Easiest Butternut Squash Ever

There is something so comforting about butternut squash's creamy, sunshiny flavor that it seems to reassure us that, no matter how topsy-turvy the world might be at the moment, all will be well enough. Squash is just too darned good for you and inexpensive to pass up, and this method can be used with any variety, though delicata and butternut are my personal favorite.

Eat it as often as you can get your hands on it: super nutritious, inexpensive, and easy to store, this is a dream come true for everyone from the happy hermit homesteader to the bustling family breakfast brigade. Add to that list that it is low in calories, gluten-free and even paleo, and you have a winner across the board. Feeling industrious? Plant a few squash seeds in your garden; a single plant can produce a wealth of golden globes on their sprawling vines.

Directions
This squash recipe is so simple, it's not a recipe so much as it is a method:

Take your squash, wash it and pierce it a couple times with a fork. Wrap it, whole, in foil. Place it in a slow cooker for 8 hours on low. No liquid or water needed.

No, really, that's all there is to it. When it's done, unwrap it (carefully!! This will be hot.) Place it on a cutting board and cut in half lengthwise to reveal two long boats of golden flesh. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Add a dash of salt and a pat of butter, and you have some of the best food nature knows how to grow.

Black Rice Tabouli

Draft: waiting for a picture.
Summertime means heat, humidity and being outdoors anyway, hanging out with friends and family. It's a time of sunshine and activity, picnics and parades, cookouts and community. I love this variation on traditional tabouli. It substitutes a lovely black rice for the bulger wheat, making the result much lighter overall,  and gluten-free to boot.
Ingredients
2 - 4 cups black rice.  I like Lotus Foods' Organic Forbidden Rice, cooked in a chicken broth.
Red and yellow tomatoes, diced
1 - 2 lemons
A sprig or three of fresh mint
2 Chopped cucumbers
Recipe
Put all the ingredients in a glass bowl or pan. Squeeze lemon juice onto the mix. Stir gently to combine and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

Steamed Beets

It's spring, and that means a whole host of fresh vegetables are coming into our world that have been lacking for overlong. No matter where you live, you can start harvesting beets in early May, and because they are so packed with nutrition, your body will feel ever so glad that you did. These red and gold beauties have trace elements and nutrition in abundance, but very little in the way of calories, so feel free to eat as many as you like. I especially like their earthy goodness paired with some crisp grilled asparagus -- it's a bowl of springtime.

Ingredients
4-6 fresh beets, scrubbed well and diced
One medium-sized yellow onion, diced
Two - Four cloves minced garlic
Fresh ground white pepper
Two lemons

Recipe
Squeeze lemon juice into a large, heavy pot. I like to use my 6 quart stock pot for this recipe, but you can use nearly anything as long as it transmits heat well and has a tight-fitting lid. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Bring juice to a boil and then reduce heat and cover the pot. Simmer until the beets are tender, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed to prevent sticking.

World's Easiest, Totally Yummy Basic Bread

There is something ultimately comforting about fresh baked bread. This has been my Ultimate Standby recipe for 25 years, and as much as I love finding new, exotic variations, I always return to this. Always.

Serve it with anything and everything, but it is especially perfect with red wine and sharp white cheddar.

In a smallish bowl, combine one cup warm (but not hot) water with one Tablespoon yeast and one Tablespoon sugar (I use turbinado). Whisk together until blended and set aside. The yeast should bloom for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, fork-sift two cups flour (I use unbleached all purpose) with 3/4 teaspoon sea salt. Make a well in the center and add the yeast water. Blend with a fork or wooden spoon until everything is incorporated. Turn out onto a floured board and knead well, adding more flour as you go. All told, I usually end up incorporating another cup of flour this way. Knead until elastic and smooth. (If you are new to breadmaking, this is when there are no sticky spots or dry spots, but there is a uniform smooth give to the dough.)

Slather (yes, slather) the inside of your baking pan with butter. My favorite is clay, hands-down, but you can use glass or metal just as well. Set the dough ball in the baking dish and cut a large X in the top with a serrated knife, adding a dab of butter in the arms of the cuts. Cover the whole thing with a tea towel and set in a warmish spot for 45 minutes. (Just perfect for watching the latest episode of Downton Abbey.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Slather the top with more butter before turning out from the pan.

Soup of the Day: Split Pea with Ham

There is something ultimately comforting and serene about split pea soup. Making it is more an act of meditation than of true recipe, and a spoonful of the creamy green goodness seems to soften the edged of your troubles, letting life's little irritations and jangled nerves recede.
We are expecting some icy weather this weekend, and life has been quite hectic this last fortnight, so I whipped up some split pea soup. I can't wait to serve of some bowls of calming,  creamy delight.
Ingredients
Four quarts organic chicken broth
1 pound ham hocks
8 ounces shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 pound ham, diced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
2-3 pounds potatoes, chopped
1 pound carrots, chopped
2 pounds split green peas
Directions
Simmer the garlic, onion, celery, mushrooms, salt and pepper with the ham hocks and thyme until the onions are transparent. Add the peas and 2 quarts of the broth and bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally, until the peas are creamy.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer another hour or so, until the flavors have married.

Soup of the Day: Minestrone

I usually associate minestrone with summertime, especially July and August, but today as I contemplated what would be the first offering in Soup of the Day, minestrone was on my mind, in my heart, and I couldn't wait to get to it. As the garlic, basil and onion simmered with a few spices, I knew I had made the right choice. Perhaps we just need a quick vitamin C fix, or maybe we need some of the sunshiny goodness that minestrone always brings with it, but in any event, here it is. Slow simmered, aromatic and enticing, filling the house with savory promise.

Wintertime Ingredients
Four boxes (32 ounces each) organic chicken broth
Two cans (28 ounces each) organic diced tomatoes
Two jars (24 ounces each) organic tomato sauce
Two cans (15 ounces each) canelli or other white bean, rinsed and drained< br /> 1/4 c. diced garlic
1 onion, diced
3 Tablespoons leaf oregano, dried
3 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves, torn
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
olive oil
diced celery
chopped vegetables of your choice (frozen is fine, but I would avoid canned): I'm a big fan of carrots, potatoes, broccoli and green beans, but I firmly believe that minestrone is Italian for leftovers, so pretty much whatever needs cooking is going to get thrown in, and be all the better for it.
Two cups elbow macaroni or other pasta

Directions
Simmer garlic, onion, celery, oregano, salt, pepper and basil in olive oil until onion is transparent. Stir in broth, sauce and tomatoes and bring to a healthy simmer. Let cook for an hour or so, and then bring to a boil again, adding in the pasta and more black pepper and salt as desired. Cook for ten to fifteen minutes more, stirring frequently. Serve with crusty bread and a glass of cold, fresh milk.

This makes a gallon or so of soup, which is especially helpful for hectic nights as well as big crowds -- it stores well in the freezer, is even better the next day, and freezes like a champ.

Lemon Ginger Tea with Honey

It's Flu Season, and the only thing that seems to really make me feel better when I have a bona fide cold is Lemon-Ginger Tea with Honey. Crisp and spicy, deeply warming, soothing and fragrant, a cup of this is an amazing boon at any time, but especially when you feel yourself fighting off the germs of winter.

Grate fresh ginger root into a diffuser (or straight into your mug if you don't have a diffuser handy -- it will still work, but you might get some ginger bits in your tea, which is still fine). Pour boiling water over the ginger. Squeeze some lemon juice into the mug and add a healthy dollop of honey (my favorite these days is thistle honey, but any kind will work, with local being especially beneficial to the immune system). Let steep for a few minutes or longer. Sip.

Roasted Cornish Hen with Vegetables

There is something deliciously celebratory in serving Cornish game hen -- the dish simply looks as though it is an event in its own right. I like game hen better than chicken, since the flavor is much richer, the texture more velvety, and altogether it is a slightly more hedonistic experience. The use of sweet potatoes in this continues to bring a rich, unexpected flavor to the whole thing, while steamed asparagus provides a crisp freshness that is the ultimate counterpoint.

This makes light work of entertaining, and the beauty of hen is that with very little fuss, they serve two people each (one per person if you're being decadent), and you can spend some time soaking in the tub while the hens roast, decompressing before your guests arrive. Goes nicely with a petite syrah, or, even better, with champagne.


Layer in the bottom of the crock:
Sliced Shitake mushrooms
Large slices of onion
Chicken bullion, if desired
Several cloves minced fresh garlic

Nestle on top of the Mushroom Layer:
Two Cornish Game Hens (gibblets and necks removed, brined)
Two or three sweet potatoes, cut into thick slices
Three or four carrots, cut into inch-long pieces

Sprinkle oregano, salt and pepper over the whole dish, and add 1/4-1/2 cup water to crock. Cover and cook on high for four hours. Serve with steamed asparagus (or broccoli, or snow peas, or sugar snap peas).

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is one of the greatest comfort foods of all time. The fact that it can be assembled from on-hand staples and be prepared in the crockpot make this a real winter keeper. It is as crowd-pleasing as it is simple, and if you have a group heading out to shovel snow, construct a snow fort, or wage snow-war, this dish goes far to replenish bodies and souls. Serve with crusty bread and a large glass of milk.

Since this recipe is constructed more than it is cooked, it's a simple matter to make more or less depending on how many people are served. Have a crowd? Put it in a (much) larger crockpot and have twice the amount of ingredients on hand. Just serving yourself? Grab the two-quart vessel and go from there. If you want to put it into the oven instead of the slow-cooker, that's certainly acceptable: layer as directed in an oven-safe baking dish and cook at 350° until warmed through. The beauty is that since the elements of the recipe are all cooked beforehand, the "cooking" part of this is really more a "warming and marrying" event.

Ingredients
• 1 pound browned and drained ground beef
• One medium-sized yellow onion, diced
• Two - Four cloves minced garlic
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 3 cups mashed potatoes (for a paleo version, use mashed parsnips)
• 2 cups vegetables (frozen is fine)

Recipe: Saute the onion, garlic and pepper in oil until onions are transparent. Add any spices you feel like, including a dash of red wine or beef broth, to make a stock. This can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator or freezer until needed.

Put the stock in the crockpot, followed by the beef, and stir the two together. Add the vegetables and stir again. Layer the cheese over the beef mix, and layer the potatoes over the cheese. Cook on high for 4 hours, with the lid vented for the last hour to get the potatoes crispier.

The paleo version of this recipe has the added benefit of being much higher in nutrition and much lower in carbohydrates. You're welcome.

My coworkers and I made this a community event: each of us brought an ingredient, plugged in the crockpot in the work-kitchen and let it marinate while we went about the tasks of the day. Four hours later, we reconvened and enjoyed the results. Hearty, warm and warming, it served the five of us quite nicely. In theory, this serves six, but I swear I have never, ever seen leftover Shepherd's Pie. I'll keep trying. I'm pretty certain the coworkers won't mind at all.  

By having a group put this together, it was interesting: I usually use cheddar cheese, but our crew brought pepper jack, which kept things quite lively. The vegetables were frozen peas, frozen corn and fresh diced carrots. Anything would do, though I would probably steer clear of beets and rutabagas (though if you have to eat them, this might be the ultimate method). Our experimental efforts were met by the following real quotes:

"Ermuhgerd, erts erserm!"
"I proclaim VICTORY for the crack creative capable crockpot collective crew"
"Absolutley F'n A W E S O M E. "
"It was fabtabulous!"

Ultimate Scrambled Eggs in 90 seconds

Eggs are a brilliant food (sorry chickens, I'm going to steal them every morning!!). Take a two cup pyrex mixing or storing bowl, coat it in spray oil (or slather it in butter/margarine, anything to keep the egg from sticking) and pour well-beaten eggs into the dish (I use a fork and a separate bowl to beat three eggs into submission -- they are ready when there is a lemony yellow color all over, and no streaks). Set the dish in the microwave for 90 seconds (60 for two eggs, 90 for three). While that is cooking, take two slices of your favorite bread and cover them with some mayo, horseradish mustard and a slice of american cheese -- fresh herbs are a great addition here, too. Put the whole thing in a quart-sized freezer ziplock bag. Now that the microwave is done, reach in and carefully pull out some of the fluffiest scrambled eggs you ever saw, tipping them out of the bowl and onto a slice of bread, covering with the other piece to make a sandwich. The steamy eggs melt the cheese and warm the bread (and release the aroma of the herbs, if you used any -- fresh basil is a favorite of mine). I can toss the sandwich in my bag to nibble on the way to work or at my desk.

Black Bean Soup

I can't think of a more fitting soup for November than Black Bean. Earthy, delicate, hearty, with a light note of citrus, it calls to mind the brisk goodness that will be the theme of the whole month, from weather to wool.

Additionally, this is beyond simple, letting us give in to our soul's call to hunker down, be less hectic, and regroup. As if this basic fare weren't easy enough, it cooks in a crock pot, while you are at work or overnight, and is only the better for storing for a day.

Take it easy. Grab some yarn and find some quiet while the soup simmers; listen to your inner voice; let the muse inspire you. Serve up a steaming bowl with the equally simple Once-Risen bread and remember that you are loved.

Ingredients
• 1 pound dried black beans (I like to use organic turtle beans, but honestly, even the most basic store has a bag or box of a perfectly fine variety, usually in the ethnic foods aisle)
• One medium-sized red onion
• One medium-sized yellow onion
• Two - Four cloves minced garlic
• Sea salt or mineral salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• One lemon
• Optional:
  • Madeira Sherry, 1 Tablespoon
  • Ham Hock

Recipe: Rinse and pick over the beans. Bury the ham hocks, garlic and onions in the beans. Do not add salt to uncooked beans, as this will prevent them from cooking fully. Sprinkle with a little black pepper, or hold off until after cooking. Cover with water 2-3 inches above the level of the beans. Simmer on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-12, until beans are tender. Remove ham from hocks and return to the crockpot, chopping if needed. Add seasonings as desired (I like a bit of lemon juice and this is an excellent time for sherry and black pepper). Puree with an immersion blender until desired consistency, or by batches in a traditional blender. Presentation: Slice a lemon and twist the round for a garnish on the bowl. Serve with a good crusty bread for a hearty crowd-pleaser.