butternut squash

We topped the butternut squash with onions, mushrooms and broccoli

Here is where you add your ricotta/herbs

Another layer of veggies

Gently fold the edges of dough over your filling, still leaving the center uncovered

This is what it looks like after the first 30 minutes in the oven. The last 25 minutes are where you get all of the color on the pastry

Beautifully golden brown!

It is golden brown all the way around, not just on the top

Look at that flaky pastry

Update: If you want to make individual empanadas, check out this recipe!