A while back, while scrolling through photos of food on Instagram, I came across a picture of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was enticing.
Let me just say that while I love peanut butter, I’m not fond of jelly. So, ever since I was a kid, I’ve been eating peanut butter sandwiches, sans jelly.
But the PB&J in this photo was so delicious looking, so scrumptious, that it made me think for a moment that maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe I’d judged jelly too harshly. Maybe I should give it another try.
Mmm, no. I’m old enough to know what I like and don’t like. Honey, yes. Jelly, no.
Then, a thought hit me. What if…now, hear me out…what if I made a peanut butter and cranberry sandwich? I had a jar of homemade cranberry sauce left over from Thanksgiving. I’ve used cranberry sauce for many things—why not a sandwich?
And, so, I did. And it was crazy good. I mean crazy AND good.
Leave the zucchini and other fair-weather vegetables to summer. Winter calls for thick-skinned squashes.
My favorite is butternut squash. In my opinion, it not only has the best flavor, but the best texture as well. When cooked down, it’s creamy and smooth, and incredibly diverse.
Roasting brings out the sweetness and beauty in most vegetables, but this is especially true of squash. My mother wanted me to roast squash for Thanksgiving and I wanted to come up with something that was familiar, that I knew would be liked, but something every-so-slightly different. I came up with an easy, delicious honey-soy-mirin glaze and honey-pomegranate sauce…because, you know, pomegranates.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard how healthful pomegranates are. Here’s a quick rundown of their health benefits:
Based on US RDA, one cup of pomegranate seeds contains 7 grams fiber, 3 grams protein, 30% vitamin C, 36% vitamin K, 16% folate, and 12% potassium. They have antiinflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.They help fight cancer, especially prostate and breast, and heart disease, and have been known to improve memory function.
Delicious AND healthy. Do you need anything more? Give this a try on a cold winter day…or even a warm one. Enjoy!
Roasted Butternut Squash with Honey-Soy-Mirin Glaze and Honey-Pomegranate Sauce
1 pomegranate 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon white wine or ginger ale
Grease a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel and seed the squash. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices and place them in a large bowl.In a small bowl, mix together the honey, olive oil, soy sauce, mirin. pour over the squash.
Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Use your hands to spread the mixture over both sides of the squash. Lay the slices neatly on the baking sheet in a single layer.
Roast until almost tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Turn the slices over and continue roasting until fully tender and golden brown at the edges.Meanwhile, make the Honey-Pomegranate Sauce. Cut open the pomegranate and place the pieces in a large bowl of cool water. Separate the seeds from the membrane and discard the skin. Let the membranes rise to the top and scoop them out.Drain in a mesh strainer and rinse.Measure out ½ cup seeds and place in a small pot. Reserve the remaining seeds for the top or another purpose. Mix together the honey and wine and add to pomegranate seeds. Cook over medium-low heat until thickened, about 10 minutes.Transfer cooked squash to a serving platter. Drizzle sauce over top, sprinkle on some fresh pomegranate seeds, and serve.
Pasta comes in so many shapes and sizes, from monstrous, long tubes to the tiniest little dots. Puntine (pronounced poon-TEEN-eh) means “little points,” and that’s what these are. It’s a kind of pasta that’s perfect for soups and dishes like the one I’m offering here today.
This recipe starts off as sort of a pilaf, but ends as a creamy vegetable melange. The addition of beet greens gives it a great flavor and texture, and makes it a healthful dish with plenty of vitamin C and antioxidants.
If you can’t find puntine, a good substitute is orzo. They’re almost the same, except that orzo is a little bigger.
Enjoy!
Puntine with Beet Greens
Makes 4 servings.
1 tablespoon olive oil ½ tablespoon unsalted butter 2 large garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon paprika
½ cup puntine or orzo 2 ½ cups vegetable broth
3 cups chopped beet greens
In a medium pan, heat the oil and butter until the butter is melted. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.Sprinkle in the paprika. Add the puntine and toss so that all the pasta is coated. Toast the puntine for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to low, cover, and let it cook until the broth has been absorbed and the puntine is tender. If the broth is fully absorbed but the pasta isn’t cooked, add a little more water (about ¼ cup) and let it continued cooking until tender.
Add the beet greens and stir them in.Add another ¼ cup water and cover. Let it continue cooking until greens are tender, about 5 minutes. If the puntine starts to stick to the pan at any point, add a little water and stir. Grind in some pepper. If you feel that it needs salt, add some to your taste. Serve.
So, what exactly are husk cherries? That’s what I wanted to know when I spotted them at the Union Square farmers’ Market in Manhattan. At first I thought they were gooseberries because they looked exactly like gooseberries—they were golden globes covered in a paper-thin, skin-like husk.
But the sign said “husk cherries.” Naturally, I bought some.
Native to the New World, husk cherries are not cherries at all. Sometimes also called husk tomatoes, Cape gooseberries, and ground cherries, they’re a type of flowering plant belonging to the nightshade family.
Their flavor is quite unique. It’s like a cross between a tomato, a papaya, and a pineapple. Sweet and savory at the same time. The easiest and no-brainer way to use them is in a salsa, which is exactly how Native Americans peoples used them, as well as eating them out of hand.
I think if food-loving people were smart, they’d introduce themselves to husk cherries and make them better known to the world. They’re really a great little fruit/vegetable. If you ever see them, buy a small bagful and give this recipe a try.
Enjoy!
Husk Cherry Salsa
Makes approximately 1½ cups.
1 cup husk cherries ¼ cup finely chopped red onion 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon minced chile of your choice ¼ minced cilantro 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Remove the husks from the cherries by peeling the husks back and twisting them off. Rinse the cherries in cool water and set on paper towels to drain. Cut the cherries in half and place them in a bowl.Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve with tortilla chips or pita bread, or use as a relish for fish, chicken, pork, or vegetables.
Thanksgiving is coming up and people are always looking for new and different ways to serve favorite and/or traditional dishes. Purple potatoes are a great way to liven up the table.
Purple potatoes are originally from South America (where potatoes in general are originally from), particularly Peru and Bolivia. In fact, they’re sometimes referred to as Purple Peruvian potatoes. While they taste pretty much the same as standard white potatoes, because of their pigment, purple potatoes are high in antioxidants—4 times as much as white potatoes. Antioxidants are cancer-fighting agents, are good for immunity and heart health.
I found some beautiful purple potatoes at the farmers’ market and decided to mash them. Their dramatic blue/purple color makes this a special dish while still giving everyone the scrumptious mashed potatoes they’ve come to love and expect.
Enjoy.
Mashed Purple Potatoes
6 small to medium purple potatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon half-n-half ½ teaspoon sea salt Freshly ground black pepper
Scrub the potatoes and cut them in halves or quarters. Place them in a medium pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat to low, partially cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain well and let cool a bit. When they’re cool enough to handle, peel off the skin.
Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add the oil, half-n-half, salt, and pepper. Mash with a potato masher. (Don’t use a food processor or blender, as this will make the potatoes gummy.)
Check the potatoes for seasoning and adjust, if needed.
More spaghetti squash? Why not? It’s squash season, after all. Squash is synonymous with autumn.
Although spaghetti squash can be found from fall through the spring, there’s something comforting and pleasurable about roasting vegetables in the fall, especially squash. And since many people aren’t sure what to do with spaghetti squash, I’ve been offering some recipes. Last week, I offered Easy Spaghetti Squash Chili. This week, I have for you Roasted Maple-Bourbon Spaghetti Squash with Amaranth Pilaf.
Cultivated by the Aztecs 8,000 years ago, amaranth is a tiny little grain that is surprisingly high in protein, as well as other nutrients. One cup of raw amaranth contains 28 grams of protein, 15 milligrams of iron, and 18 milligrams of fiber, which makes it one of the most nutrient-rich grains on earth.
Amaranth is also a great source of lysine, a protein-rich amino acid. This is good news for those of us who suffer from canker and cold sores. L-lysine has been shown to shorten the life span of canker sores. I can personally attest to this because when one of those little monsters starts making itself known, I start digging into the giant bottle of lysine, and believe me, it works.
So this dish makes the perfect side dish to any autumn meal, but because of the amaranth and almonds, it also is a satisfying entree on its own. And spaghetti squash is low in calories, low in carbs, and almost fat free, so whatever diet you may be on, you can’t go wrong with this squash. You can serve it in lovely slices, or you can scrape out the spaghetti-like flesh and eat it like a pasta dish. Continue reading →
A few months ago I did a blog where I offered a recipe using spaghetti squash. Some people commented to me that they were glad I had done that because they never quite knew what to do with spaghetti squash.
Spaghetti squash can be used in many different ways. This week I decided to use it in a chili. And because spaghetti squash is a fast-cooking squash (about 15 minutes in a steamer), I made the entire recipe a quick-and-easy chili. You can throw this together in less than an hour.
Hi, fellow foodies. We are in full pumpkin swing and candy is popping up all over the place! If you haven’t already, start stocking up because those trick-or-treaters will be knocking on your door in about a week. And you don’t want your house toilet papered, do you?
For any of you having ghoulish gatherings and sinister soirees, there are lots of horrific recipes out there that will make your guests scream…or at least look twice at what they’re eating and drinking. There are recipes out there for every type of ghoulish treat, from cute ghosts and witches to truly horrifying zombies and body parts.
Photo: HalfBaked Harvest.com
If you’re going to be doing any pumpkin carving, don’t throw away all that fabulous flesh and those beautiful seeds! To me, throwing out all that stuff is an abomination. You can prepare the flesh and use it in recipes, the same as you would canned pumpkin. Never done it before? I’ll tell you how.
Celery root, or celeriac, is one of those vegetables that people don’t know what to do with when they see it. Truth is, it can be used in so many ways—essentially, in any dish where root vegetables are called for.
Celery root, aka celeriac
You should, however, like the taste of celery. Celery root has a very strong celery flavor and if that’s not your thing, you might not like it. On the other hand, it’s also sweeter than celery, so even if celery isn’t your favorite thing, you may be pleasantly surprised. I happen to like the flavor of celery, but I don’t enjoy chomping on it when it’s cooked. So, while I add it to other foods, I always pick it out. (I do like it raw, though. Go figure.)
Will you like celery root? You won’t know until you try. Here’s a simple way to cook it. If you’ve never had it before, this is an easy introduction to it.
You can find celery root at farmers’ markets, most supermarkets, and sometimes at local produce stores.
Enjoy.
Sauteed Celery Root with Red Onion
Makes about 4 servings.
1 medium celery root 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon dry basil 1 teaspoon paprika ½ teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Peel celery root. Cut off root and stem, then slice off the skin with a vegetable peeler or sharp knife.
Cut the celery root into wedges, then slice them into ¼-inch-thick pieces. You should get about 2 cups.
Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add basil and paprika. Add the celery root, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Sauté stirring occasionally, until celery root starts to brown. This could take up to 15 minutes.
Cover and lower heat, cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Tuscan kale is a beautiful specimen of the kale family. The leaves are long and dainty looking, and look really pretty in a garden. But like standard kale, the leaves are hearty and the stems tough. Thick stems should be cut off and the leaves need to cook for a substantial amount of time (versus greens such s spinach or chard, which cook down in a few minutes).
potatoes in general are originally from), particularly Peru and Bolivia. In fact, they’re sometimes referred to as Purple Peruvian potatoes. While they taste pretty much the same as standard white potatoes, because of their pigment, purple potatoes are high in antioxidants—4 times as much as white potatoes. Antioxidants are cancer-fighting agents, are good for immunity and heart health.
More spaghetti squash? Why not? It’s squash season, after all. Squash is synonymous with autumn. 
A few months ago 
Miz Chef 