This has been a fun week of trying new recipes and revisiting old favorites. Once again, there has been an abundance of squash and pumpkin--a trend I hope to continue in the weeks to come.
I made the soup on Friday evening. By Monday morning (with the help of some roommates) it was all gone. That's the mark of a good soup.
After completing last week's post, I realized I should have made some sort of reference to Squash and this Blog's title. Therefore, a remedy. This is Beth March's contribution to the Pickwick Society in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women:
"The History of a Squash"
Once upon a time a farmer planted a little seed in his garden, and
after a while it sprouted and became a vine, and bore many squashed. One day in
October, when they were ripe, he picked one and took it to market. A grocer-man
bought and put it in his shop. That same morning, a little girl, in a brown hat
and blue dress, with a round face and a snub nose, went and bought it for her
mother. She lugged it home, cut it up, and boiled it in the big pot; mashed
some of it, with salt and butter, for dinner;
and to the rest she added a pint of milk, two eggs, four spoons of
sugar, nutmeg, and some crackers; put it in a deep dish, and baked it till it
was brown and nice; and next day it was eaten by a family named March.
-T. Tupman.
Pumpkin Bread or Muffins
Multiple Servings/Family Size
(includes 3-4 servings of vegetables)
Adapted from the original recipe by Sharon Redinger
2 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Oil
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
12-15 oz Pumpkin (either one can or one pie pumpkin, cooked)
2/3 cup Water
2 ½ cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/8 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp Cloves
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Sugar
Cinnamon
In large mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients. Beat well.
Add dry ingredients on top, mix softly to ensure baking soda and powder is dispersed.
Stir everything together.
Pour
into two greased loaf pans or muffin tins (with muffin papers).
Bake
at 325 degrees. 1 Hour for Bread, 20 minutes for Muffins.
When
done, sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.
Butternut Squash Pozole
Multiple Servings/Family Size
(includes 3-4 servings of vegetables)
Olive Oil
Onions
1 small can Green Chilies
Garlic
Oregano
1 red or yellow Bell Pepper
1 ½ tbsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 cup Water
1 carton Low Sodium Broth, either Chicken or Vegetable (I used Trader
Joe’s Low Sodium Broth)
1 can Tomato Paste (again, I found a low sodium kind at Trader Joe’s)
1 tsp Black Pepper
2 ½ cup Butternut Squash, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
2 small cans of Hominy, well rinsed
1 can Black Beans, well rinsed
1 can Pinto Beans, well rinsed
2 Tomatoes (1 cup), chopped
Cilantro
Sour Cream
1. In a frying pan, sauté onions and green chilies with a small
amount of olive oil. Add garlic and oregano.
2. In a large soup pot, combine bell pepper, chili powder, cumin
and water. Boil until water is almost evaporated.
3. Add onion mixture to soup pot. Pour in broth, tomato paste
and black pepper. Bring to a boil.
4. Add squash and hominy and return to boil for about 15
minutes.
5. Add beans and chopped tomato,
reduce heat. Cover. Simmer until squash
is soft.
6. Garnish with Sour Cream and Cilantro.
Quinoa and Three Bean Salad
1 Serving (includes 3 servings
of vegetables)
Olive Oil
Garlic
Onion, chopped
Cherry Tomatoes, chopped
Green Beans, frozen or fresh
Garbanzo Beans
Black Pepper
Paprika
1/4 cup Quinoa
1/4 cup Lentils
Balsamic Vinegar
Cook/steam green beans in water, small amount of olive oil and garlic.
Sauté onions in a frying pan. Add tomatoes, garbanzo beans, paprika, and
black pepper.
Cook quinoa and lentils according to directions on lentil package.
Combine ingredients into bowl and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.
