Coconut Curry Roasted Fruit and Vegetable Soup

1 med. butternut squash

1 lg. sweet potato

3 carrots 

EVOO, garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper

3 stalks of celery

4 cloves of garlic

1 med. purple onion

EVOO, garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper

Today I prepped then roasted the orange vegetables for 40 minutes at 400° Once the squash was cool, I peeled that then added the roasted vegetables to the pot where the others were simmering.

1T curry powder

1t coconut sugar

1t pumpkin pie spice

3T Better Than Bouillon 

3 very ripe, seeded, unpeeled pears (not shown)

20oz ± cold, fresh water

Blend this with an immersion blender and when slightly cooled, add 1 can coconut milk or coconut cream.

Serve this garnished with chopped nuts or seeds and a drizzle of seasoned, thinned, sour cream.

You could easily omit the coconut milk if you'd rather, but I like the way it brings all the flavors together and adds depth to the soup. . .Lin

Fruit and Vegetable Harvest Soup

1 med. orange winter squash

1 med. acorn squash

1 big sweet potato

EVOO w/ salt and pepper

Wash everything.  Cut the squash open and remove the seeds.  Place as shown on the cookie sheet and rub the cut and open surfaces with the well seasoned olive oil.  Cut the sweet potato into big chunks.  Get all cut, peeled surfaces covered with the salty, peppered oil as soon as possible - it will keep everything from oxidizing.  I peeled the sweet potato, since it was an older one with lots of surface marks, but normally I'd just scrub and not peel, for more fiber.  Roast these in a 400⁰ oven for 20 minutes before adding the softer fruits and vegetables on another sheet. . .

3-4 assorted apples

1 med. onion

2 big carrots

2-3 stalks celery

2-3 heads of garlic

1 Bartlett pair

2T Better Than Bouillon - vegetable 
1T pumpkin pie seasoning

4-6c fresh cold water

2T organic buckwheat honey
¾c chopped fresh, or freshly dried parsley

Scrub, cut and coat all of these with the seasoned EVOO.  Put in the oven with the hard vegetables and continue roasting both an additional 1 hour.  Turn the heat to 375⁰ for the last 30 minutes.  Shut oven off and let everything cool.  

Scoop the squash out of the shells, squeeze the garlic out of the skins into a 4-5 quart pot.  Chop up the other roasted fruit and vegetables and add to the mix and season.  Pour in 4c fresh cold water, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes.  Add more water if needed, and blend with your immersion blender.  Stir in the parsley, taste and add salt, pepper, soup base or more pumpkin pie spice if needed.  I debated on adding a can of coconut milk, which would be really good, but that's not a harvest ingredient, so I'll pass this time. . .

Happy Harvest Everyone 😊. . .Lin

Efficient Foods - A High Protein Breakfast Bowl

black beans

sprouted French lentils

1 hard boiled egg

butternut squash w/ pesto

a few pickled garlic cloves

This morning I woke up really hungry and shaky.  As I pondered my options, standing in front of the open refrigerator, it was either this or a Greek yogurt, chia and flax seed, frozen fruit smoothy.  It seems lately, anytime something sweet is up against a vegetable-based choice, the vegetables always win out.

Be creative in your thinking regarding meal planning.  Get outside the comfortable pull of 'the box' 😊 . . . Lin

Winter and Summer Squash Casserole

1/2 lg. butternut squash - peeled

3 sweet potatoes - scrubbed, not peeled

2 med.-lg. zucchini

1 med. onion - sliced

1 red pepper - sliced

8 oz. sour cream

3-4 oz. tomato pesto

1-2 t granulated roasted garlic

2 c fresh chopped tomatoes

fresh ground pepper and sea salt
chili-lime seasoning

Spiral slice the first 3 vegetables into a medium roasting pan.  Add the sliced onion and pepper.  In a medium size bowl, combine the remaining 6 ingredients, pour over the vegetables, mixing everything together gently.  Bake covered 15-20 minutes at 350° then check for doneness.  There should still be a little crunch to the squash.  At this point, you can serve as is, or sprinkle on some parmesan bread crumbs and place under the broiler a few minutes to brown the top. . .Lin

Costa Rican Dinner with an American Twist

Black Beans and Rice

1 can  black beans

1/2 c   white rice

1    lime - zest

1/2 lime - juice

1    stalk celery & greens

1/2T   cumin

1   T   dry cilantro

sea salt & fresh pepper

1/2 can coconut milk

Cook rice in 1-1/4c water for 15 minutes.  Add drained beans and remaining ingredients.  Transfer to a covered casserole dish and let stand an hour or so to blend the flavors.  Reheat until mixture just begins to bubble.  Serve with eggs, chicken, beef or fish and fruit or steamed vegetables.  (I didn't use the chorizo - it was the soft type - I was expecting it to be more like kielbasa.  Instead I steamed up some shrimp at the end and tossed it in a little spicy-sour spring roll sauce.). . .Lin

Chayote Chop

1  chayote squash

1  zucchini

1  carrot

1/2  onion

1 T  butter

1/2  can coconut milk

sea salt & fresh pepper

Wash all vegetables.  Peel chayote, dice all the vegetables, combine in a pan with butter and seasonings.  Stir and simmer 10 minutes.  Add coconut milk, bake in a loaf pan or baking dish another 20 minutes.  Stir and serve. . .Lin

Dianne's Crookneck Squash Casserole

A friend of mine from high school posted this picture on her Facebook page.  It looked SO good to me I asked her for the recipe and if she would mind if I posted it here.  I haven't tried it yet myself but will soon.**

Lots of steamed yellow squash
2   eggs
Grated cheddar cheese
     as much or little as you like
1   package of Stove Top
     Stuffing

The stuffing mix seasons it perfectly, and takes the place of bread crumbs.  Mix the squash with a hand mixer, like mashing potatoes.  Stir in rest of the ingredients and bake at approximately 350° for 30 minutes - uncovered.  Thanks again Dianne!

**I'm also thinking I'm going to make a variation of this substituting a big bag of chopped, frozen spinach for the squash - as well as another using a big bag of frozen chopped broccoli.