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

Roast Salmon with Green Beans and Black Bean Cakes

The unanaimous decision on these was: Good but not great, but they could be great.

They need cilantro in the cake, and a little more heat. I used the bell/jalapeno combo rather than the poblano because there weren't any when I went grocery shopping and I didn't want to make a special trip. Maybe next time I will...

I was a little unsure about what creamy beans look like, but other than that this recipe is not super difficult but it is time consuming. Make sure you start these EARLY. Chris and I ended up giving up on night one and saving the pureed beans for the next day.

The only tricky thing about these is actually cooking them. If you've ever made fried mashed potato pancakes you know how tricky it is. It requires a lot of patience, needless to say Chris got a little frustrated. :p Make sure when you're cooking these you cook them on true medium and ROTATE them before you flip them to ensure they are cooked evenly. The only thing that holds this guys together is the crust that forms from frying so unless you want just a gooshy mess, take your time, rotate, flip, rotate and then finish them in the oven.

What I am really excited about for this recipe is making Huevos Rancheros without a tortilla. I think some eggs, shrimp cheese and salmon would be FANTASTIC on these with or without heat. If you try it let me know how it goes, I might do it this weekend. If you have any questions about roasting salmon or cooking green beans leave a comment.

Bottom line: 3.7 Stars with Potential for a solid 4.5

Muffin Tin Omelet/Fritata

I think most people who work and need to commute in the morning hate having to cook breakfast, and hate skipping it even more. It's so early and all you want to do is spend that extra 10-15 minutes in bed rather than get up to cook. Who needs to eat anyway? Then it's two hours later and you're looking longingly at a Starbucks for the first time in your life and thinking "They have breakfast in there...sort of!"

Normally I would make breakfast burritos in a large batch, but since Chris is limiting his carbs we needed something that got the job done, was high in protein and didn't require me waking up to cook in the morning. These are the solution! Chris and I made them last night, and I ate mine this morning for breakfast. It was pretty delicious, despite having canned spinach (which is disgusting). 

These are awesome because they're already broken up for individuals, and if you have to make them for a bunch of people you can customize them based on what people do/don't like. And they are super versatile!

We did sort of Mediterranean type thing: Spinach, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, garlic, bacon and I topped mine with a little feta crumbled up. But it would be easy to do something more Spanish (topped with salsa and avocado) or something really traditional.

Bottom Line: 4.5 Stars

Turnip and Onion Au Gratin

This is a pretty good approximation of potatoes au gratin, without the potato. If you have somebody who doesn't eat potato (freaks), make this for them. It's tasty! Not much else to say on it. Going to be a little of a recipe hiatus, since we're starting the cleanse Monday. I've started a separate journal geared toward that. Comment with your email address if you would like access. I'll continue to post on this journal as well, just in a limited way.

Bottom Line 4.3 Stars (Turnips just aren't potatoes)

Master Cleanse

I think Chris and I are going to do the Master Cleanse for 10 days starting on Monday. I am mostly doing it for health reasons, but I am also attending a wedding on the 13th and was thinking that dropping a few lbs prior would be a good thing, I am fully aware that I will almost certainly gain that weight back, but this cleanse is going to be the beginning of a permanent dietary change that Chris and I are starting.

The plan as of now is this:
Saturday July 30th - No meat or dairy, 70/30 veggies and fruit. As much liquids as possible. focusing mainly on soups and drinking a lot of water.
Sunday July 31st - Fresh orange juice and any left over soup/veggies
Monday August 1st - Day 1 of cleanse
Wednesday August 10th - Last day of cleanse
Thursday August 11th - Orange juice and possibly some soup
Friday August 12th - Soup and some solid foods, no meat or dairy
Saturday August 13th - Wedding

Mama's Chili

I don't like chili. Unless it comes on a hot dog or french fries I'm generally not interested. That being said, of all the chili I have tasted, I still think my Mom's is best. I know that most children think their Mom's cooking is the best, however, when you have a chef with 30 years of experience as your Mother, you are probably right.

When I made this Chris was a little dubious. Cocoa powder? There's a lot of water... etc. If you aren't familiar with cocoa in chili, you should try it. It brings all the flavors out, adds an earthy sweetness that when it's mixed with the beans and the meat make it hum.

I had a mix of beans so you'll get some mixed directions. Making it with dry beans is BY FAR the cheaper way, so as long as you have the time to devote do it. We have a bajillion cans of kidney beans so I added 3 of them to the dry beans I had soaked. It was yummy. You can make it spicier if you want. To my mind it's always better to make it milder, since spice tends to grow the longer it sits, and you can always add more.

This is a pretty sizeable batch of Chili. Chris and I filled up 4 yogurt containers which we froze, and still had enough for two lunches each and a little to have with dinner.