Category: Sides

Roasted Acorn Squash

1/17/2015

This recipe is inspired by one of my old roommates, for those nights when you want something warm, comforting, and healthy, but you don't want to put in too much effort. I made it the other day when I was working from home. I didn't have a whole ton of time to spend on prepping food, because I had to get work done, plus I didn't have many ingredients to work with. I had an acorn squash that had been sitting there for a while and I didn't quite know what to do with it. Then I remembered the countless roasted squash (I'm pretty sure the only thing she used the oven for) that my roommate used to make and inspiration struck!

This is recipe is about as easy as you can get. Slice the squash, scoop out the seeds, add some fat and sugar, and roast until soft. My roommate normally put butter on it, but I decided to use coconut oil. I don't generally have vegan butter on hand. I prefer to replace it with something less processed than fake butter.

This recipe hit the spot! Basically just vegetables with a little bit of decadence - perfect for a light lunch.

You could also serve it as a side dish to a larger meal.

Ingredients:
1 Acorn Squash
2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Spread one tablespoon of coconut oil over each half of the squash. Make sure to coat the squash evenly to prevent burnt spots. Sprinkle one tablespoon of brown sugar on each of the squash.

Roast for at least 40 minutes. Cooking time will vary based on the size of your squash. I saw many recipes that recommended roasting for at least an hour, but my squash were too small and were starting to burn after 40 minutes.
You should be able to eat the squash with just a fork when it's done.

Serve and enjoy!

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Spiral Veggie Tart with Sweet Potato Crust

1/4/2015

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I made this dish as a side for our feast on Christmas Eve. I combined two recipes that I found on Pinterest. I saw this vegetable tart on Pinterest and thought it was so cool (check out the video on how they made it). My mom thought the same and decided it would look great on a buffet line! That recipe used pie crust and creme fraiche, so I needed to make it gluten free and vegan so that my brother and I could eat it. I had pinned this quiche with sweet potato crust recipe to try the crust sometime and thought it would work great for this. I decided to replace the creme fraiche with a white bean mixture. I'd used white beans as a tart base years ago. Their neutral nature lends them perfectly to this. You can add in whatever seasonings you'd like so the dish doesn't taste like beans and their moisture keeps the dish from drying out and binds the vegetables to the crust.

Make sure your potato isn't sliced too thin and there's a lot of overlap in your crust. It will look like your crust is too think, but the potato slices will shrink during cooking.

My mom was right. This is a great dish to put on a buffet. It's very impressive and looks much more difficult to make than it actually is. I had to be the first one to cut into it because no one wanted to disrupt how great it looked. While it may not have been difficult, it definitely was time consuming, especially because my mom and I did not have the same expectation of how much we were making. I was already to go with two 9 inch pie sheets and she came in and switched them out for 2 13 inch quiche pans.

I made the recipe for one 9 inch pan, since that is a more typical serving size, and much more manageable. It's also helpful if you have someone slicing the vegetables while you arrange them in the pie pan. Thanks Mom!

Ingredients:

3 Medium Sweet Potatoes

3 Zuchinni
3 Squash
5 Large Carrots
1 Large-Medium Eggplant

1 15oz Can White Beans
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Non-Dairy Milk (I used Almond)
2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast (optional)

2 Cloves Garlic
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 6 as a side

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice sweet potatoes and arrange in a crust-like fashion in a 9 inch pie pan. You don't want your slices to be paper thin and a make sure that there is significant overlap among the slices. It will look like the crust is too thick, but the potatoes will cook down significantly. Spray the potatoes with cooking spray and put in the oven for 15 minutes.

If you end up with gaps in your crust you can cook some more potatoes on a cookie sheet and add them in. They will not need to cook for the full 15 minutes.

While your crust is cooking, prepare the base of the filling. Drain and rinse the white beans. Place them in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Add the lemon juice, milk, and nutritional yeast and mix until well combined.

Slice your vegetables using either a vegetable peeler or a mandolin. You can use a knife you you want, but that would take some great skills. You want the vegetable slices to be paper thin so that you roll them up. If you have some slices that are thicker you can use them on the outer edges that don't need to bend as much. Make sure that you get the skin on at least one edge of the slice.

Once the crust has cooled to the touch, fill in any cracks as necessary. Spread the white bean mixture over the crust. It will be thick, so place dollops of it throughout the crust and spread lightly with a fork. You may need to hold down some of the potato slices so they don't move.

Take a vegetable slice and roll it up in a spiral. Place it in the middle of your pie pan. Continue to wrap vegetable slices around the center in an alternating fashion until you finish the pan. You'll have to do a couple rows of the same thing in order to build up the color. Alternate the dark zucchini and eggplant with the lighter carrot and squash. Try to end with something other than the carrot so that there is separation from the orange crust.

Mince the garlic and sprinkle it over the top of the pan. Lightly pour the balsamic vinegar over the top.

Lower the oven temperature to 375 and put the tart in for 40 minutes. The tart is down when the skins of the vegetable slices have soften enough that you can cut through them.

Serve and Enjoy!

2 Comments

Roasted Cauliflower, Pear, and Kale

11/9/2014

2 Comments

I finally had a chance to do some cooking this weekend and use some of the ingredients that I got in my Something GUD delivery last week. I've been thinking all week of how to use the cauliflower and I thought roasting it would be a great way to increase the flavor while maintaining its interesting structure. Jay however, did not agree with me. The spiky cauliflower pieces scared him too much so he was unable to try the dish.

I added the pears for some moisture and flavor and recently saw a recipe for roasted kale on Pinterest so I thought I would try adding some as well. Unless I cut it up really small, I'm not a really a fan of raw kale so I'm always looking for a way to new ways to cook it.

Ingredients:
1 Head of Cauliflower
2 Pears (mine were Bosc)
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon dried Sage
1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
1 Bunch of Kale

Prep Time: 10-15 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Servings: 3-4

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Prep the ingredients - chop the cauliflower and kale and slice the pears. Make sure you only use the leaves of the kale and not the ribs.
Add the cauliflower and pears to a glass casserole dish. Sprinkle the apple cider vinegar, pepper, sage and red pepper flakes over the kale and cauliflower.
Roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Add the kale and roast for 10 more minutes.
I only used about 2 leaves worth of the kale in the casserole dish. I put the rest on a cookie sheet and roasted them on their own (with some red pepper flakes).
Use as a side to a main dish or combine with rice, quinoa, or another grain to make an entree.

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Roasted Acorn Squash

Spiral Veggie Tart with Sweet Potato Crust

Roasted Cauliflower, Pear, and Kale

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