Tag: meatless monday

Try This- 4 Ingredient Homemade Beer Biscuits

Thanks to my local farmers’ market, I’ve been swimming in butternut squash and I’ve been making the most divine Butternut Squash, Sour Cream, and Apple Cider Soup at least three times a week. Since the weather has taken a turn for the worse, nothing warms my bones like a hearty fall soup and I’m totally obsessed with this one. The thing is, I was craving the perfect bread to sop up what my spoon couldn’t handle, and add that extra stick to your ribs push that almost every fall soup recipe needs.

So I started reminiscing about last year’s Pumpkin Beer & Sharp Cheddar Gnocchi Soup, I realized that what I was missing from this year’s obsession was that subtle flavor of beer. Beer, much like bacon, or cheese, or sugar, makes pretty much everything taste better. You guys… beer biscuits… that is all. I found this healthy beer biscuit recipe, and while they look absolutely delicious, I decided that, for me, making a healthy version of beer biscuits is about as useless as searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie. Instead, I tweaked the recipe for a naughtier, more decadent, and undeniably simpler version. With just 4 ingredients, these homemade beer biscuits are super easy to make and they round out every fall meal from salad to soup. You must try this!

Homemade Beer Biscuits

ingredients

  • 4 cups Bisquick (or homemade biscuit mix)
  • ¼ cup sugar (for slightly sweeter biscuits you can use ½ cup)
  • 1 (12oz) bottle or can of your favorite beer
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted

directions

  • preheat oven to 400°F
  • mix all ingredients well
  • pour into well-greased muffin tins
  • bake for 15-20 minutes
  • serve with honey butter and your favorite fall soup!

Try This—Roasted Pumpkin Salad With Spinach and Feta

I have an insatiable sweet tooth, and while I should technically feel bad about the entire loaf of Blueberry Streusel Bread I ate over the weekend, I’m taking comfort in the fact that my other latest obsession is this healthy salad recipe. I absolutely love salads that incorporate something cooked, especially since the addition of something warm makes it easier to enjoy a fresh salad in cold weather. This Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Spinach and Feta from Recipe Tin Eats ticks all the boxes. It’s seasonal, it’s sweet, it’s savory, it’s comfort food, and  best of all it’s healthy.

I’ve made this recipe with winter squash, but roasted pumpkin is always the clear winner. When roasted just right, the pumpkin is sweet and juicy without being too mushy (as squash can sometimes be). The feta adds a zing of salty and creamy, while the pine nuts add a nutty crunch. This is the perfect salad recipe for those colder Autumn and Winter days, and makes a great addition to your Thanksgiving menu. Delicious! You must try this!!!

Roasted Pumpkin Salad with Spinach and Feta

ingredients

for the roasted pumpkin

  • 1½ lbs pumpkin, peeled and cubed
  • 1½ tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper

for the dressing

  • 2½ tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • salt and pepper

for the salad

  • 5 oz (about 4 handfuls) baby spinach
  • 2 oz feta, crumbled
  • ¼ c pine nuts (optional)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 430°F.
  • Toss pumpkin with olive oil, salt and pepper.
  • Spread on baking tray, bake for 20 minutes.
  • Remove from oven, flip, then bake for a further 7 – 10 minutes until golden but not mushy.
  • Remove from oven and immediately loosen pumpkin with a spatula (pumpkin tends to stick to the backing sheet as it cools).
  • In a small mason jar, combine salad dressing ingredients and shake well.
  • If using pine nuts, toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat until light golden and they smell nutty.
  • Remove them from the skillet as soon as they’re ready and set aside. 
  • Place spinach in a bowl, drizzle with a bit of the dressing then toss. 
  • Add pumpkin, just a bit of feta and pine nuts, then gently toss just to disperse the feta.
  • Transfer to serving plate.
  • Sprinkle over remaining feta and pine nuts.
  • Just before serving, drizzle with remaining dressing. Serve and enjoy!

Try This— Penne With Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

This Fall inspired variation on the classic Cacio e Pepe is the ultimate comfort food.

Maybe I’m unlucky in life, but the entire time I was in Rome this summer, I didn’t have one single incredible food moment. The stars aligned and I was truly blessed enough to travel around Europe. We spent a full week in the Eternal City, and I could barely contain my excitement about sampling the food. In fairness, I had heard so much about how great the food in Rome was that I probably built it up in my head until my expectations could never be satisfied. After crawling around Rome from Monti to Trastevere looking for delicious food, I finally just gave up. Our last night in Rome, we stayed in and I made this Cacio e Pepe dish in the kitchen of our vacation rental.

Since being back, I’ve been so over Italian food. I don’t know if it has anything to do with my experience in Rome, but I just haven’t really had that Italian food craving that has been an ever present part of my life. Anyway, this weekend I suddenly had that old Italian food itch that I’ve been missing so much, and I decided to make this Fall inspired cacio e pepe I discovered on Food Network. The subtle sweetness of butternut squash paired with the tartness of goat cheese is a game changer. You must try this!!!

Penne With Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil cooking spray
  • 1 (2-pound) butternut or kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
  • 1 onion, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • Olive oil, for drizzling
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound penne pasta
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) goat cheese, crumbled
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
  • 1 packed cup chopped fresh basil leaves
  • 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan

Directions

  1. Put an oven rack in the upper third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Spray a baking sheet, liberally, with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside.
  3. Mix the squash and onion together and arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake for to 40 to 45 minutes until the vegetables are golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
  4. While the squash mixture is cooling, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water. Put the pasta, goat cheese and 1 cup of pasta water in a large serving bowl. Toss until the cheese has melted and forms a creamy sauce. Add the squash and onion mixture, the walnuts and the basil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with Parmesan and serve.

Try This— Classic Homemade Cacio e Pepe

I’m heading out on another European adventure this Summer. First stop: Rome. This will be my first time visiting the Eternal City  and while I imagine the Sistine Chapel is really impressive, I’m mostly looking forward to dining out on really real Italian food. Everybody I know is telling me that I have to try cacio e pepe while I’m there. Cacio e pepe, literally translating to ‘cheese and pepper’, is standard Roman fare, and if the name is any indication, it sounds like it’s as close to perfection as food can get because, well, cheese and pepper.

Anyway, I scoured the internet for a recipe that I could prepare at home so that I when I try it in Rome, I can slowly lean back at the table, loosen my jeans button, and arrogantly say, “the cacio e pepe I make at home is waaaayyyyy better.” #petty. So, I found this amazing recipe from the fine folks at Food52, and I’m pretty confident that this dish will hold up against any cacio e pepe I order in Rome. For real, this recipe is real life weeknight dinner goals. You must try this!

Classic Homemade Cacio e Pepe

ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns crushed in a mortar and pestle or 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons sea salt
  • 1 (16 oz) package spaghetti
  • 3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • About 3/4 to 1 cup of cooking water

Directions

  • In a pot over low heat, heat the crushed peppercorn with the olive oil.
  • In a pot large enough to cook the spaghetti, bring water to a boil.
  • Turn the heat off under the olive oil and add about 1/2 cup of the hot cooking water from the pot into the pan, then set aside.
  • When the pasta water comes to a rolling boil, add the salt, stir, then add the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti until 2 minutes under the lowest time recommended on the package. Using tongs (you don’t want to get the rid of the water), add the pasta to the pot with the pepper. Turn the heat onto very low and turn the pasta continuously until most of the water is absorbed. At this point, remove from the heat and transfer to a warm bowl.
  • Still tossing, begin adding the two grated cheeses, a couple handfuls at a time. If it starts to get dry, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of pasta water. Keep turning and turning, adding cheese and pasta water, a little at a time, until all the cheese has been incorporated and you have a lovely creamy sauce coating each strand of pasta. Eat immediately.

 

Try This— Root to Stalk Cooking

I don’t want to look back on my life and think, I could’ve eaten that. Anyone that’s ever tended their own vegetable garden, or paid those hefty price tags for organic vegetables knows the pain of throwing those perfectly green stalks into the compost heap. The amount of care we take and the amount of money we spend to have fresh, organic vegetables in our kitchens is reason enough to adopt the philosophy of root to stalk cooking. The most convincing reason though is that we’ve been robbing ourselves of some pretty vital nutrients and unexpectedly rich flavors without even knowing it. While every home cook knows that vegetable scraps can make the perfect broth, it’s totally easy to overlook the other awesome root to stem cooking techniques. You must try this!

Cauliflower doesn’t have to be cut into florets. Instead, you can slice straight through the stem to create ‘cauliflower steaks’ to roast in the oven or sear in a pan with tomatoes, black olives, and capers

Leeks have those dark green tops that take longer to cook, but transform into a braising green with a slight onion flavor that gives a richness to egg dishes

Beet greens look and taste like a cross between beets and chard (earthy and sharp) and are delicious sautéed and added to a whole-grain salad (think quinoa or cous cous) with pickled beets, goat cheese, and walnuts

Radishes come with peppery-tasting leaves that you can use as salad greens tossed with sweet corn, tomatoes, and a creamy dressing, along with the radishes themselves.

Broccoli stalks used to never make it to my plate. But the silky, dark leaves surrounding broccoli stalks cook like spinach and taste like the sweetest broccoli you’ve ever had. The stalk itself can be peeled leaving the sweet and crunchy part of the stem which is just a perfect addition to a stir fry

Fennel fronds and stems are sweeter than the white bulbs and have a stronger anise flavor. If you like licorice, you can thinly slice the stems and candy them, or head in a savory direction and toss them in a salad with sliced fennel bulbs, shaved Parmesan, lemon juice, and olive oil

These tips and more delicious recipes can be found in Tara Duggan’s Root to Stalk Cooking available on Amazon.