Squash
On one of our more recent grocery store trips, I bought a spaghetti squash. I had never had it before, and had no idea how to eat it, but it sounded interesting. It was a gorgeous sunshine yellow on the outside, free of any blemishes. I sort of assumed it would be like regular squash..and I'm so glad I was wrong. Spaghetti tecnifibre squash racquet is this amazing winter vegetable that when baked and forked mimics actual spaghetti pasta. It leaves you with these great strands of squash that taste however you season them (extra garlic-y for me!) and have a texture reminiscent of pasta- but way better for you!. My favorite part about spaghetti squash is that at only 43 calories in a 2/3 cup serving, so you can totally pig out on it without feeling guilty! Its full of potassium, fiber, Vitamins B6 C, and low in saturated fat and cholesterol. And j In the last week I've done a bunch of things. I returned to a vintage shop, just up the street, to buy a pair of old metal kitchen stools (painted a muted shade of robin's egg blue). Someone beat me to it. I baked a granola pound cake (a bit of a miss), brewed two batches of California common, and bought a sack of stinging nettles at the Farmers market to work into the cottage cheese pancakes I can't seem to get enough of. There were three loads of laundry, two runs of the dishwasher, and lots of friends who've stopped by. And I made this Miso Sesame Winter Squash for lunch yesterday. It's a riff on one of the recipes in Bryant Terry's new cookbook – his Molasses, Miso, and Maple Candied Sweet Potatoes. I swapped in some delicata squash and tofu for his sweet potatoes, and had myself a pretty spectacular one-pan meal. I'm a big fan of Bryant's recipes (remember these?) They're always flavor-forward, and across the span of a book he tends to pull from a global pantry. He has the ability to put together unexpected flavor combinations, and he's just the sort of person I like to turn to when I need someone to yank me out of one of those occasional culinary ruts every cook finds themselves in. Here's how today's recipe shapes up. You've got your primary ingredients tossed with a citrus-spiked, maple-molasses marinade of sorts. The sappy sweetness is balanced by the salty complexity of miso and tamari/shoyu, and a toasted sesame backdrop is added for good measure. It works brilliantly. Thinking more about it, I imagine you could use the sauce/marinade to roast any number of ingredients beyond winter squash or sweet potatoes – for ex: tempeh, broccoli, cauliflower. Let me know if you do a take on this that works particularly well. As I mention up above, I used unpeeled, seeded delicata squash here, but you can use other winter squash. Peel it first though. Bryant uses 2 1/2 lbs. peeled sweet potatoes / no tofu. In a large bowl, toss the squash with 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil. Spread the squash on a parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 40 minutes, turning over with a fork after 20 minutes. Or, until golden on both sides. In the meantime, in a medium-size bowl, whisk together the molasses, tamari, maple syrup, miso, orange juice, lemon juice, lemon zest, water, and the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil. Add the tofu, toss to coat, and set aside. Transfer the squash to a 2-quart baking dish. Pour the tofu mixture over the squash, and gently toss. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until a good amount of the marinade boils off. Toss a couple times along the way. Finish under the boiler if you like, or if you like a bit of extra color on top. Remove from the oven, and season with salt, if needed. Finish with some toasted sesame seeds, chopped arugula, and/or herbs, and serve immediately with lemon wedges on the side (to squeeze on top). A favorite recipe from chef Bryant Terry's newest book, Vegan Soul Kitchen. A richly spiced potato, pea, corn, carrot, and cabbage filling is wrapped with a turmeric-hued pastry crust made with coconut oil. I used my friend Molly Watson's recipe as a jumping off point here, and ended up with a roasted squash salad of sorts. It uses the pretty, scalloped-edged cross-cuts of the delicata squash, a few small potatoes, chopped kale, radishes, Marcona almonds – and a bold miso harissa dressing. I inherited a CSA box packed with greens the other night, inspiring this simple one-pot winter pasta with a sauce made from a full bunch of kale, shallots, garlic, and goat cheese. That is beautiful with the fresh greens on top. I often make a delicata