Roasted Acorn (or Kabocha) Squash with Mushroom and Sage

1 medium Acorn Squash (or kabocha, which I used)
3/4 tsp. plus 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground Black Pepper
6 Tbsp. Olive Oil, plus extra for brushing
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 large Portobello Mushroom, chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
2 tsp. Fresh Sage, finely chopped
Pinch Red Pepper Flakes, optional

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim off each end of the squash. Stand the squash upright and halve lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp and the seeds and discard. Brush each squash half with olive oil, and then sprinkle with 3/4 tsp. salt and the black pepper. Arrange cut sides down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast the squash until the flesh is tender and the edges are golden brown, approximately 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the squash halves over and set aside.

While the squash roasts, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute 2 minutes, or until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the mushrooms, sage, 1/4 tsp. salt and the red pepper flakes if using, and saute until the mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Fill the roasted squash halves with the mushroom mixture and bake again for another 10 minutes.

Seaweed salad--OMG YUM!

1 cup Soaked Arame Seaweed
2 Tbsp Flax Oil
1 Avocado
1 Tomato
1/4 Red Onion, finely chopped
1 Carrot, chopped or shredded
Parsley, finely chopped
Fresh Lemon Juice
Sea Salt
Dash of Cayenne (if you feel like you need some kick)

Add all ingredients together in bowl, mix and enjoy.

Vegetarian Hoppin' Johns

Alright for those who are not from the South(I'm not, but I read enough articles to know some Southern recipes) Hoppin' Johns is a dish typically served on New Years. The black eyed peas in Hoppin' Johns represent good luck and Hoppin' Johns are typically served on rice with collard greens and ham. Well, since I don't eat ham and I don't have collard greens currently in the kitchen I decided to make a vegetarian version of the dish. That and I had all the ingredients. So there.

Here is how you make vegetarian Hoppin' Johns....

You'll need:

*1.25 cups of black eyed peas, dried. (if you're in a jam, just use 1.25 cups of canned organic black eyed peas--you'll be fine)

*4 cups of water
*1.5 cups of chopped onion
*1 clove garlic (fuck that I put in 3)
*1 bay leaf
*1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper
*1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
*8 oz. tempeh
*1 tbsp of soy sauce

Soak the peas overnight. Or boil them for 2 minutes, cover and let them stand for 1 hour.

Drain the beans, set this off to the side.

Start up the brown rice.

In a heated medium sized sauce pan put in a little bit of olive oil. Put in your onion and garlic and let that heat up until the onions are translucent. Put in the beans (if you're doing canned beans just toss them in there with the juice) and toss in the water. Add bay leaf, cayenne and black pepper. Get this to a boil, cover and reduce the heat and cook for 1 hour. Stir when you feel like it.

Get your tempeh and brush on the soy sauce on both sides. I actually thought this wasn't enough so I winded up using about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce. Chop the tempeh up in bite sized pieces and toss that into the bean pot. Cook for another hour, covered. Stir more frequently as you're going to loss some of that water and burning the beans is more likely. Remove bay leaf and add salt, if that's your thing.

Serve with rice and lots of vegetables and you're good to go!


Overall I would definitely make this again. Easy to make but the only draw-back is the time....if you're super hungry you'll be eating your hand by the time this is done! It could have used more spices--I think next time I may add some oregano and/or thyme...

Japanese Curry Rice

There is a lot of wiggle room with this recipe so you don't have to follow it by
the book--customize it to your taste but here is a good foundation to go by....

You will need....
2 cups of brown rice (or white...I guess)

Olive oil
3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp of minced ginger (if you have to use powdered ginger use 1 tsp)
1 yellow onion (if you like the taste of onion, get a big one....if not get a
small one), finely died
2 very large and in charge carrots, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
3 yellow Yukon potatoes (the ones that are about the size of your fist or
smaller), NOT PEELED and diced into bite sized pieces

whatever other veges, like peas or corn, you'd like to have in your curry....if
you're going to add more then scale down the other veges too

2 1/2 c. of vegetable stock
2 curry blocks (you can find them at the international section usually and they
vary by degree of spicy-ness, I usually get S&B Golden Curry mild)
Honey
Salt
Pepper
1 block of tofu, medium-firm


Alright, let's get cooking:
1.) Heat up a large sauce pan on low heat, at about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Throw
in the garlic and ginger. Stir it around for about 3 minutes or until you can
smell garlic

2.) Add onion, stir that around in the oil/garlic/ginger goodness. Crank up the
heat to medium, cover the pot and let those onions caramelize for 10-15 minutes.
The onions should be a golden brown color when they are caramelized. Occasionally
stir.

3.) Toss in the potatoes and carrots, crank up the high to medium-high, cover
the pot and let them saute for about 10 minutes. Occasionally stir them.

4.) Add the vegetable stock, crank up the heat to high, cover the pot and let
that simmer/boil for 20 minutes.

5.) Take your curry blocks and chop them up. Add to the mixture and stir to
melt. It will be hot but taste it and make sure that's enough curry for you. If
it's not, add more!

6.) Add honey to taste. I'd start with just a drizzle, a little goes a long way
and the curry will be a little sweet because of the caramelized onions. Add salt
and pepper to taste.

7.) You can even add a little soy sauce or Worcester sauce, play around with it
if you're not happy with the taste.

8.) Once when you're satisfied with the taste add chopped up tofu and gently
stir that into the curry.

Serve with cooked rice and enjoy!
(oh yes and get the Tupperware out because there will be left overs)

A new snack that I really like.

This snack actually fills me up and it's not that bad for you.

All you need:

1 slice of Ezekiel bread
A few tablespoons of diced tomatoes
Some bits of basil if you like basil
Light cheese

Take bread, toast it. Put tomatoes on it. Now sprinkle some fresh basil. Add light cheese. Eat it.

Okay I'll admit I ate two of these but it's better than chips.

Peeps Puffs

LOL this is kinda nasty and good at the same time. I mean, PEEPS. They have a half live of like 8 billion years....and yet--this recipe is not half bad. Happy Easter!

Peeps Puffs

Marshmallow Peeps....the chicks fit the best
Vanilla pudding (if you are in a jam--snack pak vanilla pudding)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
One cup semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 teaspoons light corn syrup
3 teaspoons milk

Directions:
Turn oven on to 400 degrees
In medium saucepan, melt butter. When melted, add water and bring to a boil.
Add flour and salt at once and stir vigorously.
Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that doesn't separate.
Remove from heat and cool for about five minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon after each addition, until smooth.
Drop batter by heaping tablespoons 3" apart onto a greased baking sheet. Shape into ovals with greased fingers.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.
Remove from oven, split and remove soft dough inside. Cool on wire
rack.
Put teaspoon of pudding and a Peeps into the center of the base and cover.
Prepare chocolate glaze by heating the semisweet chocolate chips,
butter or margarine, light corn syrup a milk over low heat in a saucepan.
Stir frequently until melted and smooth.

Spoon glaze over cream puffs and refrigerate until set.

Cool as a cucumber

Here is a recipe for Sunomono...a tasty cucumber salad!

Ingredients:

-2 medium sized english cucumbers--they should be nice and crisp
(or you can get 1 small daikon radish and 1 english cucumber)

-2 1/2 TBSP of rice vinegar
-2 1/2 TBSP of marin
-2 TBSP of sugar
-1 tsp of salt

Prep:
Peel the cucumber or radish and slice into thin slices. This is where a mandolin is helpful! Salt the cucumber/radish and wait for 5-10 minutes. Wash off the cucumber/radish slics and drain the water through a strainer. Mix the vinegar and marin in a cup. Pour the liquid mixture over the cucumber and daikon slices. Set aside at least 15 minutes before serving.

Domo arigatou gozaimasu! (thank you very much!)