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!