honey i squashed the salad

squash usually signifies fall cooking to me. i mean, sure, there's a whole category of "summer squash" but really, zucchini is just something that tastes good on the grill (zucchini, baby, i didn't mean it, i love you). but oh, the bounty of fall, the family of "winter squash", these truly warm my heart and my belly in a time when i need it most.

kicking off the fall squash-ables is this delectable roasted pumpkin salad sent to me by my culinary confidante mary. this recipe reminds me of her cooking that i miss so much, i knew i had to make it asap. pumpkin (or squash) and shallots (or onions) are roasted until squishy and caramelized, then tossed with wild rice and a cilantro-sunflower seed dressing. pretty darn simple when all you really do is prep the veggies and then roast 'em for 45 minutes and the rice takes 45 minutes too! in the last few minutes you throw the dressing together in the food processor, mix everything up and eat! dinner in under and hour, and leg work comes in at under 15 minutes. enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Salad
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

3 cups butternut (or any winter) squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt

12 small shallots, peeled
2 cups cooked wild rice*

1/3 cup pumpkin (or sunflower) seeds
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Toss the squash with olive oil and salt and put on a baking sheet. Do the same with the shallots and put those on a separate baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, giving them a good shake every 15 minutes or so to evenly roast. Everything should be nice and soft and caramelized by the time it's done.

Now get your wild rice going, because it takes about 45 minutes too! Rinse 1 1/2 cups of the wild rice. Bring the rice and 4 1/2 cups salted water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook for 40 minutes or until rice is tender and splitting open, stirring occasionally. This makes a little extra, but you'll find something else to put it in!

Now that the rice is simmering and the veggies are roasting, you have about 30 minutes to do whatever. Go watch the simpsons, but make sure to give everything a stir during the commercial breaks. With about 5 minutes left on everything, get going on the dressing. With a hand blender or food processor puree the pumpkin seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and honey until creamy. You'll probably want to add a few tablespoons of warm water to thin the dressing a bit. Stir in the cilantro, saving a little for garnish. Taste and adjust for salt.

In a large bowl, toss the wild rice with a large dollop of the dressing. Gently toss the squash and onions into the rice. Finish with another drizzle of dressing and any remaining chopped cilantro. Enjoy the taste of fall.

brussels, the vegetable you thought you hated (but you were so wrong)

oh mark bittman, you irreverent, witty and genius bald man, you've done it again. you've posted a superbly simple and delicious recipe that is so easily veganizable we knew we had to get on it asap.

in a recent autumnal recipe posted under "the minimalist" column, bittman praises the little sphere everyone loves to hate: brussels sprouts. when emma and i were little, boiled brussels sprouts were the typical "I WILL NOT EAT THIS" side dish and a forceful threat of no dessert had us hesistantly biting in to the boiled, soggy balls of green. fortunately, somewhere around 17 or 18 i discovered roasted brussels and quickly thereafter, sauteed brussels and a new love was born. gone were the days of cutting into a soggy sprout and having hot water squirt in your eye. au revoir to the threat of no dessert, because i definitely cleaned my plate if a crisp, golden sprout was upon it.

as the name of the column, "the minimalist", suggests, this recipe is simple, no frills and no fuss but allllll flavor. the ingredients are scant: brussels, bacon (we opted for tempeh bacon, thank you very much), figs, salt and pepper and a splash of balsamic. that's only six ingredients, dudes! and s&p barely count! this is how it went down:

brussels sprouts with bacon and figs
adapted from mark bittman

2 T olive oil
1 recipe of tempeh bacon
1 lb brussels
1 cup dried figs, stemmed and quartered
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, or more to taste

prepare tempeh bacon according to the recipe linked above. set aside in a bowl and try not to eat it all before everything else is ready (this is the hardest part of the recipe).

slice brussels into thin discs by hand, or with the slicing attachment of the food processor, if you're so fortunate to own one. heat the olive oil in a pan over medium flame. add sprouts, figs and 1/4 cup water, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and let that baby go for about 10 minutes until sprouts and figs are tender. crank the heat to medium high and stir for 5-10 minutes until the water evaporates. add the tempeh bacon (if there's any left at this point!) and give everything a nice stir. when thoroughly heated through, add balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

then marvel at how much you love brussels sprouts.


we served ours with a side of roasted asparagus and chickpea cutlets (from isa's veganomicon) with a wine mushroom sauce. YUM!

love,
lauren