Something Savory, Something Sweet

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.