Roasted Delicata Squash Kale Salad with Maple Tahini Dressing

It's been a difficult couple of weeks news-wise, and for me, often a carefully-planned and satisfying meal is the best comfort. This week, I made a salad with roasted delicata squash, and it really hit the balance between rich comfort food and being healthy. 

Have you tried delicata squash? I first tried it a few years ago, and now it's the epitome of autumn to me. It's super easy to cook -- you cook it with the skin on, and it's delicious roasted -- and has a great squash flavor.

What's also great about this recipe is that the different components are super versatile and could easily be used in other dishes -- the maple tahini dressing has a really interesting, nutty flavor, and the roasted squash is great on it's own. 

Also, a podcast to try out while you cook. I thought the "Anna in Somalia" episode was really moving, and made me re-realize I still need to read Anna Karenina. 

Roasted Delicata Squash Kale Salad with Maple Tahini Dressing

Makes 3-4 large servings

1 medium delicata squash
1 T olive oil
1-2 T honey
salt and pepper
dash of chili powder
dash of garlic powder
dash of paprika
1/3 C goat cheese, crumbled
About 3 cups baby kale or chopped regular kale (no ribs or stems)
1/4 C dried cranberries
1/2 C chopped walnuts

Dressing

1 small clove garlic, peeled and grated
½ cup olive oil 
¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon molasses
dash of paprika  
3/4 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper or white pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Slice squash in half and clean out seeds with spoon. Slice each half into C-shaped pieces by slicing horizontally. Place on baking sheet or 9 x 13 pan. Drizzle 1 T olive oil over squash, along with 1-2 T of honey, and then season to taste with salt and pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Squash pieces should be lightly coated with oil, honey, and spices.

2. Bake squash for about 15 minutes on each side (about 30 minutes total); leave in oven until golden brown. 

3. Prepare dressing by mixing all dressing ingredients; a mason jar with a lid works well for shaking to mix ingredients. 

4. Assemble salads: on a bed of the kale, add roasted squash, goat cheese, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and drizzle dressing over it all. 

Enjoy! Happy fall! 

SaveSave

It's March: Scallops with Avocado and Grapefruit

I'm ready for spring. I think a lot of people are feeling this way right now, after such a long and cold winter in so many places. The winter in DC was definitely better than the one back home in Minnesota, but it was still colder than usual, which meant more chilly walks home from the metro and more cabin fever from things getting closed because of snow. I'm definitely ready for some nicer weather and more light! 

Since it's not quite spring outside yet, I decided to bring some spring to the kitchen. 

I've never cooked scallops before, and have been wanting to try making them myself for a while. This is the perfect recipe to break up any winter-cooking overkill you may be experiencing in the kitchen (anyone tired of soup or lasagna or feeling uninspired at the end of a season?). 

I really liked this recipe because it brings together a lot of different flavors in a very simple way, which makes it taste fresh, and because the combination of tangy grapefruit, buttery scallops, and creamy avocado challenges your taste buds just enough to keep a simple assembly interesting.

Cooking the scallops: As you've probably heard or experienced, the danger with scallops is over cooking them. So watch them carefully. The time it will take to sear them will vary based on their size; the recipe below indicates searing them for about three minutes per side for larger scallops. Reduce that time if you are cooking small or medium-sized ones. Because you are really trying to sear the outside, start with a very hot pan and oil. You should add the scallops once the oil begins to smoke. If the oil starts to fry and bounce on the pan while the scallops are cooking, reduce the heat slightly. 

(You can tell they did not give me evenly-sized scallops at the fish counter, which made cooking them a bit more challenging.)

To segment the grapefruit, cut the top and bottom off, and then slice off the peel. Then, cut away the part that is in between each vertical membrane. With the peel off, it's pretty easy to pull each section out. 

This recipe was originally a salad, with the idea being that you would put all of the these things on mixed greens. To make this a main dish, I didn't use salad greens, but instead put this all over some Israeli couscous. I thought that was a pretty amazing combination, but if you want to make a lighter dish, I think salad greens would be great too. 

Scallops with Avocado and Grapefruit 
Adapted from: http://fiveoclockfood.blogspot.com/2010/06/seared-scallop-salad-with-rube-red.html
Serves 8

Serve over salad greens or couscous.

8 scallops, preferably U10 size, never been frozen (U10 means that less than 10 will equal one pound, so they are larger in size)
1 grapefruit: 1 T juiced, and about 6-8 segments removed
1-2 T olive oil
1 avocado, sliced
salt and fresh ground pepper
olive oil as needed to cook scallops

For dressing:

4 T chopped shallots
3-4 T chopped chives
1.5 T olive oil
2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 T fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice

1. Segment and juice grapefruit and set aside. Slice avocado and set aside as well.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the scallops. Add olive oil to a medium or large skillet on high heat. Once oil is smoking and pan is very hot, add scallops. Let sear for about three minutes on each side for large scallops, less for small or medium sized ones. Each side should have a golden brown crust. When done, the scallops should still be slightly opaque in the middle when you slice into them.
3. While scallops are cooking, make the dressing. Combine shallots, chives, olive oil, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice in small bowl and stir with a fork.
4. Prepare either salad greens or couscous as your base for the dish.
5. Divide up servings of the couscous or salad greens, and, once scallops are done, place them on top along with a couple of grapefruit segments and avocado slices per serving. Add a couple of spoonfuls of dressing over everything.

Enjoy! And happy almost spring!

Pasta Salad with Homemade Caramelized Leek & Goat Cheese Dressing

July/August Theme: Homemade summer

Since July is almost over, and really, in DC July and August tend to blend together into one hazy heat-filled period of time, I'm going to combine July and August's theme into one. True to form, it has indeed been heat-filled here lately, which is when I start to fixate on dishes that are served cold, a favorite being pasta salad.



The classic versions I think of are made with either mayonnaise or Italian dressing along with cubes of cheddar cheese and broccoli. Usually, when I make pasta salad, I go in a completely different direction from those. But I thought that it would be interesting to try to make something in the spirit of those pasta salads, but with a homemade dressing made of more unique ingredients and sans mayonnaise.

The cool thing about this recipe is that I started with the base of the dressing with the pasta, and then added in the other elements somewhat experimentally based on what I had. So you could do a lot of different things with it if you changed which vegetables/fruit/protein you added to it. Other ideas I had included asparagus, zucchini, and almonds.

The dressing might sound complicated, but is very easy as long as you are willing to caramelize the leeks. The flavor that comes out is very interesting and somewhat rich, which then plays off of the vegetables, etc well.





Working on this dressing got be thinking about other summer staples that are often store-bought, but that are easy to make from scratch- salsa and meat marinade in particular came to mind. So the theme for July and August will be summer recipes that you might usually use a store-bought ingredient (in this case, the dressing for the pasta salad) with an easy homemade version. I'll also be doing a post about the topic of homemade versus processed food products in general, looking at some of the advantages to making things yourself instead of buying them. Happy summer!







Pasta Salad with Homemade Caramelized Leek & Goat Cheese Dressing

Makes a large batch, so consider halving if only want a few servings

1 T olive oil
touch of salt
6-7 radishes, sliced very thin
1 bunch broccolini or broccoli(about 2 C chopped)
4 C dry pasta, such as macaroni
1 15-ounce can chick peas
2 medium Granny Smith apples

Dressing
Juice of one lemon
1 t salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
3 T olive oil
1.5 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 T honey
4 ounces goat cheese, softened
2 medium to large leeks (about 2 C chopped), caramelized

1. Remove dark green tops and root from bottom of leeks. To wash, halve leeks lengthwise and thinly slice crosswise in large bowl of cold water. Wash leeks well and lift from water into large colander.
2. Heat 1 T of olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat, add leeks and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Turn to low and cook for 20-30 minutes until brown and caramelized.
4. In meantime, boil large pot of water, about 4 quarts with salt added. When water is boiling, add pasta. Cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.
5. Slice radishes into very thin slices. Chop apples into small cubes.
7. Once leeks are done, chop brocollini or broccoli into small pieces, and saute lightly in same pan as leeks were cooked in. Cook only until lightly sauteed but still crisp.
8. Set pasta, fruit and vegetables aside.
9. To make dressing, combine caramelized leeks, lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil, vinegar, honey, and softened goat cheese in food processor, and combine until ingredients are finely ground.
10. Combine dressing with pasta. Once pasta is room temperature, come both with fruit, vegetables and chick peas. Put in refrigerator until cold. Serve chilled.

Corn & Avocado Potato Salad

Even though it's September, it still feels very much like summer here in DC.

So in the interest in soaking up the last bits of summer, I'm going to post some of my favorite summer recipes while I still can!



(This is Minnesota, but suggests my state of mind...)

So it was hot here, and I was thinking about shish kabobs. And how much I love them. I think it's because they combine a lot of fresh elements together into one dish (I like them made with chicken, tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers). And then I thought about how you could mix a lot of those things into a dish without grilling them, and eat it cold. Perfect for a sweltering humid DC night. Below is what I came up with, with some added elements... and it was delicious.

But I can't take too much credit for this, since since I started making it I've noticed that there are actually a lot of "alternative potato salad" recipes out there similar to this one. I think that just goes to show, though, that other people like mayo-free potato salad... and the enduring deliciousness of potatoes with avocados.

I made a vegetarian (and vegan) version of this recipe, but you could very easily make a meat version, and increase the similarity to an actual shish kabob, by adding sliced and satueed chicken breast; you could even make a bit more of the dressing to marinate the chicken in.



Corn & Avocado Potato Salad

Sesame-Lime dressing (recipe below)
1 T olive oil
10-12 red potatoes
Corn sliced from two cobs of corn (or 1.5-2 C frozen corn)
2 C grape tomatoes
1/2 C chopped shallots
2 yellow or orange bell peppers
2 avocados
Optional: sliced sauteed chicken breast

Sesame-Lime Dressing

1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C rice wine vinegar
1 T sesame oil
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
juice of one lime
1 t ground coriander
1 t garlic powder
2 t garlic powder

First, boil the potatoes in salted water until they are just tender but al dente (leave skins on). This should take about 15-20 minutes.

While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the dressing and set aside.

Chop the peppers and shallots, and slice the corn from the raw (not boiled) corn cobs.

In a large saute pan, saute the shallots in the olive oil for about five minutes, and then add the corn. Saute for about five more minutes, and then add the peppers and saute for about another five minutes. The vegetables should have softened, but still have some crispness.



Chop the avocado into medium chucks and set aside.

Once the potatoes are ready, drain them and slice them in half. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes and shallots, peppers, and corn. Add the dressing, and then the tomatoes. Finally, add the avocado, and mix all together with salad tongs.

Put salad in refrigerator until room temperature or cold, depending on preference.

Keeps for several days in the refrigerator and tastes great cold!