Day 3: Squashy Goodness

Today I am definitely feeling better. Not great, but better. Yesterday was lousy. I drank some Acai berry tea from a sampler pack. Either I was having some other issue at the same time or that tea made me feel like I had a headache and was going to vomit at the same time. Gross.

I have found the secret to making protein shake tasty, Peanut butter. I don't think it's in line with the whole juice fast thing, but I could use the extra proteins and fatty acids. That being said I think I'm going to go to Whole Foods or some place where they have those own choose yo' nuts and make some buttah! things. I wish they were marketed that way. Anyway I'm thinking at least that way I'll know it's fresh and there won't be any additional ingredients.

Juice of the Day!

Squashy Goodness
2 summer squash
1 zucchini
2 apples
1 pear
3 cups of spinach
1 cucumber
ginger

Super yummy. I think a little mint would have made it, unfortunately I don't have any right now.

Chris and I got up really early this morning and walked around the lake. It felt kind of taxing, and I just didn't feel like I had much energy, which doesn't really bode well for hiking next weekend. Oh well. Chris and I are planning on eating while hiking. Nut butters, avocado, whole fruits and Veggies. Maybe even some soup (just some veggie puree stuff). That way we'll actually have some fuel for our bodies. There will definitely be an update after that.

Roast Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Sausage, Cranberries and Hazelnuts,

This one is really yummy. Chris says it's one of his new favorites. I made it with brown rice, because that's what I had, but I think wild rice would make it waaaay better. I added sausage and Parmesan for a little more substance, but this would be a great side dish to roasted or grilled meat if you didn't want to just make this. I used a mild sausage, but again, I really think this would be better if you used spicy Italian. I'm going to make this for my Grandma on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, since she tends to be overwhelmed with cooking afterward... It's such a perfect fall recipe.

Ingredients
2.5 Cups Cooked Wild or Brown Rice
3 small acorn squash (each about 10 to 12 ounces), cut in half, seeded, or 1 butternut squash
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 finely chopped onions
2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage leaves

1 lb spicy Italian sausage (remove casings)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons dried cranberries (about 3 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons chopped toasted hazelnuts (about 3 ounces)
1/4-1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan Cheese

Directions
Cook Rice. Transfer rice to large bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil baking sheet. Place squash, cut side down, on sheet. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes. Cool. Using spoon, scoop out pulp from squash, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shell; reserve shells. Transfer pulp to medium bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

I did the first part of this while the squash was cooking to save time....
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until very tender, about 15 minutes. Add sage; stir 2 minutes. Add rice, squash pulp and lemon juice; stir until mixed, breaking up squash pulp into smaller pieces. Mix in 1/2 cup cranberries, 1/2 cup hazelnuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide rice mixture among reserved squash shells. Place in roasting pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake squash until filling is heated through, about 25 minutes.

Delicata Squash with Rosemary, Sage, and Cider Glaze

I realized that I've not really been updating. I promise I will fix that.

Last night Chris and I were feeling a little lazy so while we were grocery shopping we picked up a rotisserie chicken. We had some left over mashed/pureed cauliflower and potatoes and a recipe for Delicata Squash that I'd been dying to try.

Chris and I were split on how this tasted. I really liked it, can't wait to make it again, Chris thought it was good but not amazing. The one thing that I didn't like about the recipe was the directions are not great, so I've fixed them just for you! In the original directions it said to cook over medium heat an an even boil, but 3 cups of cold liquid takes a LOOOOONG time to come to a boil in the first place and the directions don't indicate that you should increase the heat to bring it to a boil and THEN cook on medium. Anyway, I decided to follow the recipe exactly and about 20 minutes in decided to pull the squash and then reduce the sauce separately.

The only other change I made was that I used red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar. IF you do this, you need to add a little sugar. I used about 1.5 teaspoons of brown sugar. I also think a little heat wouldn't go amiss in this recipe, but choose something that won't muddy up the flavor. I suggest red pepper flakes, maybe 1/4 - 1/2 tsp.

Bottom Line: 4.3 Stars 

Salmon with Lentils and Herb-Mustard Butter

This was sooooo yummy, and fairly easy to make. If you feel like making your guests a slightly unusual dish without a ton of effort. DO THIS. I served it with sauteed Starburst Squash. You might want to try a more colorful vegetable though just in terms of presentation.

I don't really have much else to say about the recipe other than French Green Lentils are awesome, a better alternative to more common starches, and taste great when everything on your plate is smothered in delicious herb butter. Yay for fat.

Bottom Line: 4.6 Stars

Broiled Salmon and Sauteed Squash and Spinach

So I thought that although I'm not doing anything really special with the vegetables that doesn't mean that I shouldn't include the recipes for the rest of the stuff.

This is a pretty easy, standard meal, Chris and I made it with Steelhead tail. This is how we almost always make veggies unless we are roasting them. The salmon recipe calls for "Fines Herbs" we just left this out, thinking that the dill would be sufficient. We were pretty happy with it! We didn't make any tartar sauce, but it would have been a great addition.

Bottom Line: 3.6 Stars (Solid, but not great)