‘Sneaky’ Mac & Cheese

I made this mac & cheese for Thanksgiving. I’ve always been kind of curious about the couple of books out there that ’sneak’ vegetables in. I don’t have kids, but sometimes it’s nice to have something that tastes sinful, but actually has quite a few veggies in it.

This was good, but I’m still stuck on the original version I tried last year that rocked my socks off. I could really taste the cream cheese in this recipe, which put it in second place for me. I did like the butternut squash, though I’m not sure it would actually fool kids.

Jessica Seinfeld's Macaroni & cheese

Mac & cheese
From Deceptively Delicious (via recipezaar)

• 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
• nonstick cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup nonfat milk (skim)
• 1/2 cup butternut squash or cauliflower, puree
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the macaroni and cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain in a colander.

2. While the macaroni is cooking, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.

3. Add the oil, then the flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles a thick paste but has not browned (1-2 minutes).

4. Add the milk and cook, stirring every now and then, until the mixture begins to thicken (3 to 4 minutes).

5. Add the vegetable puree, cheddar, cream cheese and seasonings and stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Stir in the macaroni and serve warm.

Mark Bittman’s roasted quinoa with potatoes

This is from Mark Bittman’s book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and I flagged it as soon as I saw it. I’m in love with quinoa and always looking for a new recipe to try. This was a very different one. The quinoa isn’t cooked completely, so it gives this dish some crunch. Though now I’m looking at the recipe again and maybe I should have cooked the quinoa first? Oh well – either way, it was pretty tasty. I used cilantro instead of parsley because I like it’s flavor. I also used the last of our purple potatoes from our CSA.

If you like Mark Bittman, check out his blog, Bitten. (I didn’t know about it until just now – I’ll surely be spending some time on it now!)

Mark Bittman's roasted quinoa with potatoes and cheese

Roasted quinoa with potatoes and cheese
(serves 4-6)
From Mark Bittman’s book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb small waxy potatoes, like fingerling, new red, or Peruvian purple (preferred, for aesthetics), peeled if you like, and cute lengthwise into wedges
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt
3/4 cup of quinoa
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup scallion, sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1-2 tbsp minced fresh chile (like jalapeno or Thai) or add hot red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste
6 oz cheese, preferably smoked like gouda, cheddar, or mozzarella, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup minced parsley for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Grease an 8 x 10 inch roasting pan with a tbsp or so of the olive oil.

2. Put the potato wedges and garlic into a large pot with water to cover, salt it, and turn the heat to high. When the water begins to boil, stir in the quinoa. Adjust the heat so that the water boils assertively and cook, stirring once or twice, for about 5 minutes.

3. Drain the quinoa, garlic, and potatoes in a strainer, but leave them fairly wet. Spread them into the prepared pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with the remaining olive oil, and gently toss with a spatula. Spread them out again. Roast, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Gently toss again, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and return the pan to the oven for another 10 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender on the inside and golden on the outside.

4. Add the scallion, bell pepper, and chile and toss everything one last time. Taste and adjust the seasoning, keeping in mind that the cheese will add some saltiness. Spread the cheese over all and return to the oven for another 5-8 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Coconut oil waffles

I’m still working on that jar of coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. I”m  LOVING it. I found this on their web site and decided to treat myself to breakfast at home. (I often forget about breakfast, so this is kind of a treat!)

These came together really fast and were super simple to make. I halved the recipe and it made 3 waffles. I topped them with some sliced strawberries I had in the freezer and leftover whipped cream. I had a second one on another day with agave – SO delicious. I really love the slight coconut flavor of these.

coconut oil waffles

Coconut oil waffles

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 ¾ cups organic milk
• ½ cup organic virgin coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon whole sugar – I did use the full amt, even though I halved everything else.
• 4 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt

Heat waffle Iron.

Beat eggs until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients.

Pour 2/3 cup batter onto center of hot waffle iron. Close lid and bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops.

Carefully remove waffle. Serve immediately topped with organic maple syrup, fresh berries and grass-fed butter.

Previous posts using coconut oil:
Hot chocolate

baked potatoes

Oh She Glows cookie balls

tropical steel-cut oats

Tropical steel-cut oats

I love oatmeal. Which is funny, because up until February, I was convinced I hated it.

My mom used to make the instant stuff for my sister when we were kids and I never, ever understood how she could gobble it up and ask for more. Thankfully, my mom wasn’t the type to force me to eat things I didn’t like – well, except asparagus, which, incidentally, I now like too. Go figure.

So, when Scott and I went on vacation to Ireland and sat down to breakfast at the inn and were promptly served a huge bowl of oats, I cringed. I’m usually pretty good at trying new things, and I obviously didn’t want to be rude and send it back untouched, so I took a few bites. And then added about four spoonfuls of raw sugar to make it palatable.

As the week wore on, I added less sugar (and tried it with some Baileys – oh.my.gosh.) and really started to enjoy breakfast. When I returned home and started craving oats, I knew I’d been converted.

One morning this week, I got to thinking about the HUGE jar of coconut oil in my cabinet and what else to make with it and decided on oatmeal. I always toast my oats in a bit of butter before adding the water, so I thought I’d try it with coconut oil instead.

The result? Deliciousness! The oats have a tropical taste to them – I topped it with half a banana, a tablespoon of chia seeds and some shredded coconut. I didn’t even need to add any raw sugar to the top. It was so good. It reminded me of a pina colada – then again, anything with coconut reminds me of that!

 

tropical steel cut oats

 

Tropical steel-cut oats

1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1 1/2 cup water
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 banana
1 tbsp chia seeds – optional
1 tbsp shredded coconut
raw sugar – optional (depending on how ripe the banana is, you might not need additional sugar)

Melt oil in pan and add oats. Toast for a bit.
Add water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Put half of mix into bowl and add about 1/4 cup milk (I use almond milk) and top with sliced banana, chia seeds and shredded coconut.

Refrigerate the second portion – when ready to eat, add 1/4 cup milk (I like almond milk), mashing the oatmeal into the milk to make incorporate. Add sliced banana and mix. Microwave for 45 seconds. Sitr. Microwave for 45 seconds.

What are your favorite oatmeal toppings?

Black bean and butternut squash chili with swiss chard

Don’t worry, I’ve got more coconut oil recipes coming. I had to take a break and post this recipe from Epicurious because it was just that good. I really loved it. It really reminded me of the squash burritos I had a few weeks ago and loved. The best part, was that since I used leftover squash I roasted for the squash pizza, this came together in about 20 minutes. I added a bit of leftover chicken I needed to use up, but I’m sure it would have been great without it.

black bean and butternut squash chili with swiss chard

Black bean and butternut squash chili with swiss chard
from epicurious.com

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
• 3 cups (packed) coarsely chopped Swiss chard leaves (from 1 small bunch)

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until tender and golden, about 9 minutes. Add squash; stir 2 minutes. Stir in chili powder and cumin. Stir in beans, broth, and tomatoes with juices; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in chard; simmer until chard is tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle chili into bowls and serve.

Oh She Glows’ cookie balls

While searching for some more coconut oil recipes, I came across this one from the fabulous Angela at Oh She Glows. I absolutely adore Angela and her admire strength. The few times I’ve e-mailed her, she’s been so sweet and helpful. Plus she’s got an amazing bakery and posts the most mouth-watering vegan dishes. Oh, and her cat, Sketchie, is just about the cutest thing ever – right after my own, of course

Let’s talk about these cookie balls … They are SO amazing. SO easy and absolutely delicious. These are great to bring to a party or just give to someone trying to eat healthier because they taste SINFUL, but they’re healthy. I’m planning to make a batch to take to my parents over the holidays.

Oh She Glows' cookie balls

Cookie balls
From Angela at Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ground raw cashews
• 1 cup ground oats
• 1.5 cup ground walnuts
• 1/4 cup Agave Nectar
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil

• 1 heaping T of carob powder
• 1 heaping T of cocoa
• Shredded coconut

Directions:

Dough: Grind up raw cashews and oats in a food processor. Place ookie dough ingredients (except for cocoa, carob and coconut) into a large bowl and mix by hand or with a spoon. Mix until a dough forms and you can make a large ball. If your dough is too sticky add more ground walnuts or cashews to make it thicker. Divide batter into 3 equal parts and place in 3 small bowls. In one of the parts mix in the cocoa powder. In another part, mix in the carob, and in the last part just leave it as is. This will form the three flavours of balls. Pop the balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and pop into the freezer for 10 mins.

Melt chocolate. Remove balls from freezer and dip into the chocolate if preferred. Sprinkle with chia seeds. Roll other balls in coconut. Pop into freezer to set again and then remove and leave at room temperature. Easy as that!

*I’m dumb and can’t follow directions, so I used 2 Tbsp cocoa and just added it all to the mix. I didn’t separate into 3 flavors. But they tasted good still!

Oh She Glows' cookie balls

After I made them, my twitter conversation with Angela went something like this:

Me: @ohsheglows – omg .. am in love with the cookie balls.
Angela: That’s what she said!

Operation Baking Gals- Round 15

I volunteered to be a host for Operation Baking Gals, Round 15! I’m so excited to be a part of this amazing group.

Operation Baking Gals is a group that sends packages to troops serving overseas. When I heard there weren’t enough people to host soldiers, I knew I had to volunteer. It’s hard enough being away from your family and loved ones, but to be so far away during the holidays is even worse. This is just ONE way to help make a difference for our soldiers. Find out more by visiting Operation Baking Gals. The best part is for each soldier, up to 20 people can join and volunteer to send a care packages – it doesn’t have to be baked goods! Most of these soldiers share with their group and it really shows them how much we care about them, even if we don’t know them personally.

Our soldier’s name is Jonan and his super sweet wife, Rachel, nominated him. I’ve traded a few e-mails with her and found that Jonan loves peanut butter and chocolate, which led me to buy the biggest jar of Skippy I could find!

If you’d like to join me, here’s how to sign up:

1. Go to http://www.bakinggals.com/ and Log In or Create a New Account (If you’re creating a new account, it can take up to a day to be approved.)
2. Go to Join a Round 15 Team.
3. Join Team Santa’s Little Baker (if the team is full at 20 people signed up, please consider signing up for another team, or sign up for another anyway! You can read about each soldier by clicking on Meet the Round 15 Teams.)
4. Wait for an e-mail with the shipping address.

If you have any questions, please visit the Operation Baking Gals FAQ, or leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Please consider helping bring some holiday cheer to a soldier far from home. If you know of anyone serving overseas who’d like to receive packages, please let me know!

And don’t forget, you can get flat-rate shipping boxes delivered from the post office for free by clicking here. They even say “America Supports You.” Plus, they ship for $11.95! (You do have to order a package of 10 – but you don’t pay until you mail them, and hopefully you’ll join us again to support our troops!)

Coconut oil baked potatoes

My second dish that utilizes the free sample of Tropical Traditions gold standard virgin coconut oil is baked potatoes. There’s really nothing to this dish and it is delicious. I got the idea from Ericalea at Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen.

 

coconut oil potatoes

 

Coconut oil potatoes

3 medium yukon gold or russet potatoes
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Wash and scrub potatoes to remove dirt. Remove any undesirable spots with a knife. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise.

2. Pour the coconut oil into the bottom of a 8×8-inch pan. Sprinkle with Kosher or Sea salt. Place the potatoes, cut side down, in the bottom of the pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 1 hour, or until the cut sides of the potatoes are browned and the flesh is soft. To serve, cut the potato open through the skin and spread with a little butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dab on a bit of sour cream.

I loved this recipe so much that I used it again with purple potatoes chopped into bite size pieces and sprinkled with Yah’s Best seasonings.

Product review: Tropical Traditions coconut oil

The kind people at Tropical Traditions recently sent me a free 32 oz. container of their gold label standard virgin coconut oil to review. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to check out this product. So far, I’m loving this stuff.

There are plenty of blogs out there that focus on some of the great reasons to use coconut oil and I’m going to just share a few of those links with you.

• Tropical Traditions About us – Find out more about this specific brand, including how it’s made, and how products are chosen
• Living a Whole Life - this post talks about coconut oil and  some of the benefits
• Coconutoil.com - a list of several articles on coconut oil.

Instead, I’m going to try to post a recipe every day this week that uses coconut oil to show you how versatile this is. Plus, I’ve got 32 ounces to use.

First up, a simple recipe for hot chocolate that I think rivals any instant mix ever created.

hot chocolate with coconut oil

• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp. melted coconut oil
• 2 tbsp. agave nectar
• milk to fill mug (I use almond milk)

Mix cocoa powder, agave and coconut oil in a mug until you have a thick chocolate sauce. Add milk and microwave for about 45 seconds to warm. Stir together and warm again if needed. Top with marshmallows if desired.

Two tips:

1. You can heat the milk before adding it to the mug, which will make it easy to stir in the sauce. If you add cold milk, be sure to remove the spoon before adding the milk. Otherwise, the coconut oil will harden quickly and a lot of the chocolate sauce will stick to the spoon.

2. This chocolate sauce can be used for pretty much anything. Use it as a topping for ice cream, dipping strawberries or you can even spread it out on a piece of parchment and put it in the freezer to make almost like a chocolate bar and eat it straight.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.

Got squash? I do.

 

squash bounty

If my recent squash posts haven’t gotten across that I’m liking squash, behold my winter squash stash (and a Lovie). Here we have (clockwise from left) a butternut squash (times two – the other was already cut & baking),  a hubbard, a pie pumpkin, two sweet dumplings, and a kabocha.

The butternut that was roasting was turned into this:

 

butternut squash pizza

Butternut squash pizza
From Real Simple

• 1  butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled
• 1  small yellow onion, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rings – I used a red onion from our CSA
• 3  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  kosher salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  1-pound package refrigerated pizza dough
• 1  tablespoon  cornmeal
• 1  tablespoon  fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2  cup  fresh ricotta

Heat oven to 400° F.

Cut the squash into 1/2-inch-thick slices, then cut each slice into 1-inch chunks. Place the squash and onion on a baking sheet. Drizzle with the oil, season with the salt and pepper, and toss. Roast until tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Increase oven temperature to 450° F. Roll the dough out 1/4 inch thick. Clean the baking sheet and sprinkle it with the cornmeal. Place the dough on top. Scatter the squash* and onion mixture over the dough, sprinkle with the thyme, and add dollops of the ricotta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Slice into wedges.

 

butternut squash pizza

 

*I didn’t use all the squash that I roasted. In fact, I only cut the top portion of the butternut and probably used half that for the pizza. The other half will be used for another dish. The bottom of the squash was pureed and frozen.

 

I’ve got a few ideas on how to use the rest of these bad boys, but am open to any suggestions you have. What would you make with all this wonderful winter produce?