roasted acorn squash

if i may introduce to you, a perfect side dish.

these little golden nuggets of pure goodness are roasted acorn squash. they are my new staple. and they are a whole food. and they are easy to make.

start by halving it, scooping out the middle, and chopping it up. i have found this is the easiest way to take off the very tough skin.

after this step, use your favourite paring knife to peel the sections like you would a potato. then chop them up into (roughly) bite size pieces.

these are about one inch cubes - and just right for how i want to bake them.

after this step, toss the squash in a bowl with some melted butter, a sprinkle of kosher/sea salt, and a drizzle of agave syrup. if you don't have this syrup, you can use maple syrup or regular pancake syrup.

but i highly suggest you go out and find this stuff. i get mine at costco, and it's two bottles for $12 or something like that. but you can go here to find a store location near you, there are a lot of places you can find their products, even in saskatchewan.

the syrup goes a very long way, and i use it in place of sugar most often when i am cooking now. it's also what we use as a sweetener or syrup with the kids. it has replaced the brown sugar in their porridge and syrup on their pancakes.

and any time you can eliminate refined sugar is huge.

the lighter the syrup (it's really nectar) the lighter the flavour. so this stuff is excellent for adding to foods that you want to sweeten, but not necessarily change the flavour of. for instance, the squash roasted with the nectar vs. the maple syrup will taste very different. both are delicious, but you may not want a maple flavoured side dish with your meal. but then again you may.


after you've tossed the squash with the butter, salt, and nectar, bake in a roasting pan at 400 for 20 minutes. adjust the cooking time based on the size of your squash pieces. but i think this is perfect for achieving the ultimate texture - caramelized nuggets that are a little crisp on the outside, and absolute melt in your mouth in the middle.

yum!

• one acorn squash, peeled and chopped.
• 3 tablespoons of butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons of agave syrup or 4 tablespoons of an alternate syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher or sea salt.

combine ingredients in a bowl and toss. place in a roasting pan in a single layer, bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until the squash starts to caramelize and is pierced easily with a fork. serve immediately. give the pan a good shake half way through baking to ensure even roasting.

you can make this dish even simpler by skipping the peeling and chopping stage. after halving and scooping out the squash, drizzle the butter and syrup and then sprinkle the salt over the inside. and roast from there. you will need to at least double the roasting time, and when the squash is cooked thoroughly, you scoop it all out into a bowl and mash together and then serve.

the flavour is still great, and it's simpler than peeling and chopping, but you don't achieve the same texture that the little roasted cubes provide. biting through the sweet and salty skin that is formed during roasting is heaven in your mouth. knee weakening even, and i hope you try it!

and if you really have to, you can substitute olive oil for the butter. it's considered a vegan dish if you do, and it'll be slightly more healthy.

perfect potato salad

i am officially a potato salad snob after finding this recipe. i made it a million times last summer, and now have it altered to utter perfection.

to be honest, i don't even really like potato salad that much. but this one is the end all and be all of potato salads. it is soooo goooood that once i have it prepared i never get through the rest of my meal prep without ruining my supper by sneaking forkful after forkful.

and please, use a real lemon.

and please, find real dill. even if it's 8 months old and freezer burnt like mine. it's still good! right?

and ideally, it's best if you make this ahead of time, giving the flavours plenty of time to marry. but not so far ahead that it has to live in the fridge, because the texture is sublime when the potatoes are kept at room temperature.

• 2 pounds potatoes, chopped and cooked
  
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. about a tsp of each.
  
• 2 stalks celery, diced
  
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup tightly packed, fresh dill, chopped
  
• 1/2 lemon, zest and juice. (or more if you love lemon)
  
• 1 heaping tbsp dijon mustard

never mind the vinegar, i pulled that out before i remembered that i cut it out. and i only used one of those lemons.

leave the skins on, please.


boil 'em up.


after draining, i return them to the pot that's still hot because it'll help evaporate any left over water.

i hope you have a microplaner or something similar, because the impact of fresh lemon zest cannot be understated. the finely diced onions are another nuance of this perfect salad. and in case the food network isn't your only reason for having a tv like it is mine, i'll break down the easy way of dicing an onion.

split it like this, and then peel the outer, inedible layers off, keeping the root intact.


make horizontal cuts, stopping before cutting all the way through.... the root is there to hold it all together, so don't cut through it.


make several vertical cuts across this way.


then finely, like this.


it may not have looked pretty, but the dill was still yummy.


i think i gave it another shot of dijon after this.


mix it all up.... and you would never know it's wasn't fresh dill.


and again.


PERFECT!

smashed potatoes

these potatoes are the best. they are easy, healthy and cheap. we are always striving to eat more whole (and local) foods, and this is a great way to do that.

first, boil your potatoes... cook most of the way through. to save time you can cut them into smaller pieces - but leave the skins on.


drizzle a roasting pan with extra virgin olive oil. (notice the drake's sausage that will hit the bbq, that's so not a whole food, but it is local!)


place the cooked potatoes down on the pan


and smash them! i usually score mine first - use a plate or bottom of a bowl if you don't have a potato masher.


don't flatten them too much.


another hearty drizzle of olive oil... for moisture and flavour. i always use what looks like too much.


sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.


smother with fresh parmesan.


bake 450 - 500 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes - all depending on how quickly you want them ready.

crispy on the outside, soft and steaming on the inside. so, so good.

these potatoes are very forgiving - they can be baked first instead of boiled, they can go back into the oven for roasting when undercooked, and are more than fine if a little over baked at the end. in fact, i leave them in until they look a little over done - the crispier the better. just don't skimp on the oil if you want to do that because the potato could dry out.

this is another big meal that i was very proud of. the first time i made this chicken a few months ago mike almost died he said it was that good - and the recipe came about because the ingredients i wanted to find -flavoured havarti, prosciutto - i couldn't in our small town, so i came up with other things. i think it's much better this way anyway!

the thing with this stuffed chicken is that it's really not that hard, and is totally an impressive meal. i find the trick to it is to get the chicken pounded out, clean up that mess, then lay everything out in front of you in stations. it makes stuffing, wrapping and coating go super fast and quite easy once your elbow deep in raw chicken.

stuffed chicken (or the awesome chicken if you're mike)

• four chicken breasts, pounded flat
• herb and garlic cream cheese
• a handful of spinach
• a handful of mushrooms, sliced thin
• shaved deli ham (or prosciutto if you can get your hands on it, but i can't)
• home made shake 'n bake (recipe to follow)

pound chicken breasts flat between parchment paper with a meat mallet or rolling pin. prepare baking dish by sprinkling home made shake 'n bake on bottom. spoon cream cheese in centre of chicken, add spinach and mushroom. roll up and secure with toothpicks. place ham on top, set in baking dish and top with shake 'n bake. bake 350 for 40 min. this may vary depending on the thickness of you chicken.

i got this next recipe out of a canadian living a while ago. it was originally a home made chicken fingers recipe, but it's so awesome i use it for everything - it goes especially well with a white fish. i make tons of this at a time and keep it in the freezer and pull it out for whenever.

home made shake 'n bake (i really need a better name for it)

• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, as small as possible, like food processor small
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp oregano (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp paprika (or more to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste

combine altogether... and that's it!

i came up with this next dish about half hour before supper. for some reason i always struggle with a side for this chicken, so i thought i was just go herby and cheesy to compliment the flavours in the chicken and keep it as simple as possible.

butter herb pasta (a chemical and processed-free version of a side kick. and a lot cheaper, too!)

• 1/3 cup butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (but we like things garlicky)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tbsp of freshly grated parmesan

combine everything in a sauce pan (i recommend not really cooking the garlic much), simmer on low for a few minutes so the flavours marry. then toss with hot pasta. this amount of sauce covered enough pasta for a side for 4 people. mike thinks i could serve this as a main dish as well.

i always serve a salad, always.

that's just steamed asparagus with a store bought cheese sauce, i didn't have the energy to make up my own at the time.

roasted potatoes

these are inspired by nigella - only she did hers with seasoning salt and garlic cloves. after making hers once i altered it to be even simpler and they are so delicious i'll even serve them to company.

• cube potatoes 1 inch or smaller
• enough olive oil to coat
• vegetable spice to taste

coat the cut up potatoes in olive oil by tossing in a bowl. shake some spice on and toss again. lay flat in roasting pan, then finish seasoning. bake at 425 for 40-45 min, flipping and rearranging half way through.

cucumber tomato salad

i really didn't want to add this recipe because it's so unhealthy, but it's a great treat for the summer months. it goes so well with anything bbq and it's so easy to make it's a great last minute dish. lou gets credit for this because i got the recipe from her. i do up the veggie to pasta ratio in an attempt to make it a little better.

• 3 cups macaroni, or shells, or penne or whatever you have
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 green onions
• 1/2 cup cucumber, diced

dressing:

• 2/3 cup white sugar (i know!)
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• paprika to taste

mix it all together, add dressing. serve with the pasta warm or cold. this is another recipe i never measure for (well, the dressing i do.) and if i don't have green onions, i'll still dice up a little bit of a white one because i think it needs the flavour. it's really a delicious salad, and last night i served it with bbq pork chops (the sweetness goes really well with the pork) and a spinach garden salad.

the first time i had this it was at lou-anne's. i loved it and demanded the recipe - she hesitated, 'it's all sugar' she said, but gave it to me anyway and we love it.

homemade burgers and a veggie pack on the bbq

these veggies are my 'holy shit it's after 5 and i have no idea what i'm doing for supper! dish. they take about 20 minutes on the bbq and you can use whatever you have. since i always, always, always have these veggies, it's always the same for us. we love it so much, we'll eat it sometimes as often as once a week.

i know pretty much everyone does a variation of this dish, but i like to think i've perfected it.

• four small potatoes, sliced thin
• a handful of baby carrots, quartered the long way
  
• a handful of green or yellow beans, or both
• a few rings of white onion
• 2 tbsp of clubhouse vegetable spice
• 1 tsp of seasoning salt
• 2 tbsp of butter

take 2 large sections of tin foil and fold them together so they make one larger sheet. spray with cooking spray. lay out potato slices, sprinkle evenly with vegetable spice. add carrots, and beans. top with onions then sprinkle the onions with seasoning salt. top with butter. fold up and put on top rack of bbq.

what's great about the veggie pack is that they are delicious even when they are slightly undercooked as well as a little crispy. and you can make this even when the beans aren't in season, now that i keep a bag of them frozen in the freezer i'm adding them to so many more dishes. and to make this dish absolutely amazing, add fresh dill. that's a tip from my favourite friend to cook with, lou-anne. (hi lou!)

homemade hamburgers

a few years ago when we had to budget our grocery bill fairly tightly, i started making my own burgers and have never looked back. store bought patties are quite expensive and never as good as homemade ones. mike always harrasses me about not writing down my recipes. he's right, i should. but i just get going in the kitchen and i never even measure let alone write stuff down, so all the measurements here are an educated guess. my burgers taste a little different every time, but pretty much the same since it's a fairly basic recipe.

• 1 pound of lean hamburger
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp montreal steak spice
• 3/4 cup bbq sauce

mix well then form into patties.

i usually mix these up after a trip to the city when i load up on hamburger for the freezer. i'll make a couple dozen then freeze them myself. so when i only feel like doing the minimal amount of work for supper, the meal can still be homemade and fairly inexpensive.

mushroom - green bean risotto

i tackled my first risotto several years ago when my husband and i lived with his parents the summer that we were married. my in-laws love, love, love food and i would browse her cookbooks for hours. now that we live in the middle of nowhere and what most cooks would consider basic ingredients aren't available, i had to use orzo instead of arborio rice. it turned out wonderfully, and my husband said that this risotto specifically was one of the best things he's ever had. the extra effort that risotto takes is always worth it.

this is about half way through adding the stock

• 4 cups stock (i used my beef stock from scratch i had in the freezer, but any kind will do)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, or to taste*
• 1/2 pound of orzo (about a quarter of a regular sized package or 2 cups arborio rice.)
• s & p to taste
• 1 tbsp of dried parsley
• 2 tbsp butter
  
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

heat stock. in separate pan heat olive oil and butter, add onions and fry until onions are translucent. add minced garlic and rice/orzo and fry until orzo is toasted or rice is slightly translucent. add stock one ladle full at a time and keep stirring. turn heat down a bit and keep added stock and keep stirring. i find that towards the end, you can add the last two cups all at once. stir until absorbed. add s & p, remove from heat and add butter and parm. cover and let stand for a few minutes.

*we love garlic in our house, and when i'm cooking i put a clove in for each serving, plus one or two more for the pot