Thai Butternut Squash Red Curry

A little known fact about me is that Thai curry ranks on my top favorite foods list. Over the years I have made so many curries at home, unfortunately none rocked my socks off like they do at my local Thai dining establishments. Finally, I have created a competitor: butternut squash red curry with chickpeas and baby bellas!

Ingredients:
3 small butternut squash
1 package baby bella mushrooms, quartered or halved, depending on the size of the mushrooms
vegetable or olive oil
2/3 c. Thai red curry paste
3 - 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 - 15 oz. cans coconut milk
1 bunch fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
2 T. sugar in the raw (you could use brown sugar here too)
sea salt

1. Peel the squash, cut it lengthwise in half, and scoop out the seeds. Cut into 1/2-1 inch cubes.

2. Heat a large heavy pot. Add the oil, then the curry paste. Stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the squash and stir to coat with curry paste. Stir in the chickpeas and season with salt. Add the coconut milk and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes or until the squash begins to soften.

3. Stir in the sugar in the raw, cilantro and mushrooms. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. The squash should be tender but not falling apart. Season to taste with salt.

4. Serve over a bed of organic brown rice and enjoy!

This recipe is so easy yet has unbelievable flavor. It packs a little bit of heat with a sweet creaminess. You won't regret trying this recipe out and you'll definitely have enough for leftovers!

Roasted Tomato & Garlic Black Bean Soup

As promised, here's my roasted tomato & garlic black bean soup recipe:

Ingredients

• 10 roma tomatoes, quartered
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 5 cups veggies stock
• 4 cups black beans, cooked
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Quarter tomatoes, place cut side up on a baking sheet, salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.

Add garlic cloves to the roasting tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil. Bake until the garlic cloves have softened and the tomatoes have started to collapsed, about 15 minutes.

In a dutch oven or stock pan, heat a little olive oil and saute onion, cumin and chili powder until the onions are translucent.

Add veggie stock, beans, roasted tomatoes and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and blend until smooth with an immersion blender. Salt and pepper to taste.

You may serve with cilantro or avocado as a yummy garnish.

Let me just say...nothing is ever bad when made with roasted red tomatoes and plump garlic cloves.

Happiness is the delicate balance between what one is and what one has. Balance it and be happy. Enjoy your Saturday!

Keep Calm & Get Cooking

So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being. — Franz Kafka

I never want our busy lives to hinder eating good wholesome meals. Yes, I eat breakfast and lunch at work. And Husband eats lunch and dinner at work. We have weird schedules. Like I've said before, food is my love language, and I desire to send Husband off each day with with a wholesome lunch (and dinner) bag. For our lifestyle, the only way to accomplish this is organization. Each weekend I create a menu, grocery list and then hit the local grocer. Upon returning home I sort out my ingredients and start prepping/cooking.

This week's menu:

wild mushroom barley risotto — modified to be vegan friendly of course!

thai basil eggplant over organic steamed brown rice

palak tofu served with vegan roti

ratatouille — not a new recipe for us, just a simple throw together meal packed full of veggies.

And last but not least, roasted tomato and black bean soup.

This is a new recipe I'm developing and will share soon!

Like Julia Child once said, You have to eat to cook. You can't be a good cook and be a non-eater. I think eating is the secret to good cooking. That is the whole premise of how I cook. When picking out new recipes to try, I never really follow them — they're just guidelines. Taste and see. Do what is delicious to you!

So dear readers, how do you stay organized to feed your family? Any good tips? Please share!

Magenta Juice

This juice is seriously the best. It is a gold in magenta form. Nick and I felt the need to try out a new juice and take a break from the green juice one day. When we travel to Milwaukee we both love going to the Public Market's juice bar for fresh beet juice. So why not try it out at home? This juice is very bright on the palate with an earthy finish — ooooh soooo good!

Magenta Juice

2 beets

2 cucumbers

4 apples

4 oranges

6 tomatoes

2 lemons

a small container of mint leaves

4 sticks of celery

Clean produce and push through your juicer. This recipe makes about 64 oz. of juice. 

Give it a try, I don't know who wouldn't love this! Do you have a favorite juice recipe? Share it!

An Engagement & A Recipe

Hello again, it has be a little while since I posted — but there is reason — My sister got engaged! I was so honored for her now-fiance to ask me to hide in the bushes and take photos of the moment. Such a lovely moment captured in photos forever.

{Joy's beautiful ring}

I wish you a very sweet engagement and pray that you are showered with love and blessings. Congratulations on your engagement!

And now — the recipe portion of this post. Totally unrelated to an engagement.

Tabbouleh is traditionally made of bulgur, tomatoes, cucumbers, finely chopped parsley and onion, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. I usually make a gluten-free version using quinoa instead of bulgar. While eating lunch this past week a co-worker mentioned she accidentally picked up cilantro at the market instead of parsley to make tabbouleh. That got my mind working — why not try a Mexican variation of tabbouleh?

So here I present my recipe for a variation on tabbouleh: Gluten-Free Mexican Tabbouleh

1.5 c. quinoa

3 c. finely chopped cilantro

5 scallions, finely chopped

1 pint small grape tomatoes, halved

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly chopped

1 c. corn kernels

juice of 5 small limes, more or less to taste

1/3 c. of extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and pepper, to taste

To cook the quinoa:

Rinse 1.5 c. quinoa in a fine sieve until the water runs clear, drain and transfer to a pot. Add 3 c. water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until water is absorbed, 15-20 minutes. Set aside to cool. Fluff with a fork.

Combine all the ingredients together in a large serving bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve room temperature or chilled. Enjoy!

According to Julia Child, the only real stumbling block is fear of failure. So why not take a favorite recipe, change it up, make modifications, see what delicious dish you can come up with? You might just end up with something great!

Vegan Whole Wheat Almond Pancakes

Hello yummy Saturday morning! Don't all the best weekends start out with a big stack of pancakes? Relaxing. Piping hot coffee. Lounging late into the morning, still wearing pajamas. Maybe a few light tunes drifting into the carefree air.

Ahh. The life.

Vegan Whole Wheat Almond Pancakes
3 c soy milk
2 T sugar
4 T vegetable oil
2 2/3 c unbleached whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 t almond extract
water, as needed to thin batter

In a mixing bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.

Next, pour in all of the liquid ingredients.

Whisk until the batter is smooth.

Heat a grill pan or large skillet over medium heat for a few minutes until hot. Spray with non-stick spray and pour batter onto the skillet.

After a few minutes, you'll see bubbles appear on the pancake tops and the batter turn from white to a light golden — this is when they're ready to be flipped.

To keep pancakes warm, you can place them in a 200 degree oven.

Serve with Earth Balance, sliced fresh strawberries and real maple syrup. Like I've told you before — don't buy the lab created maple syrup...stick to the real yummy, natural goodness.

Do you have a favorite way to start out your Saturday mornings?

Vegan Lasagna

Mangiare per vivere e non vivere pere mangiare — Italian proverb
Translation: Eat to live and not live to eat.

The weekend is coming to a close, it is Sunday at 4 pm and it is already getting dark! A good way to shut-down a weekend is with a big pan of saucy vegan lasagna, layered with spinach, mushrooms, artichokes, pesto and marinara sauce. This recipe looks daunting with lots of steps, but I promise, they're just little steps and this is a quick dish to whip up.

Tofu Ricotta
1.5 t. salt
1 t. oregano
16 oz. firm tofu
4 cloves garlic, minced
freshly ground pepper

1. Drain the tofu and pat dry with paper towels. Crumble tofu in a bowl, using the back of a fork.
2. Incorporate the remaining ingredients and mash until the consistency of ricotta.

Vegan Almond Pesto
See recipe here.

Mushroom-Artichoke-Spinach Lasagna

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 lb button mushrooms, sliced

1 lb baby bella mushrooms, sliced

2 T. vegan butter

1 bag frozen spinach, defrosted and liquid pressed out

1 can artichoke hearts, quartered

1 box no-boil lasagna noodles

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Red Pepper Flakes

Oregano

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat vegan butter in a large saute pan. Add mushrooms and saute until semi-soft and still holding their form.

3. Spray a 9x11 pan with non-stick spray. Start the layering processes with spaghetti sauce and then layer, using all ingredients as preferred. Finally, end with a final layer of spaghetti sauce and season with red pepper flakes and oregano.

4. Let rest for 20 minutes to allow the noodles to slightly soften.

5. Bake the lasagna uncovered for 30 minutes, then cover for the final 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest before cutting for 20 minutes.

6. Enjoy!

What are your favorite lasagna ingredients? Share below!

The Story of Soup

To me, the story of soup starts out with minestrone. Minestrone is like the backbone of all things soup. A little olive oil, as many vegetables as you can fit into a pot, drowning in rich, comforting stock. Science has nothing to do with soup, it's organic. It has everything to do with your taste buds. Start with the basics and follow your mouth to a satisfying bowl and the end of the day.

You can do almost anything with soup stock, it's like a strong foundation. When you have the right foundation, everything tastes good. — Martin Yan

This morning I crawled out of bed, enjoying the silence and got to work in the kitchen — creating a dish I knew creates an atmosphere of comfort. A large pot of chunky minestrone soup.

Ingredients

evoo

1 — 14.5 oz container of mirepoix*

1 c. dry white wine 

2 leeks, halved lengthwise and sliced, creating half-moons

3 bay leaves

9 c. water

9 bouillon cubes

6 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2" thick

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 — 15 oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 — 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 c. frozen baby peas

1 c. shredded brussels sprouts

1/2 c. chopped flat leaf parsley

*I purchase my mirepoix at Trader Joes, but you definitely can substitute an equal amount of onion, celery ribs and carrots. I enjoy using mirepoix because it saves a lot of time chopping. Yea, call me lazy...

1. In a large stockpot, heat a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil. Add the mirepoix and cook over moderate heat until slightly translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the wine, leeks and bay leaves, cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 12 minutes. 

2. Remove bay leaves. Add zucchini, water, bouillon cubes, diced tomatoes (and the juices), garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the beans, peas, shredded brussels sprouts, and parsley and simmer for about 3 minutes longer; season with salt and pepper.

3. Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with a drizzle of evoo and a sprig of parsley.

Everyone makes a variation on minestrone. What is your special ingredient that "makes" your minestrone?

Soup is to the meal, what the hostesses smile of welcome is to the party. A prelude to the goodness to come. — Louis P. De Gouy

Budget Friendly Comfort Food

Food is the most primitive form of comfort. — Sheilah Graham

It is getting chilly outside, the trees are shedding their brilliant colors and I'm huddled into my kitchen drinking pumpkin spice coffee and cooking a simple yet delightful meal. Actually more than a meal, a comfort meal. A soup that provides a feeling of well-being when eaten...a comfort food...classic lentil soup. Henri Mancini quietly playing in the background, the sun still sitting below the horizon and I'm filled with a sense of peacefulness, how could it get any better? Well, I do know one thing that could make it better...if you could smell the aroma in my kitchen at this point.

Classic Lentil Soup with Caramelized Onions
5 small onions, thinly sliced
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
3 c. lentils
10.5 c. water
12 vegetable bullion cubes*
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

*Vegan Side Note: Not all vegetable bullion is vegan. Check the ingredients! Often times you'll find a dairy product of some sort.

1. Heat oil in a large dutch oven or large stock pot and fry the three of the onions and shallot until lightly browned.

2. Rinse lentils well.

3. Add the lentils, water and bullion cubes. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

4. While the soup is cooking, slowly fry 2 finely sliced onions in evoo until deep golden brown. This will take a while, but is oh so worth it. Trust me. You do, right?

5. Blend soup with an immersion blender or using a traditional blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Reheat gently. Once the soup is ready to serve, top each bowl — mug — tureen — or whatever mode of serving you choose with a glistening pile of caramelized onions.

Mouth-watering good. Go ahead, make this soup. Show someone your love through food. Create a place of comfort for someone, it is so rewarding, I promise.

Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable. — Ina Garten

Kitchen gadget side note — Two kitchen supplies I couldn't live without:
1. dutch oven. I have a Martha Stewart version from Macys, similar to this one. I love it!
2. immersion blender. Something like this, nothing fancy.

Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort. — Norman Kolpas

What is your fall comfort food? Share your yummy ideas with me!