Butternut squash cubed and in season at TJ all year round

My son came home from his tasting today at school and announced that he was "a fan" of the butternut squash /apple soup he tried at school today -- hooray. 

The great news about butternut squash that orange beta carotene filled toxin fighter is that it takes so little to make it -- once you can get the stubborn meat out of the shell.  Well gratefully Trader Joes and Whole Foods has it all pre-cubed for us in the cold section of the produce isle.

I came home and preheated the oven to 350,  greased a baking dish with coconut oil (butter would've been yummy too) and tossed in the squash.   I added some baby carrots and opened a bag of cranberries and pre-cut pineapples and poured spiced apple cider over it.  Prep work took MAYBE 5 minutes.

I covered with aluminum and baked for 25 mins and then uncovered and let it brown for another 10-15.  It was a little sour because of the cranberries(I suppose I could've drizzled honey, agave or maple syrup but trying to keep calories down). Instead, I served it with quinoa and goat cheese and it was a great match.  It tasted like the inside of a pie.  Had I wanted the calories, only thing missing was a scoop of ice cream and we would've had dessert. 

The point is, precubed butternut squash makes it easy with no more excuses.    If I make again I might try baking with brussel sprouts and making more of a savory meal than sweet.  Any suggestions?

No more rice....Quinoa Sushi!

I got this message the other day, and considering we eat rice at least once a week it was very disturbing:

Consumer Reports latest food safety investigation has found troubling levels of arsenic in virtually every rice product we tested – from brown rice to baby cereal, even Rice Krispies. And much higher arsenic levels in people who had just consumed rice. Concerned? So are we. Especially since our nation strictly limits arsenic in drinking water but sets no limits on arsenic in most food and drinks – despite the EPA's stance that no level of exposure to the carcinogenic form of arsenic is 'safe.' It definitely turns me off rice, but one of my "go to" lunches for the kids is veggie sushi. I find it almost as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich, just roll up rice and carrot/cucumber in some seaweed, done! And I thought I was feeding them such a healthy lunch, I was so disappointed to not have this option. Then I remembered this recipe I saw on a blog called "my new roots". Its quinoa sushi! It looks beautiful and I am so going to try it! I thought I'd share.... http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/2012/03/quinoa-spring-sushi-diy-quick-pickled.html

Fig-i-licious

As a child I remember seeing figs alone without their warm newton bed as the most impossible idea of anything I would want to eat.  The seediness of the fig-newton, (somewhat like a cheap hotel) couched cozily in the pillow of the cake was always a perfect package -- but alone -- naked -- brown shrunken looking wrinkly dried on a ring or... raw, green cut it open looking not done yet.. no thank you, where's my cookie?

I remember hearing stories how my grandfather hailing from Athens used to play hookie with his brothers and have fig fights at the Acropolis. . . unless wrapped in a "newton" I couldn't imagine that figs had any better use than shot put practice for the Olympics.

Last year, amazingly, a friend brought green figs from her tree in Echo Park to my house as dessert offering for our meal-- I thought to myself -- how long before these ripen and what will I do then? 

Amazingly, after dinner was over - we cut the green figs in half - laid them on a platter with walnuts and some candied pecans.  Amidst a smattering of goat cheese and grapes she squeezed honey right over the top!  Transformed to the clouds of Mount Olympus my Greek ancestors must've been smiling down.  I was trying to see if I could squeeze all the elements in one bite and then found myself pairing the parts -- a fig and a walnut -- a fig and a piece of goat cheese -- could it be? Just a fig with honey and there I was -- lapping up the sweet sticky figs with no honey at all... Hoopa!

The Courtship of Andrew’s Father

The Courtship of Andrew’s Father

Preserving Strawberries- and not by making preserves! ~mimi b.

Nothing dampens the strawberry spirit more than getting those fragrant green baskets home with visions of jams, fresh tarts and strawberry shortcakes, only to discover vague white tips the next morning that rapidly turn into gushy, red, heart shaped blobs attracting fruit flies on your counter.

While honey may attract more bees than vinegar, it is vinegar that will send those fruit flies packing!  Just wash your berries (it's supposed to work for all berries) in a mixture of 1 part vinegar (I used apple cider) to 10 parts water, then drain very well.

Yes, I know, we've always been told NOT to wash our berries until ready to use to prevent from getting soggy.  But just this once, laugh in the face of conventional wisdom and you will be smiling for over a week at the site of your plump, red beauties!

Let us know how this berry good technique worked for you.

Strawberries aka "Heart-seed berries"

Did you pick up a flat of strawberries at the school Renaissance Festival and now you don't know what you'll do with them? Well after I give you some wonderful facts about them, you might wish you'd bought some more. 

Strawberries are a great source of Vitamin C, folic acid and fiber. Just 8 strawberries provide 160% of the vitamin C you need for a whole day!

So what to do with all of those strawberries that you brought home?  

Here are a couple of ideas:
- On your breakfast cereal, yogurt, or oatmeal
- In your salad
- Strawberry shortcake, on your ice cream
- In pancakes, french toast, waffles, etc.

My husband pulled out and dusted off our juicer.  From 2 pints of strawberries he made a delicious 8 oz glass of nectar. 

OK what about those you won't use right away?

Our school principal told me he's making jam.  Yummy!  But if that sounds too ambitious there are so many reasons to cut off the tops and freeze them.  Throw them into your blender for smoothies, add to strong tea for a fruitier quality,  tons of desert ideas but for the grown ups -- summers coming -- margaritas anyone?  Add them to your champagne or white wine.  

As you may know, our children at Wonderland had a From The Ground Up class all about our little red friend the strawberry.  Here are some fun facts they learned.

• The small "seeds" on the outside of a strawberry are the real fruits.   In fact, each strawberry has about 200 “seeds.”  The red, fleshy part of the strawberry--the part that everyone likes to eat so much--is actually the engorged end of the stem that is called the receptacle.   Therefore true botanists don’t consider strawberries a real “berry” as true berries, such as blueberries and cranberries, have seeds inside.  
• California is the only state in the Union that grows strawberries outdoor all year round. In fact, California is responsible for 80% of America’s strawberry crop.
• Native American Indians called strawberries "heart-seed berries" and pounded them into their traditional corn-meal bread. Discovering the great taste of the Native Americans bread, colonists decided to create their own version, which became an American favorite that we all know and love ... Strawberry Shortcake.
• The English and French also found strawberries used the beautiful heart-shaped berries to landscape their gardens. In fourteenth-century France, Charles V ordered twelve hundred strawberry plants to be grown in the Royal Gardens of the Louvre.

 

I recently read that if you save those orange peels and leave them to soak in vinegar for a few weeks, you will end up with a lovely smelling household cleaner. I am trying it, will let you know what happens! Has anyone else tried this?