Delicata Squash Casserole, Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

There are a couple (among many) things different about me since I last blogged regularly:
1. I shop at Trader Joe's now.
2. I no longer have time to whip up creative meals.

...Wait a second. Something doesn't look right with that #2. It's not that I don't have time. I have pllllenty of time. It's more so that I'm distracted by other activities that aren't cooking. My life is wildly different from two or three years ago. And it's mostly internal-ish things that only I would notice. My priorities are different. I think a lot of the cooking I used to do during that time period was a way for me to fill a void, to play a role. It's not that I didn't enjoy it or take artistic pleasure in it...I did. But that wasn't its main function. I won't get into too many details, as this isn't a therapy session (or is it?). Long story short, nowadays, cooking as an art (not as a way to prepare food) is low on my priority list.

That being said, before tonight, it had been a really long time since I made a from-scratch, no ingredient list, innovative meal. The meals I used to blog about. Tonight is just a typical Tuesday night. Home from work, tired, not much going on. I just need to feed myself dinner so there's no one else's taste or desire to consider. As everything was finished and I set the plates down at my little solo table setting, I realized that this was the first meal in 2 years I felt compelled to blog about. But it's not really about the meal...is it?

I'd also like to blame Trader Joe's on the partial death of my kitchen spontaneity. That store is amazing. And so much of it is prepared stuff...like really REALLY GOOD prepared stuff. Like their cooked pastas, for example...that stuff is amazing. So many of their frozen meals are good. The curry chicken salad is the bomb, too. Anyway, it allows you to make really awesome "gourmet" meals on a time crunch. Ideal for a busy 27-year-old foodie like me. So "from scratch" hasn't really been part of my vocabulary lately.

I do have to thank Trader Joe's for my discovery of DELICATA SQUASH. Hoooly moly. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a vegetable (and I love vegetables!).

This squash is actually CREAMY. Imagine whipped sweet potatoes with cream cheese added...that's the texture (not the taste). The taste is somewhere between a butternut squash (but more intense) and a sweet potato. It is so sweet. And so easy to prepare. I just poke a few holes it with a knife and microwave it for 6-8 minutes per pound (thanks TJs!).

I had a tupperware full of a delicata I cooked last night and just wanted to do something different with it. I remembered a sweet potato casserole I made "back in the day" and figured I'd do something similar. I'm not going to even try to write a recipe, so I'll just tell you how I made it.

DELICATA SQUASH CASSEROLE

I used about 2 cups worth of cooked delicata squash. You can eat the skin, but I discarded it as I wanted the casserole to be smooth and souffle-like. Mash it with a fork until the consistency of mashed potatoes (doesn't take much). Add equal parts brown sugar and white sugar, maybe a tablespoon each. A couple tablespoons of melted butter. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves to taste. Pop it in a casserole dish, top with pecans, and bake at 325 for about 20-30 min.

Oh, and I made some chicken salad because I had a bunch of cooked white meat chicken to use up. I was inspired by a Trader Joe's recipe but eyeballed everything.

TRADER JOE'S HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN SALAD WITH CRANBERRIES...THE HALF ASS VERSION :)

I used:
Cooked chicken
Dressing (equal parts TJ's Garlic Mustard Aioli, apple cider vinegar, and honey)
Pecans
Dried cranberries

I served it on TJ's Sprouted Multigrain Bread with some thinly sliced red onions and baby kale leaves. Those are TJ's Everything Pretzel Crisps on the plate, too.

This was way too long and I probably sound crazy. Sorry!

Cheers,
L

Mahi Mahi Tacos with Lime Yogurt Sauce

Hola, foodies!

I recently moved into a new apartment and tonight I made my first "real dinner" since moving in. With the help of my roomie, of course!

I've always wanted to make fish tacos. For this recipe I used pre-packaged frozen mahi mahi filets from Trader Joe's. So convenient - and surprisingly fresh, too!

I came up with the sauce on the fly. I used plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream because it basically tastes the same except it's fat-free and has a ton of protein. So yummy.. the sauce really made the tacos, for me.

• 1 pound mahi mahi filets
• flour
• extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp honey
• 10" flour tortillas
• pico de gallo (store-bought or homemade)
• any color bell pepper, finely chopped
• red or white onion, finely chopped
• cucumber, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• shredded cheese of your choice

1. Combine yogurt, garlic, lime juice, and honey. Set aside.
2. Slice fish filets into 1-inch sections. Coat with flour.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until fish is completely opaque throughout. Transfer fish to a plate and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place fish pieces on warm tortillas. Drizzle with a good helping of yogurt sauce. Top with pico de gallo, peppers, onions, cucumbers, cilantro, and cheese. Enjoy!

Cheers,

L

Granola

One of my favorite snacks is granola, and has been for a long time. Stir it into yogurt, eat it in a bowl with milk like cereal, sprinkle it on ice cream or frozen yogurt, eat it plain as a snack...  But I've never made my own, until today. I wanted to make a real simple, healthy recipe. This does have some sugar content (3/4 cups of brown sugar for a recipe that yields 6 cups of granola) but there is no butter or oil involved. It is delicious, has just a hint of sweetness -- and is incredibly addicting! The pan of granola was sitting out cooling while I was making dinner, and Paul and I kept sneaking handfuls even though we were about to eat.

I look forward to making this cheap, easy recipe again and again so that I can always have some granola on hand. Tomorrow morning for breakfast, I'm making yogurt/fruit/granola parfaits. Plain Greek yogurt (snagged the big container on sale!), blueberries I have stashed in the freezer (thawed, of course), granola, and a drizzle of honey. Yummmm. I can't wait for tomorrow morning, just for this breakfast.

This is a pretty basic recipe so feel free to add extras if you wish... dried fruit, chocolate chips, coconut, etc.

Pre-baking.

Finito!

Granola!
adapted from Kathleen Daelemans' Food Network Recipe

Makes about 6 cups of granola.

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups chopped nuts (I used 1 cup pecans, 1 cup walnuts)
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
2. In a 2-cup microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, combine brown sugar, honey, and water. Microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes, or until sugar is melted. (If you double the recipe, use a bigger vessel in the microwave! The mixture bubbles while heating.) Stir the vanilla and salt into the brown sugar syrup.
3. In a bowl, combine the oats, nuts, wheat germ, and cinnamon. Add the brown sugar syrup and mix well.
4. Spread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or greased), and bake for 45 minutes. Stir the granola every 15 minutes during baking. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

Cheers,

L