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

Photo Blog: What I've Been Up To...

It's been a while since my last blog because, well, sh*t life happens. Here's what I've been up to food-wise since then, in photo form :)

My "inventive" curried tofu and sweet potato stir-fry, served over thin rice noodles.

My mom's cherry congealed salad.

My mom's savory chicken casserole. Yum!

Savory chicken casserole and rice.

Glorious sushi!

Everything was so, so, so good.

The green lights were actually very bright and flashed like strobe lights. A bit distracting, but cool. It was New Year's Eve, so I guess the chef figured, "why not?"

Red = Ahi tuna. Light pink = a fish we never quite figured out. Still tasty though!

Happy New Year! More posts in 2011. :)

Cheers,

L

Pasta Salad

Today is a rainy Sunday.  Not the downpour kind, but a gentle mist that has persisted throughout the late morning and afternoon.  I love these kinds of days...the rain is soothing, it puts me in the mood to drink that extra cup of coffee, and it [usually] puts me in the mood to cook.  And that I did.

Admittedly, this is not the most exciting dish to blog about.  Pasta salad, macaroni salad, whatever you call it -- a routine summer staple.  Still, it's one of my favorite things to eat, and I have never made it from scratch.  I had fun making this today as I sort of made it up as I went along and it turned out delicious.  So, blog-worthy to me!

Sunday Pasta Salad
dressing adapted from  Taste of Home's recipe

Salad:

• 2 cups uncooked pasta -- I used mini penne
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1 small-to-medium tomato, diced
• 1 green onion, chopped
• about half of a 16 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• Optional: 1/2 cup cooked chicken breast, cubed

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup prepared ranch dressing (eyeball it)
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp dried minced onion
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 tsp prepared Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sweet relish

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. While the pasta is cooking, mix together dressing ingredients and let sit.
3. Toss together the salad ingredients, and add the dressing. Mix well.

 Dressing.

 Salad ingredients ready to be tossed.  Not pictured: eggs which I added after this picture was taken, and the chicken, which I decided to add at the last minute after everything was mixed together.  The chicken was left-over from a stir-fry Paul made a couple nights ago, and I didn't want it to go to waste.  I labeled the chicken as "optional" in the recipe because I added it in order to make it more of a meal (I had not yet eaten lunch and was getting hungrier and hungrier as I was preparing it!).  Personally, if this is just a side dish, I'd leave the chicken out.  But it's up to you!

Yummy side-dish or, in my case today, a light lunch.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday, rain or shine.

Cheers,
L

Hi.

The obligatory "first post"... how shall I begin?  Well, I've been thinking about starting a food blog for a while ever since I joined Allrecipes.com.  I review recipes and post pictures there all the time, but you have to be a paying member to have a blog there, so... no thanks.  My older sister, Jess, suggested that I start a food blog in a comment on one of my cooking pictures I had posted on Facebook (she has also repeatedly suggested I go to culinary school...hmmm).  My interest and enjoyment in cooking has increased over the past few years but I still consider myself largely a beginner. I would estimate 75% of my cooking is done without a recipe (this does not include baking).  I feel that's the best way to really learn how to cook...experimenting and creating on your own.  But of course, I do need (and greatly appreciate) help from the pros from time to time!

Literally a week ago, I relocated from Philadelphia (where I recently graduated from Temple University...go Owls!) to Delaware (where my boyfriend, Paul, will begin grad school this fall). I'm still unemployed (thanks, economy!) and when I'm not job searching, I'm slowly unpacking the apartment and getting back into cooking. I figured since I have all this free time now, it's the perfect time to take advantage of it and cook as much as I can... as well as start blogging. This is the state of my new, bigger kitchen now:

I love it; it gets plenty of sunlight and opens up to a big patio out back.  Quite an upgrade from our kitchen in Philadelphia.  As you can see, last night I finally unpacked (almost) all our kitchen boxes and unloaded everything onto the counters & stove.  Yikes...what a mess.  It hasn't stopped me from preparing a few meals, though.  Last night it was my favorite way to prepare chicken breasts: Melissa D'Arabian's Versatile 4-Step Chicken.  I love this recipe because you can switch out whichever poultry, aromatics, seasonings, citrus, and green veggie you want (last night I used chicken, onions/garlic, s&p, lemon juice, and American broccoli. In the past I've done pork chops pounded thin, lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, spinach...the possibilities are endless).  And, in the corner near the microwave, you can see my mini-crockpot which currently has a batch of homemade tomato sauce simmering away (blog post about that coming soon).

Anyway, this is my little blog.  I hope to chronicle as many cooking adventures as I can, as well as our experiences dining out.  I may write about non-food related topics from time-to-time, as well. We'll see!  In the coming weeks I may back-track and do some posts about favorite meals I've made or enjoyed at my favorite restaurants in the past.  For now, here are some favorite shots of foods I've prepared:

Seared Ahi Tuna with Napa, Cucumber & Carrot Salad

Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Asparagus with Spicy Mayo Dip

Bacon-Wrapped Salmon Fillet with a Balsamic Glaze (everything's better when wrapped in bacon)

Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing (icing recipe...so delicious, tastes like strawberry ice cream)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (recipe)

General Tao Chicken (recipe)

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

Cheers,

L