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. 

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

Zucchini Boats (and Instagram)

I joined the instagram movement. I don't know why it took me this long, but I'm hooked now. I constantly take pictures of my food, but unless it's a new recipe, it's unlikely that it'll show up here. Now I actually have somewhere to put all of my pictures! Of course, I managed to mess up the first few pictures I put up. How does one mess up an instagram picture? I didn't include any hashtags, which apparently is the only way to get anybody to pay any attention to it. My sister had to point that out to me. I've been really against twitter and anything hashtag related in the past, so Joey had to tell me how to even use hashtags (which was embarrassing to him, that he did know how to).

This meant the first picture had a ridiculous caption

Then I started to get the hang of it

Unrelated, I also finally updated my phone to iOS7, not sure yet what I think about it. 

The last photo above (zucchini boats) got a lot of likes, and someone requested the recipe! That made me realize I couldn't completely abandon the blog, since posting pictures alone doesn't really give much information. 

These zucchini boats are seriously amazing. They are the perfect way to take advantage of giant farm-grown zucchini, and many other kinds of summer produce. Joey came up with this recipe, and it is a great one. We have made them twice in the past week.

Notes - Use your favorite vegetables, don't feel restricted to the ones in the recipe! The cheese on top is optional (but not really, I mean c'mon, it's cheese). Use your favorite there, as well. The first time we made these, I believe we used raclette. This time, we used pepper jack. 

These would make a great appetizer or side dish for a dinner party - each person could get their own. It also works well as a meal for two people (or in our case, an appetizer for two people because we wolfed down a whole pizza after we ate them). 

Recipe: Zucchini Boats

Yield: 4 zucchini boats

Adapted from - nothing! A Joey original

Ingredients:

1/2 large onion, diced

1 cup mushrooms, diced (4 cremini + 4 button)

1 bell pepper (any color), diced

1 ear of corn, kernels sliced off

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

salt

salt-free seasoning blend (we use Trader Joe's 21 seasoning blend, which is similar to an Italian seasoning)

2 large zucchini (about 1 lb each, uniform size)

1/2 cup shredded cheese (raclette, mozzarella and pepper jack all work well)

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 375 F and line a sheet pan with foil, then spray with Pam. 

Heat oil in a medium pan on high heat, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt. Cook onions ~2-3 minutes, until they have started to soften. Add in mushrooms and peppers, another 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp seasoning blend, and reduce heat to medium. Once they have all softened (another 4-5 minutes), add in corn and garlic. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring as needed to prevent sticking. Add more salt or seasoning if necessary.

While the veggies are cooking, prepare the zucchini. Slice off the top and bottom, then cut in half lengthwise. Using a paring knife, score the middle flesh of the zucchini down to ~1/4 inch. Using a spoon, scoop out the middle flesh of the zucchini, being careful not to cut through. Roughly chop the flesh that comes out, and add to the cooking veggies. Cook on medium until soft. If at any point the pan becomes too dry, add a little water to prevent sticking/scorching. 

Put the 4 zucchini halves on the prepared pan, and spoon on the filling. Mound it up as necessary so all (or most) of the filling is used. Bake the stuffed zucchini for 35 minutes. Remove pan, and check the zucchini for doneness - at this point, it should be soft, but not completely done. Spread the shredded cheese over the zucchini, ~2 tbsp per boat. Put back in the oven for 10 minutes. (If your zucchini was still hard when you checked, you can either put it back in the oven for 5-10 minutes before adding cheese, or increase the oven temperature to 400 F for the last 10 minutes.)

Let cool for 5 minutes, and sprinkle with more cheese if desired. Enjoy!

  

Birthday Celebrations

Here is a late, but long recap of everything I did on my birthday! I have all of the recipes included at the bottom.

I turned 28 on March 5th, and basically had an entire week of birthday celebrations! It started with the Saturday before - we went out to 9 1/2 lounge with some friends. I had never been there before, and it was a lot of fun. It's modeled as a "speakeasy" and you have to give a password just to get in! Of course the password is written right on the door, but somehow that manages to prevent the people who drink too much at the restaurant below from stumbling upstairs and getting in. The drinks were really yummy (my favorite was Cary Nation).

On Wednesday, my actual birthday, Joey and I cooked a birthday feast :) The menu was gruyere popovers, creamy mushroom pasta, garlic shrimp, and a skillet cookie. Everything was just fantastic. The popovers were still a little undercooked inside, but had great flavor. They probably didn't work perfectly with the rest of the meal, but whatever, I wanted them, and they tasted great! The pasta was just so so good. It wasn't too heavy, which is surprising with a creamy pasta dish. I've made the garlic shrimp before, and it's a nice variation on the typical roasted shrimp I make. It really doesn't take any longer than roasted, it just requires paying a bit more attention, since it's a lot easier to overcook them. Finally, the skillet cookie was just ridiculous. The recipe was from Jess (How Sweet It Is), so obviously it was over the top. As you can see in the picture below, it was bigger than my head! We had the cookie every night for more than a week. Once it was gone, Joey asked for more cookies, so obviously we didn't get sick of it in that time.

Joey gave me most of my presents on or before my birthday (a cast iron skillet cookbook, a hanging planter for flowers, a set of stacking silicone bowls for cooking, new jeans, and kettlebell!). The day after my birthday, he surprised me with a homemade planter! It's vertical, so we can fit a lot more plants in one space. I'm so excited to fill it with herbs and veggies. Once the weather is reliably warm, we're going to fill it up.

That night (Thursday), we went out with another group of friends to the C&O to get birthday drinks, part 2. I really like the atmosphere there - it's in the basement below the (super pricy) restaurant, and it feels really cozy. Plus they make homemade ginger beer for their dark and stormy :)

The weekend after my birthday, Joey took me to Richmond for some shopping! He made me a pre-shopping breakfast, after I finished run #1 of the weekend. And then was a serious trooper as we spent several hours shopping. I got some new bras (so pretty), and some shirts at Express and Limited that would work well for dressier occasions, or for presentations/interviews.

Sunday, we made a true birthday breakfast after I did run #2 of the weekend. We made a vanilla bean dutch baby with caramelized vanilla pears. While that was cooking, Joey made me an egg on toast to hold me over (I was starving after running 11 miles!) The dutch baby was so so yummy, and I loved the pears. I was nervous about them, since had only bought the pears the day before, and of course it's impossible to find ripe pears when you need them. They worked out perfectly - cooking them softened them and brought out their flavor.

Gruyere Popovers:
Yield: 7 popovers
From: Completely Delicious
Notes: I halved the recipe, since I didn't need a ton of popovers. The original recipe called for 12, and I have that listed below

Ingredients:
5 oz cheese (I used gruyere and it was amazing)
4 tsp kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
4 large eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place muffin tin in the oven while oven is preheating.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Heat the milk until steaming, but not boiling. This can be done on the stove or in the microwave. Slowly add the milk to the eggs, mixing constantly. Gently stir in the flour mixture, being careful not to overmix.
When oven is preheated, moving quickly, pull out muffin tin and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the muffin pan, filling each cup all the way. Sprinkle with a handful of cheese.
Bake until puffed and golden, about 45-50 minutes. Try not to peek on them while baking - air can prevent the popovers from rising.
Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Serve immediately.

Nutrition:
124 calories
5 g fat
13 g carbs
0.7 g fiber
6.7 g protein

Baked Mushroom Linguine:
From Baked Ezra
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:
4 oz dried mushrooms (such as porcini)
4 cups boiling water
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme, plus 2 tsp finely chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 onion, diced
1 lb button mushrooms, chopped
1 lb cremini mushrooms, chopped
2 1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 lb linguine
1/2 cup grated or shaved pecorino romano cheese

Directions:
Place dried mushrooms in a bowl, and pour boiling water over them. Let them sit for 30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift out the mushrooms and place them in another bowl. Press mushrooms to release any extra liquid, and pour liquid back into bowl. Set mushrooms aside. Strain mushroom liquid through a fine-mesh sieve.

Wrap the rosemary and thyme sprigs in cheesecloth and tie with kitchen twine. Set aside.

Place a large saucepan over medium heat, and melt butter. When the butter starts bubbling, add the flour. Cook, stirring, until the mixture begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Still stirring, slowly pour in the mushroom stock. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles and thickens.

Stir in the milk, goat cheese, and bouquet garni. Reduce the sauce to a gentle simmer, and cook 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until it begins to soften. Add button and cremini mushrooms and cook until they begin to release their juices. Add the rehydrated mushrooms and chopped thyme, and cook until all are tender.

Add cream sauce to mushroom mixture, stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper, set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 F and butter a 9x13 inch pan.

Boil water and cook pasta according to manufacturer's instructions, but reduce cooking time by 2-3 minutes. Transfer noodles to a colander, and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Stir the noodles into the sauce mixture, and transfer to prepared baking pan. Top with cheese, and bake until bubbling and golden brown on top, about 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition:
366 calories
11.4 g fat
103.3 g carbs
11.8 g fiber
22.2 g protein

Simplest and Best Shrimp Dish:
Yield: 4 servings
From: Mark Bittman

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
10-12 large cloves garlic, slivered or minced finely
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled, rinsed and dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Spread the olive oil over the bottom of the pan, make sure it covers the bottom. Add garlic and cook just until it turns light golden, be really careful because it can burn in an instant.

Raise the heat to medium-high and add the shrimp and spices. Stir to blend and continue to cook, shaking the pan once or twice and turning the shrimp once or twice, until they are pink all over and the mixture is bubbly, about 5-7 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nutrition:
315 calories
16.6 g fat
4.8 g carbs
0.4 g fiber
35.2 g protein

Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie:
Yield: 1 GIANT cookie (I seriously don't know how many servings, I would guess at least 16)
From: Tasty Kitchen a la How Sweet It Is
Note: The following ingredients are for a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, and made a very tall cookie

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups dark chocolate chunks (either cut up some chocolate bars, or buy it pre-chunked)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in sugars and remove from heat. Let rest until warm but no longer very hot, about 5-10 minutes.

Whisk in the vanilla and eggs, working quickly so the eggs won't cook before mixed in. Stir in the dry ingredients. It will take a few minutes for it to come together (I promise it will mix in!)

Fold in the chocolate, again working quickly, so it doesn't melt too much.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the top is light golden, the edges are a darker golden and beginning to pull away, and the center still jiggles slightly. Serve warm (with ice cream).

Nutrition (if split into 16 servings):
392 calories
18 g fat
62.5 g carbs
2.3 g fiber
4.7 g protein

bigger than my head!

Planter:

Pre-shopping breakfast:

Birthday Breakfast:
Pre-breakfast: Fried egg on toast with gouda

Vanilla Bean and Caramelized Pear Dutch Baby:
Yield: 4
From: Turntable Kitchen

Ingredients:
3 eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar or splenda
1 vanilla bean
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 large pear, cored and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Place a 12-inch castiron skillet in the oven while preheating.

Combine the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a blender. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean and add to the blender, saving the empty pod. Blend until smooth.

Remove the skillet from the oven, and add the 2 tbsp of butter, swirling to melt and mix. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for 18-25 minutes, until puffed and golden.

While the pancake is baking, melt the 1 tbsp butter and vanilla bean in a large pan over medium heat. Add the pear slices and cook for a few minutes, without moving. Flip the slices over, to let them caramelize on the other side. If necessary, do the pears in batches, adding butter with each batch. You want the pears to be soft, but not mushy, and golden brown on each side.

Serve the pancake warm, with the pear slices, and syrup if desired.

Nutrition:
284 calories
12.8 g fat
36.1 g carbs
2.3 g fiber
7.4 g protein

Joey's plate with steak and eggs:

My breakfast, part 2: