Dishing the Divine » vegetable

brown sugar glazed butternut squash

Paula — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:13:20 +0000

If you have not already done so, please find me at www.facebook.com/dishingthedivine!

Most likely, I should create a new category for this recipe. It’s best filed under, “Looks like veggies… tastes like candy.” I might have actually considered creating such a category except that I’m entirely unsure of whether any other recipe would join this one. How many veggie recipes can you think of that could pass as dessert (if you weren’t already planning on eating these after your dinner)?

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a squash fan. I don’t mind hiding pumpkin in a pie or slyly slipping into some cookies or a bread. I’ll even be so brave as to eat winter squash soup, as long as it has sufficient cream, sugar, and salt. But to choose to actually eat chunks of squash for dinner? I may have said “Never!” had I not trusted Cooks’ Illustrated’s infinite wisdom. There was surely hope for a squash recipe that started with “brown sugar” right?

This squash is amazing. If you can find pre-peeled squash, you may want to use that. I personally have not figured out how to grow pre-peeled squash in my garden, so I’m stuck preparing this the old-fashioned way. Squash does weird things to my skin, so I always use latex gloves when I am preparing it. Weird? Yes. But not nearly as weird as the feeling I get in my hands when I touch the raw squash. The idea here is simple. Toss the squash with some butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 45 minutes. Roasting vegetables brings out their sweetness. Roasting vegetables covered in sugar *really* brings out their sweetness.

Oh, and by the way… Brant ate this. Which means it’s really good. Brant hates squash more than I do. If he can eat it, you can. And you should.

brown sugar glazed butternut squash

adapted from www.cooksillustrated.com

1 butternut squash (about 2.5 pounds)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 425F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

While oven is preheating, peel the squash, halve lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Cut into 1-inch chunks. In a large bowl, combine the squash with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Pour onto foil lined sheet. Roast, stirring every 15 minutes, until squash is well browned and completely tender, about 45 minutes. Serve.

roasted cauliflower

Paula — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:43:30 +0000

I have a confession to make. I was at a friend’s house yesterday and she had a scale in her bathroom. That in itself is not the confession. Most people have scales in their bathrooms. I, however, do not have a scale in my bathroom because I know too well how weight watching can turn into an unhealthy obsession for me. So, for the most part, I use the size of my pants to give me an idea of how much I weigh. Here’s where the confession begins: I hopped on the scale to see if it’s true that my pants have been shrinking in the dryer (stupid pants-shrinking-dryer-demons… they get me every time!). Alas! The scale sided with my pants and my heart dropped. No denying it anymore. I’ve definitely gained weight. I guess a trip to Europe followed by holiday gluttony will catch up to you at some point…

I may have to start baking a bit less and choosing a few more veggies in my diet. Don’t get me wrong… I’ll still be sharing delicious baked goods because life without dessert is not really living. But you might start to see a few more healthy recipes showcased here. I promise to only show ones that are delicious. Healthy food that tastes like cardboard is not worth eating, even if it’s “low-fat” or “lite” or “full of omega-3s!”

Cauliflower would fall into the “healthy veggies that Paula normally avoids” category. It’s not that I have anything against cauliflower, except that it stinks when it’s raw, it stinks worse when it’s cooked, and it is mostly a mushy, tasteless mass. Okay, so maybe I do have a few things against cauliflower. I came across this Cook’s Illustrated version of roasted cauliflower and withheld my reservations long enough to remember that it was these same folks that introduced me to roasted broccoli, which is now one of my favorite veggies. Maybe, just maybe, they could dress up cauliflower and make it edible as they had done for the broccoli.

While I still think the broccoli is FAR superior to the cauliflower, I must admit that I enjoyed the cauliflower far more than I had expected. Roasting it brought out a measure of sweetness and the olive oil made the cauliflower crispy. If you already like cauliflower, you’ll love this. If you hate cauliflower, give this a shot! I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

roasted cauliflower
recipe by Cook’s Illustrated

1 medium head of cauliflower, about 2 pounds
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or as needed to cover cauliflower pieces)
kosher salt and ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Trim outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom. Cut head into 8 equal wedges so that core and florets remain intact. Place wedges cut side down on foil- or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; gently rub to evenly distribute oil and seasonings. Gently flip cauliflower and season other cut side with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, salt, and pepper.

Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue to roast until bottoms of cauliflower pieces are golden, 8 to 12 minutes. (Or, if you leave it in the oven and forget about it, it’ll be burnt like mine!)

Remove sheet from oven, and, using spatula, carefully flip wedges. Return sheet to oven and continue to roast until cauliflower is golden all over, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with oil, and serve immediately.

stuffed artichokes

Paula — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:48:38 +0000

** The above picture is what happens when you turn your back for a moment and the hubby grabs the camera and starts arranging food and shooting however he pleases. It makes me smile to see him join me in my interests, so I figure he deserves to have his picture posted at the top of the page. **

A few years ago, we bought two artichoke plants from the local garden store and planted them in our garden. About two feet apart. Whoops. Were you aware that these plants can grow HUGE!?! So, last year we finally capitulated to their needs and moved both of them about five feet apart, giving them wide berth to grow. Or so we thought. Apparently, the artichokes are greedy, and now they want MORE space. Too bad, fellows. We’re square-foot gardening here, and already you’re real estate hogs. Deal with it.

Of course, now these plants are monsters and have taken over this entire portion of our yard, growing into the nearby garden beds, obscuring the path, even pushing their way into nearby roses and fruit trees and generally causing garden mayhem. The rule is that once you cut the artichokes from the plant, you can hack the plant back to the base and wait for it to grow again. So, needless to say, we’ve been in a hurry to eat some artichokes.

Unfortunately for Brant, he’s on his own because I don’t like artichokes. They’re too much work to eat and the prickly leaves make my skin crawl. I guess Brant could eat only so many artichokes-dipped-in-aioli sauce before he finally exclaimed, “Enough!” Any time I mention an alternate recipe for artichokes, he leaps at it.

This recipe makes for beautiful presentation, if not messy eating. Two medium-sized artichokes will make a meal for one person, or you can serve one as a side dish.

By the way, I found this recipe at www.gimmesomeoven.com, a beautiful food blog, if I do say so myself. Check it out when you get bored reading my antics.

stuffed artichokes

www.gimmesomeoven.com

1 medium globe artichoke
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium carrot, diced
1 shallot or small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme)
zest of half a lemon
1/2 cup Panko, or regular breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Fill a medium sauce pan 2/3 of the way full of water and bring to a boil.

Prepare the artichoke. Cut off the stem so that the artichoke will sit flat. Cut off the top 1 to 1.5 inch of the artichoke, then use kitchen shears to trim the spiky tops of the outer leaves. Put the artichoke in the boiling water and cover. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until you can pull away an outer leaf without too much resistance.

While the artichokes are boiling, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare the stuffing. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrot and shallot (or onion). Season generously with salt and pepper; cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more. Turn off the heat and add the thyme, zest, and breadcrumbs. Stir to combine. Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper.

When the artichoke is finished cooking, drain the water and run the artichoke under cold water until it’s easy to handle. Put it upside-down on a kitchen towel to drain for a few minutes.

Turn the artichoke over and pull out the pale leaves in the very center, about a 1-inch diameter in the middle of the artichoke. Use a teaspoon or a measuring spoon to scoop out the choke, the hairy fibers inside the middle of the artichoke. Be careful not to scoop out too much of the heart, which is the soft, tasty solid just under the choke. Running your finger around the inside of the artichoke helps find stray choke fibers.

Place the artichoke in a baking dish. Spoon the stuffing into the hollow middle, then scatter the rest around the leaves, fluffing them out and making room for the stuffing to nestle between them.

Bake the stuffed artichoke for 10 to 15 minutes, until the stuffing is warm and the artichoke is very soft. Serve hot and sprinkle lavishly with lemon juice.

grilled asparagus

Paula — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:05:14 +0000

The irony of this particular recipe choice is that my husband and I both dislike asparagus, but there came a time a week or two ago when I made my declaration: “No more salad and no more broccoli, and if that means no more veggies with our dinner, so be it!” You see, I need variety, and the salad/broccoli rotation could only last so long in our house. When I saw these gorgeous asparagus spears at the local farmer’s market, I decided that we would learn to like them. My husband’s raised eyebrows when he saw my veggie choice did not inspire any confidence in me, but I seduced him with offers to let him BBQ our new green veggie if he just promised to taste one or two.

I don’t know if I would say we’re asparagus fanatics at this point, but we’ve consumed over 3 pounds of these long green stalks in the past week so at the least we’ve found a way to make them tasty for even non-asparagus eaters! Of course, if you add enough garlic, salt, and balsamic vinegar to just about anything it will taste good.

The trick to grilling asparagus is to keep the tender tips off the direct heat or else all you’ll end up with is cute little lumps of ash.

I hear you’re supposed to cut ends off your asparagus before cooking them. Ours was picked and eaten so fresh that I did not bother.

To round out my meal, I served this asparagus with mashed potatoes and angry chicken (recipe coming soon!).

grilled asparagus

1.5 lb asparagus
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt (plus extra for serving)
8 grinds of black pepper from a pepper mill (or 1/4 tsp black pepper)
Preheat your grill.

In a 9×13 baking dish spread out your asparagus.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and then pour over the asparagus and stir well.

Place the asparagus on the grill such that the tips are pointed away from direct heat. After a few minutes, turn the spears to ensure that they cook evenly.

The asparagus is done when the thickest part of the stalk is easily pierced with a knife. I suggest removing one and testing it before removing all of them. And then test another. And then another. There is a limit to how much you’ll get away with this before someone notices that your pile of asparagus has shrunk considerably, but it’s always fun to feel like you’ve gotten away with something.

Note that the sugars in the balsamic vinegar can burn quickly, so keep an eye on the asparagus to ensure it doesn’t burn.

Serve hot sprinkled with sea salt.