Classic Butternut Squash Soup

An easy and tasty soup recipe from Whole Foods. Serve with a salad and crusty bread. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup diced carrot (about 1 (8-inch) large carrot)
1/2 cup diced celery (about 1 (11-inch) large stalk)
2/3 cup diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
4 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1 medium squash)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
4 to 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery and onion. Cook until vegetables have begun to soften and onion turns translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add butternut squash and thyme. Stir to combine with vegetables. Stir in chicken broth and season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is fork-tender, about 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree soup. Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and carefully puree in batches in a traditional blender.

Variations:

Apple, Gorgonzola and Almond
Follow recipe above and stir a cup of applesauce into pureed soup. Garnish each serving with a tablespoon crumbled Rogue Creamery Gorgonzola, a tablespoon of toasted whole almonds, a few slices of thinly sliced apple and a small sprig of fresh thyme.

Thai Flavors
Stir a tablespoon red curry paste and 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger into carrot, celery and onion mixture. Cook until vegetables are tender and ginger is aromatic. Add squash, cook until tender, then add broth and 1/2-cup light or regular coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper. Puree soup and garnish each serving with 1 or 2 pappadums, a tablespoon toasted coconut flakes and a tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro. NOTE: Pappadums are available on the snack food aisle.

Southwestern Spin
Add a tablespoon chopped chipotles in adobo to carrot, celery and onion mixture. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add squash, cook until tender, then add broth. Season with salt and pepper. Puree soup and garnish each serving with 2 tablespoons crumbled queso fresco, a tablespoon cumin-toasted pumpkin seeds and a tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro. NOTE: Canned chipotles in adobo sauce are available on the Mexican food aisle.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

It's that time of year...time to put away the hot dogs, brats, and corn on the cobb, and start working on reducing the abundance of squashes and gourds that we all grew so enthusiastically this summer. These Acorn Squash are from Uncle Shaan's garden. Just the perfect size for individual portions, they invite you to stuff and bake them! Although, we usually eat them sweet, with cinnamon and marshmallows, tonight I decided to take a savory approach. Delicious!

INGREDIENTS:
4 small acorn squash
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 package Jimmy Dean All Natural Pork Sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped carrot
Several handfuls of fresh baby spinach, chopped kale or swiss chard.
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cooked rice of any sort (I like to use a package of Rice-a-Roni Nature's Way Long Grain and Wild Rice)
Generous pinch kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Swiss cheese, for topping

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut each acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. If necessary in order for the squash to sit level, cut off a small portion of the bottom. Put 1 of the 8 pieces of butter in the cavity of each squash. Set squash on a sheet pan lined with tin foil. Set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, brown the ground pork until no longer pink. Remove the meat from the pan, add the olive oil and saute the onion, celery, and carrot, and greens until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine or stock.

Return the pork to the pan along with the cooked rice. Salt and pepper, to taste. Stirring constantly, heat mixture thoroughly, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Divide the mixture evenly among the squash, top each squash with cheese. Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 hour, or until the squash is tender. Remove tin foil for last 15 mintues. Serve immediately.

Grandma Joycie's ALMOST Avocado Grapefruit Salad

For years, Jeremy's Grandma Joyce has been making an avocado grapefruit salad. While I, and half the hemisphere, love her cooking, I have to admit that some of her beloved recipes have seemed a little too strange to me to try. This salad was definitely one of them. I'm not sure if it was the thought of the grapefruit and avocado combo that scared me away or the sweetened mayo dressing. I like to lean more towards the dressing. Mayonnaise. Yuck. However, this week I spent some time cruising the Internet trying to find a recipe for our LPO grapefruits when I came across another avocado and grapefruit salad recipe. By chance, we also had avocados is this box so I decided to give it a try. The results were fabulous!

Trust me, I know it sounds like a strange combination, but if you've ever managed to eat a salad with vinaigrette and some kind of fruit inside of it, this salad is right up your ally. It's fast, easy and it beats the same old tossed salad any night! Oh, and Court? It's gluten free. You're welcome :)

In case you need a little help figuring out how to slice your grapefruit-click here! Getting all the bitter pith off is key!

INGREDIENTS:
1 grapefruit, cut into supremes over a bowl
1 ripe avocado, cubed or sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced paper thin
1/4 c. best quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 t. prepared Dijon mustard (like Grey Poupon)
black salt and black pepper for finishing

DIRECTIONS:

Squeeze the leftover bits of grapefruit and the juice gathered while cutting the supremes, and measure 1/4 c. of it. Drink the rest, cook's treat. Mix the 1/4 c. of juice with the olive oil, kosher salt, and mustard in a jar and shake intensively to emulsify. Taste and add a little good vinegar if it needs more acidity. Leave it under seasoned so you can finish with the black salt. Arrange the grapefruit, avocado, and onions on a plate, either individually or on a platter. Just before serving, drizzle on the salad and sprinkle with the black salt and black pepper.

Pizza A La Fridge Clean Out

Ah, the forgiving pizza crust. Add whatever to it, cover it in cheese, bake, and you've got dinner! Tonight's crust is another generous recipe from Sydni. It has been my favorite homemade recipe yet and it was so very quick and easy. Truly, I made this pizza faster than it could have been delivered. And the best part? I used a bunch of leftovers for toppings. Half a grilled chicken breast, chopped tomatoes, leftover basil, red onion, capers, a bit of olive salad, fresh spinich from today's LPO box. It was good. And don't worry if you don't have spaghetti sauce. Just brush the entire crust with olive oil and chopped garlic instead.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour ( I use one c. fresh ground whole wheat, one c. unbleached white)
3/4 cup warm water
1 T. yeast
1 t. sugar
1 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1 T. parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

In large mixing bowl fitted with dough hook, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4 c. of warm water. Let the mixture sit 5 minutes until yeast has expanded and is bubbly. Add flour, oil, salt, and cheese to the mixture. Turn on the mixer and mix and knead the ingredients adding the remaining water until the dough scrapes the sides of the bowl and you have a smooth and elastic ball of dough. (You may need to add water 1 T. at at time until dough cleans the sides of the bowl.) Place dough ball on greased baking sheet turning over once to grease the top of the dough. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. After dough has rested, shape into desired pizza shape. Add toppings, brush crust with olive oil and bake for 18 minutes.

Potato Crust Swiss Chard and Mushroom Quiche

Another LPO vegetable recovery recipe. I confess, the potatoes used for the crust were actually starting to sprout little green shooters! I still can't believe I actually used them. I guess what doesn't kill ya....

While very good, this recipe was a little more time consuming than I would be willing to commit to on a Saturday morning. I ended up making it on Friday and just reheating slices the next morning. A few things to watch out for are burning the top of your crust (like me!). If I could do things over, I would probably wrap the crust in tin foil once it started to brown. Also, make sure you taste as you are seasoning. There a lot of bland ingredients going into this pie and you definitely don't want a bland finish.

POTATO CRUST:
1/2 cup grated onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
4 or 5 potatoes, peeled

FILLING:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch of swiss chard
1 package sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated grated cheddar cheese
5 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450°F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Set up a strainer over a bowl. Grate the onions into the strainer, and drain for 10 minutes, pressing out the extra liquid. When the onions are drained, transfer them to a bowl and combine them with the salt, thyme and flour. Grate the potatoes into the strainer. Press out any extra liquid, then combine with the onion mixture, mixing to combine. Pat the mixture into pie pan and up the sides. Bake for 25 minutes to let the steam escape. After 25 minutes, brush the potatoes with oil, then bake for 15 minutes more, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature to 350°F.

While the crust is baking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped swiss chard and mushrooms and cook until the chard is wilted, and the mushrooms give up their liquid and it cooks away (you don't want the vegetables to be juicy). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the vegetables to the baked crust, and sprinkle the cheese evenly on top. Whisk the eggs, milk and Worcestershire together, and pour slowly over the vegetables. Return the quiche to the oven and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until the center is set. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.

LPO Zucchini Bread

Our house was down and out with the flu last week and as a result most of our LPO box went uncooked. So yesterday, in an effort to use up some of our veggies before they spoiled, I spent the afternoon baking and cooking. One of the veggie recipes I used was for zucchini bread. Super simple, extremely good and I always have all the ingredients on hand! While I usually just sprinkle the top and bottom with granulated sugar as soon as it comes out of the oven (a trick from my mom-in-law) this time I tried a streusal topping. Either way you decide to go, it's tasty!

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini

OPTIONAL STREUSAL:
1/2 cup regular oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Combine and sprinkle over batter before cooking

DIRECTIONS:
Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Add streusal topping*
Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, sprinkle with sugar** and completely cool.