Roasted Squash Stuffed with Cornbread Dressing

Whoops! It seems we here at FPP let Apple Week slip by unnoticed (or at least un-blogged!).  Sorry, folks!  We will try to make it up to apples (and apple-lovers), but in the mean time if you cooked up an awesome apple dish, please share it anyway!

This week's theme is Vegetarian-- something I think will be pretty easy for most of our FPP followers.  Many of the delicious recipes you've posted for other themes have been vegetarian, vegan, or veg-friendly.  Incorporating meatless dishes into your lifestyle is a great way to discover your inner veggie lover, cut back on calories and cholesterol, and sample new flavors.

For my vegetarian dish, I let the local produce guide me to a recipe.  Our local farmer's market is fantastic, and I really love hitting it up on Saturday morning.  We don't always get there, but we made it out this week, and I spotted some adorable acorn squash.  My husband and I both tend towards squash-a-phobia, but the farmer's market had me in such a good mood vegetable-wise that I decided to pick one up.  Now, to be clear, I had never eaten, let alone cooked with, acorn squash, but we're really trying to increase our veggie vocabulary, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.


After a little searching, I settled on one of the most inviting-looking autumnal dishes I could find: Cooking Light's Roasted Squash Stuffed with Cornbread Dressing.

The recipe was originally part of a vegetarian Thanksgiving menu, and it just looked comforting.  To (attempt to) make it a meal, I served it with a pear gorgonzola salad.

I was very pleased with the results! I failed to take photos, I'm sorry to say, but mine looked remarkably similar to the picture.  I used store-bought cornbread, and I couldn't find fresh sage, so I ended up subbing in dried marjoram (turns out I don't have any dried sage at home, either!).  I also drizzled just a little maple syrup on the tops before baking, so that it would still have the maple flavor that the cornbread is supposed to provide.   My only complaint is that this really is a side dish, not an entree.  In the photo, they seem to be serving it alongside some kind of mac and cheese or cheesy potatoes-- that would probably be a good idea.  If you weren't going for vegetarian, you could also serve it with a lightly seasoned (maybe maple-brushed?) grilled chicken breast, turkey breast, or pork chop.  On the other hand, I will definitely be keeping this in my side-dish repertoire.  It was tasty, easy to do, and made the whole house smell like Thanksgiving.

Persian-Inspired Rice Salad

Happy Labor Day from FPP!  This week we're celebrating picnics, and we're trying to help you answer the classic question: what am I going to bring?  So break out your favorite potluck, picnic, and cook-out food, and don't forget to share your results with us!

This Labor Day, we've been invited to a Freddie Mercury themed party featuring Persian food.  I wanted to make something that would fit the theme-- a tricky enough problem-- and be appealing to our vegan friends. I headed over to Epicurious, and after looking at a few Persian recipes, came up with my own sweet rice salad.

Persian-Inspired Fragrant Rice Salad
2 cups long-grained rice
1/4 tsp saffron
1 stick cinnamon
8-10 Medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp chopped toasted walnuts
2 tbsp roasted salted cashews, chopped roughly
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Cook the rice in whatever method you prefer, adding the saffron and cinnamon stick during cooking (I tossed them all into my rice maker, but stovetop would work just as well).  Spread the cooked rice in a wide dish to cool, and remove the cinnamon stick.  Rehydrate the raisins by putting them in a small dish or bowl and covering them with boiling water.  Let sit 5-10 minutes, then drain.
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, orange juice, zest, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. 
Mix together the cooled rice, dried fruit, nuts, and dressing.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

That's it! Super simple, and it tastes great.  Hopefully it will go over well!

August 28 - September 3: Quick and Easy Supper

No matter what you do during the day, if you're like me, by the end of the day you are often feeling tired, frazzled, and in no mood to deal with dinner.  Well, this week we hope to help.  Our theme is quick and easy suppers, and our focus is getting a healthy, home-cooked dinner on the table in minutes.  Fortunately for us, there are a ton of great resources online for healthy, fast meals. 

Light, Delicious, and Superfast - A few special words about Cooking Light
My personal favorite fast-meal resource is Cooking Light's Superfast collection, and so I want to give it a little special love. They have a huge section of 20-minute recipes, categorized for easy browsing to help you.  Have chicken breasts sitting in the fridge? Check out Superfast Chicken.  Want to fire up the grill a few more times before it gets cold?  Superfast on the Grill is there to help.  Craving some tex-mex flair?  Try Superfast Southwest.  Those are just a few of the categories featured.

I can't say enough about Cooking Light here, folks.  Some of my favorite standby recipes are from the archives of Superfast.  Pasta with Sundried Tomato Pesto is probably my favorite pasta way to cook pasta -- c'mon, sundried tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese? Who wouldn't be in love? (Spoiler alert - this is already on my list to cook this week!)  And it seriously takes more time to boil the water than it does to bring the sauce together.

The Barbecue Sirloin and Blue Cheese Salad is on the table in 15 minutes, tops -- if you buy prebagged lettuce, the beef will cook by the time you are done chopping shallot and slicing peppers. Did I mention it's delicious?  My husband, who eats anything I serve with a brave face but rarely remembers any meal the next day, requests this salad on a regular basis.

And if you're looking for a quick-prep meal that will look like it took hours to make, may I recommend the Fig and Blue Cheese-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin?  Melt-in-your mouth, 5 minutes of prep and 25 in the oven, and easy to clean up (but be sure to line your baking pan with aluminum foil!), and seriously impressive-- this dish is worthy of date night but easy enough to make any night.

 Other Great Resources for Quick & Easy Meals
Cooking Light is an old favorite of mine, but there are lots of other great resources out there for this theme, and I encourage you to check them out, too (go ahead, you won't hurt my feelings). 

• Martha Stewart's Dinner Tonight collection features hundreds of quick recipes that are designed to be easy, fast, and made with things you can find everywhere.  While you're browsing, sign up for the free Dinner Tonight E-mail list, too, and she'll deliver a daily quick recipe to your inbox.
• Of course, no list of quick recipe resources would be complete without Rachel Ray, Food Network's queen of the 30-Minute Meal empire.  She's got some great ideas, and if you can keep up her pace in the kitchen they'll all come together in 30 minutes or less.
• Not to be outdone, kitchen crusader Jamie Oliver also has a collection of 30 Minute Meals.  This site is more a promotion for his book of the same title, but the website includes several recipes from said book.  
• A quick search for "fast healthy meals" turns up some other great collections from Eating Well and WebMD -- I've had success with recipes from both!
• And here's one hot off the presses: a Huffington Post column that appeared yesterday features "Vitamin Packed Seafood Dinners in Just 15 Minutes or Less."  Seafood is great for this theme -- it is fabulous for your heart, and it almost always cooks quickly.  Shrimp, scallops, and fish filets will take just minutes from fridge (or freezer!) to table.

As you can see, this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart!  I hope we can inspire you this week, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with to make.  Happy cooking!

Packed Lunch Link Roundup

Packed Lunch week is drawing to a close, but that definitely doesn't mean we should stop looking for ways to bring nutritious creative meals to work and school.  Fortunately, FPP isn't the only website that's been trying to help you fill your Hello Kitty lunchbox lately. To help keep you inspired all year long, here are just a few of the pack-a-lunch links that have come across my inbox over the last few weeks.

• FoodNetwork's Healthy Eats Blog is serving up a Brown-Bag challenge in September- they're challenging readers to pack a lunch every work day in September!  They'll be blogging all about it, and they invite readers to submit their own blog entries, too.  Get the details here, including a link to the Facebook group where they'll be hosting a chat with a nutritionist mid-month.
• From WebMD, some quick, easy, healthy ideas: Brown-Bag Lunches and Snacks for Work or School
• The Back-to-School section at Epicurious features great ideas for packed lunches, including slimmed-down sandwiches.  They've also got some great ideas for weekday breakfasts!
• From FitSugar, 10 Healthy Sandwiches for back-to-school

August 21 - 27: Packed Lunches

Here in Champaign, classes started again today! While most of us are out of school, the end of August and early September always gets me back in the mood for school, and there's something reminiscent of New Year's about it - makes me want to adopt good resolutions. And since we've been living off of one income for all of the summer months, I am also reminded that our bank account is not unlimited. So, for all those reasons, it's a good time to try out some good packed lunch recipes - I need to stop going out for lunch every day!

However, your standard turkey sandwich gets boring really quickly. So, now is as good a time as ever to look for some new, interesting ideas for lunch - something that travels well, but is a little more tempting than some cold cuts between a couple slices of bread, which is what my husband and I always default to. Do you have any favorites?

Now that summer is ending and the heat wave has finally broken, soups are starting to come back into my mind as a viable lunch option.

Asparagus & Pea Soup, www.tartelleteblog.com

 Or maybe a tasty salad?

Easy Avocado-Lime Black Bean Salad, ohsheglows.com

Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad, smittenkitchen.com

And, not to get down on sandwiches, because I do love them, but I'm always looking for something new - maybe try some grilled or fresh veggies and a yummy spread on some whole-grain bread or even a tortilla for a wrap? There are so many possible tasty combinations.

High-Protein and Oil-Free Basil Pesto, ohsheglows.com

I can't wait to hear what you come up with - I can use all the inspiration I can get! (and my wallet will definitely thank you, as well...)

Good luck!

Easy, Quick Tomato Sauce

I know this is not going to sound like much, but seriously, it revolutionized my pasta-making. When I lived in Paris during college, I lived with two Italians, one of whom was a fabulous, natural cook. She could whip up a ricotta birthday cake from scratch without a recipe (and did so for my 21st - how lucky can a girl get?) and could turn almost anything into a simple, yet delicious pasta sauce. I remember distinctly how she made pasta with broccoli that seemed like it would be the most boring, bland thing, but it was stunning - clean, but rich flavors. I wish I knew how she did that!

I did have the opportunity, however, to learn how she made her go-to tomato sauce. I always enjoyed my grandmother's spaghetti and meatballs, but the pasta sauce there (made with tomato paste, etc.) seemed to take forever to make and the process really was a labor of love, as far as I could tell. What was so great about this sauce is that it goes together in about 5 minutes and you can let it simmer on the stove for a bit to develop the flavors, but it can really be ready whenever you want. AND, you can change it every time and add whatever you're in the mood for or will best compliment whatever you're serving it on. So, here are the basics:

1. Start with some onion, garlic, or both (I'm sure you could use shallots, too, if you were so inclined). Chop the onion and/or slice the garlic.
2. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the onion/garlic. If you're using garlic, you want to wait for it to brown, infusing the olive oil with it's flavor, and then you can take it out. (If you want more garlic flavor, you can mince the garlic and add it in, but be careful - it burns really quickly when minced!). The onions should be cooked for 5 minutes or so, until soft and somewhat translucent.
3. Then, you can add canned tomatoes. I always start with one 14-oz can, determine I don't quite have enough (especially if you use a whole small onion or half of a large one), and add another can. You could also do this with chopped fresh tomatoes, though you might want to cook it a bit longer.
4. Add some dried herbs and/or spices - basil, oregano, and thyme are all good options - or try an Italian Herb blend, maybe. This is where you can really get creative and play with flavors - do let me know if you come up with any all-star combos!
5. Add some salt and pepper (I often swap out the black pepper for red pepper flakes) and a pinch of sugar (maybe 1/4 tsp for each can of tomatoes you used?) - that's the real secret - it brings out some of the tomatoes' natural sweetness and cuts some of the acidity.
6. Then, just let it simmer for awhile to meld the flavors and you're good to go!

Here are a few pics of the large batch I made last night:

I usually use just diced tomatoes, but these were all the tomatoes I had in the house. The crushed tomatoes in tomato puree made it a little smoother, actually. Not a bad option.

I was inspired by my own post and added carrots to my sauce this time. Just one more veggie - can't hurt!

I simmered this for about 30 minutes - you can adjust that based on how liquid you like your sauce. :)

The great thing is that this basic recipe is so versatile. There are lots of possibilities for variations!

• Smooth - The recipe above makes a rather chunky sauce, with larger pieces of tomatoes and onions. If you prefer a nice, uniform sauce, throw it in a blender or food processor and go to town until you achieve the consistency you're looking for.
• With veggies - I've added diced carrots to this recipe (added in step 2 with the onions - no garlic) and frozen green peas (added at the end to let them warm through). You could also try diced bell pepper, celery, or even something like spinach (I'd add that one at the end, too) for a "Florentine" twist.
• Meaty - This one is straight from the horse's mouth - my wonderful Italian friend, in sharing her Eggplant Parmesan recipe, instructed that I make the basic sauce, with onions, and add pork sausage (I usually pick "Italian style") with the onions at the beginning - she also recommends adding carrots and peas to that one. I'm sure you could try with any ground meat you like. With the sausage, it adds a lot of flavor into the sauce, so if you're going to use something like ground beef or turkey, just be sure to compensate with more spices or herbs. I've actually also used tuna in this sauce, too - adds a bit of a twist. Maybe tuna with olives? Yum!

I'm sure there are more, too. :) And you can simply put it over pasta, or you can use it in a more complex dish, such as this, which I used this sauce for last night. Talk about eating your veggies!

Aug. 14 - 20: It's Red Week!

Okay, yes, so red week is almost over you say. I know - and I promise to try to be better about getting these things up at the beginning of the week! - but that is why we have the calendar, and this one is pretty self-explanatory.

So, as I'm sure you have surmised, the goal for this week was to make something red. As you probably know, one of the easy tricks of healthy eating is having a wide variety of colors on your plate. Different colored foods have different health benefits, but rich natural colors are, as a general rule, a good thing. Since you can get great tomatoes and berries and other red foods around now, we figured red was as good a place to start as any!

Here are interesting facts about red food:

• Plant pigments known as anthocyanins, betalains and carotenoids give red foods their color and not only do they look gorgeous, but they are full of antioxidants.
• Red foods also contain lycopene, which has been tied to reducing the risks of developing prostate, lung, breast, and stomach cancers.
• The nutrients in these foods also help lower blood pressure and reduce UV damage.

But, the best thing about red foods? They're delicious! Here are a few ideas of lovely red produce (which may never make it into a dish in my house, as I'm constantly tempted to just snack on them by themselves):

• Red apples
• Red grapes
• Cranberries
• Cherries
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Watermelon
• Tomatoes
• Beets
• Red potatoes
• Red onions
• Radishes

You could really go anywhere with these - make gazpacho,

or give it a twist by trying this sangrita soup:

Or put some beets in your pesto, like this:

Or roast up some delicious red peppers and throw them in a tart:

The possibilities are endless, and delicious! Let us know what you come up with!