Healthy Autumn Salad

Hi guys! I'm so glad to be back - my nose is no longer stuffy; I can breathe and taste again!!! I started feeling better just in time for our Canadian Thanksgiving holiday {and for that I am thankful!}. This past weekend was full of family, food and fun.

I am still stuffed from two back-to-back days of Thanksgiving dinners  ~ can you say 'hello stretchy pants'???

Heavy meals, holiday parties and lots of comfort food can be pretty dangerous this time of year! I find that the Fall results in a lot more temptation and I tend to crave carb-heavy meals and can easily go a little light on my fruits and veggies.

After a weekend like this past one, it's critical for me to get right back on track with my eats. I created this salad on the weekend and while it's light and healthy, it includes some roasted butternut squash, which totally satisfies my love of comforting Fall fare.

Healthy Autumn Salad

Serves 4 - 6 as an appetizer salad

For the salad:

2.5 - 3 c chopped butternut squash*

1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

6 c mixed greens

1large apple, chopped

1/2 sweet yellow pepper, chopped

1/4 c dried cherries

1/4 c dry roasted unsalted pepitas

2 - 3 oz crumbled goat cheese

*Slice the neck of your butternut squash into 1/2" thick rounds and then cut each round into quarters.

For the dressing:

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp dijon mustard

2 - 3 tbsp honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Place all of the dressing ingredients into your blender or Magic Bullet and blend well. Refrigerate.

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place your chopped squash into a bowl and drizzle with the olive oil and sea salt. Spread the chopped squash onto your cookie sheet and roast for 30 minutes, making sure to flip about halfway through the roasting time.

Once roasted, remove the squash from the oven and set aside to cool.

To assemble your salad, place your mixed greens into your salad bowl. Add the squash, apple and pepper and toss. Top the salad with the cherries, pepitas and crumbled goat cheese.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I served the dressing in a cute little pitcher on the side, so that each person can drizzle the dressing on themselves.

A good peeler is a huge help when dealing a squash.

I have a Tupperware peeler and it is the absolute best!

I like the look of the uniform wedges, but you can just chunk it up if you prefer.

Store your leftover dressing in a mason jar in the refrigerator.

A gorgeous colourful salad to be proud to serve to guests.

Or as a delicious dinner at home after a weekend packed full of FOOD!

 

The sweet-savoury flavour combo of each bite will rock your socks off!!!

What is your favourite healthy meal to make after a weekend full of indulgences??

Have a great day y'all!

Andrea

xoxo



Butternut Squash Fries

I've been having alot of lonely girl meals lately. Derek went from working 26 hours per week to working 55 - 60 hours per week. The only nights he's home during the week are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We've also went from having two cars to one car to no car, so when Derek's at work, I'm pretty much stranded at the homestead.

I think it would be safe to say that I have had A LOT of time to experiment in the kitchen with some fun new  vegetarian recipes.

I recently bookmarked a recipe posted by Angela for crispy breaded tofu strips and sweet potato fries because to me that is one of the most perfect lonely girl meals ever! Before I became a vegetarian, chicken fingers and sweet potato fries were one of my favourite meals. I don't cook much with tofu normally, so I was excited to try out her recipe. Derek is absolutely not a fan of tofu (read: he hasn't and won't try it) so it was all the more perfect to have on a night when I was home alone.

Instead of making sweet potato fries, I decided to try making fries out of a butternut squash. I was a little unsure whether the squash would hold up in fry sticks, but I was really pleased with how they turned out! They are really easy to whip together and they are an awesome healthy alternative to the normal fries you would buy in the store or order at a restaurant.

Butternut Squash Fries

Serves 2 or 3

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2" x 3" fry sticks

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

approximately 1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat your oven to 400.

In a mixing bowl, place your cut up squash. Pour the coconut oil over the fries and sprinkle with sea salt. Mix well to coat the fries.

Place the fries out on a baking sheet. I used a baking mat so they wouldn't stick and I would suggest using a mat or some parchment paper or some really good non-stick spray.

Bake for 10 minutes. Flip the fries and cook for an additional 15 minutes. In Angela's sweet potato fries recipe, she suggested putting the fries under the broiler for a couple of minutes. I found that the squash crisped up nicely without having to do that, but if you like crisper fries, throw them under the broiler for a just a minute or two per side.

I'd like to say I peeled this bad boy myself, but I didn't. This is how I bought my squash, which made for a really quick prep!

Why yes, I do often use my favourite mugs for melting coconut oil :-)

Baking mats are awesome for baking sweet veggies that get sticky and caramelized as they bake!

I'm a dipper of all finger foods and my go-to when I had chicken strips and fries was always honey mustard. All I did was mix 1 1/2 tbsp each of my favourite dijon mustard and some local unpasteurized honey and voila! I had an awesome dipping sauce. It was awesome with the tofu strips and the fries!

I have to tell you that this dinner was utterly fantastic! I loved it and will definitely be enjoying it again on nights when Derek doesn't get home until late.

I used the leftovers as salad toppings! They were an awesome change to my normal green salad and as a dressing I used a combo of apple cider vinegar/extra virgin olive oil and dijon mustard.

Ah-Mazing!

Have you ever experimented with making different veggies into 'fries' before?
Are you a tofu lover or hater? If you have some great recipes, link it up, so I can check them out!!!

Have a great day!!!
Andrea

PS - I've recently signed up for a Twitter Account. If you want to follow me, click the button in the right margin. If you have anyone amazing that you follow that you think I'll love (including yourself my darlings), let me know!

Balsamic Gnocchi with Garlic Butter & Roasted Butternut Squash

Have you ever eaten gnocchi before?

If your answer is no, you better go out to the grocery store right now and pick some up - it's the bombdigity!

I hadn't had gnocchi until recently. I've seen it and always thought the cute little potato dumplings looked appealing, but never got around to trying them. That was until the day I saw a recipe on How Sweet It Is for Balsamic Gnocchi.  This recipe is easy, delicious and Derek said that he would eat this meal every single day ~ this says alot considering no meat was involved.

I am not going reiterate the recipe for Balsamic Gnocchi because I pretty much stuck right to Jessica's recipe. The only changes I made were that I added lots more veggies (sorry Jessica, that might ruin the recipe for you).  I used one pepper, 4 green onions, 1 small zucchini and a handful of crimini mushrooms and I used Earth Balance instead of butter for the basil garlic butter.

This recipe is to die for. It only takes 20 minutes to whip up and would be a great meal to wow your guests with.

As a side, I decided to roast a butternut squash (ok, I admit it....I cheated and I bought a pre-cut squash). Squash is one of my all-time favourite foods in the winter and there is no other way to make it other than slow roasting in the oven. I just wish they would peel like an orange - my wrists are so sore by the time I finish the peeling and chopping, I can hardly use my stirring hand to finish the meal! I could eat a whole roasted squash myself....in fact I probably have :-) At least squash is good for you; that's better than eating a whole cheesecake by yourself .. er, not that I would know or anything.

Roasted Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash

2 tbsp olive oil

1 - 2 tsp sea salt

sprinkle of pepper

Peel and cut the butternut squash into bite size pieces. Place in large bowl. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and stir to evenly coat the squash. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for approximately 15 minutes.

 Flip the squash pieces and cook for an additional 15 minutes. I like my squash to come out crispy and starting to brown - the pieces are so sticky and sweet you will understand why I could eat the entire squash myself. If you are like me and you don't time all the components of your meal quite right, you can speed up the baking time by putting the broiler on for just a few minutes per side.

Perfection!

...and in as easy as 1, 2, 3 you have an amazing meal that will wow your family and  friends and even your meat lovin' husband.

Right about now you're wishing you were my friend aren't ya?? :-)

What's your favourite type of squash?

Do you have an awesome recipe of gnocchi you'd like to share?

I hope you all have a relaxing Sunday evening and to my Canadian friends, Happy Family Day tomorrow....and to my American buddies, Happy President's Day! I hope your day off is filled with family, friends and lots of good eats.

Andrea

Warm You to the Soul Winter Vegetable Casserole

I don't know about you, but I am starting to tire of this cold wintery weather. The only thing that I miss once spring arrives is the warm comforting food that I make in the winter to warm us from the inside out. I just love root vegetables and chilis and stews and all the hot steamy bowls of heart-warming meals we have from December through to March!!

My grandma made a delicious vegetable casserole last week and I decided that I was going to put my spin on it and see what I came up with.

Warm You to the Soul Winter Vegetable Casserole
~ inspired by Grandma L.

2 large red skin potatoes, sliced
1 med butternut squash, peeled and sliced
2 leeks, white parts only, sliced
1 c. celery root, peeled and sliced
2 c. vegetable broth
3/4 c. unsweetened original almond milk (regular milk would work)
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
Topping:
1/4 c bread crumbs
2/3 c. walnuts
3 tbsp of Earth Balance, melted (butter would work as well)

Preheat oven to 425. Grease a large casserole dish.

Mix potatoes, squash, leeks and celery root in a large bowl.

Doesn't that mix look divine???  

Next, in a large pot heat the vegetable broth, milk, half of the melted Earth Balance, rosemary, nutmeg, pepper and salt.

Whisk it all together to ensure it is well mixed.

Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Cook until sauce has thickened - make sure you stir constantly because it will stick to the bottom.

This sauce thickens very quickly and it gets really thick, so if it gets too thick for your taste, just add a bit more almond milk.

This is the kind of creamy sauce that I like...yum yum!! It looks good enough to eat with a spoon!

Once the sauce has thickened, add it to your vegetables and mix well.

Pour the mixture into your casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make your topping.

Add walnuts, breadcrumbs and remaining butter. Mix well.

After the casserole has been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove and sprinkle on the topping.

Reduce heat in oven to 350 and bake an additional 40 - 45 minutes. Insert a knife into the middle of the casserole to ensure all of the veggies are soft. If not, you might need a few more baking minutes.

Once done, remove and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Doesn't this look fantastic??

This casserole is so delicious.I loved the taste and aroma of the rosemary and the crunchy walnuts just put it over the top. If you aren't a nut fan, you could probably doing a breadcrumb crust that would be just as fabulous! The smell in the kitchen was so mouthwatering, I could hardly wait the 5 minutes before digging in!

I was a little concerned about whether or not Derek would like this dish because he tells me that he likes his food "plain" and that I don't have to make things "fancy" for him (this is the guy that would eat a steak and microwaved 'baked' potato for every meal, so you can appreciate what I put up with ;-) Anyways, he absolutely loved it, so it is yet another keeper in my recipe vault. 

Between you & I, it wouldn't have been a heart breaker if he didn't like it ~ I would have been quite happy to eat the whole thing myself <sigh> ...I have issues :-)



Hope you had a happy & productive hump day...now we can all look forward to the weekend!

Andrea