squash

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January 7, 2013

Acorn Squash Bread

Posted by ladybug under baked, bread, cinnamon, coconut flour, eggs, flaxseed, nuts, Silver Spring Kitchen, snack, squash, wheat free
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squash bread

I bought a big, beautiful acorn squash a week or two ago. We have leftovers from the holidays filling the refrigerator and freezer, so in the process of figuring out what to do with the squash, I realized we were running low on goodies for Little B. Additionally, she was to begin a new preschool soon and we needed to stock up on portable wheat free snacks for her. And on top of THAT, I got an awesome new mini loaf plan as a gift and was itching to break it in. To make a bread that has some sweet and savory I included nuts and spices. Of course, relying on coconut flour and eggs to beef up the protein was a must. Little B likes this stuff a lot, and this particular squash was sweet, so the squash/snack/loaf pan goals were met with one recipe. Three birds, one stone. Big D bit into it and groaned – in a good way – it reminded him of his grandmother’s banana bread, and it had no bananas. Now THAT is a compliment!

Acorn Squash Bread

1 cup cooked, mashed acorn squash
½ cup walnuts
6 eggs
½ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
½ cup coconut flour
¼ cup golden flaxseed meal
1 cup granular erythritol
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In blender combine squash, walnuts, eggs, oil and vanilla. Blend until smooth and nuts are broken up to around the size of little peas. In mixing bowl combine flour, meal, erythritol, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add blended ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until well mixed. Pour batter into greased bread pan or mini loaf pan(s). Bake for 40 – 50 minutes if making one large loaf, or 25 – 30 minutes for mini loaves. The bread is done when the loaves look set (no longer liquid) and the edges begin to brown. Let cool in the pan before removing. Breads made with coconut flour need to cool before they are set enough to remove from pans, but making sure the pans are greased well make the removal process easier.
 

December 1, 2012

Pumpkin Pie No Sugar No Wheat No Problem

Posted by ladybug under baked, cinnamon, pumpkin, Silver Spring Kitchen, squash, wheat free
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A pumpkin pie with a crispy crust and moist custard, full of spices and sweet pumpkin. A quintessential dessert around my house during the holidays. We like serving it chilled, and mine is usually topped with some freshly whipped cream. I like making it first thing in the morning so the house smells wonderful all day. Little B is becoming quite a pro at stirring, so the custard was a joint effort this year. Sometimes I use fresh pumpkin, other times I resort to canned stuff. I have discovered over the years that the fresh stuff needs a little more spicing to get that just right balance of flavors in the pie. Big D likes his pumpkin pie extra spicy and wheat free, while I want it sugar free with a flaky crust. This recipe met all four requirements! My next wheat free, sugar free pie will be pecan. Stay tuned!

Pumpkin Pie No Sugar No Wheat No Problem

Crust
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp splenda
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Custard

15 ounces puréed pumpkin
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt
¾ cup splenda
2 large eggs
1¼ cups heavy cream

Heat oven to 375ºF. For the crust, mix together the almond flour, 1 tsp splenda and butter until combined. Press mixture into an 8” or 9” pie plate and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. In a medium bowl whisk pumpkin purée, splenda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt to combine. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add heavy cream and mix well. Pour custard into pie crust. Cover crust edge with aluminum foil. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until filling is set but still a little jiggly in the middle. Cool on a wire rack.

 
 

October 19, 2012

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Posted by ladybug under baked, cheese, pork, Silver Spring Kitchen, squash, vegetables, wheat free
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Fall has officially arrived in Maryland. The leaves are changing, the pumpkin patches are very orange and the mums are blooming everywhere I look. I worried a bit because a storm came through this evening and took away some of my beautiful fall leaves. They don’t last long and the rain likes carpeting the ground with them. Seeing all the shades of green, yellow and orange turn my cooking thoughts towards squash. The colorful vegetable compliment almost any main dish, and they are easy to prepare in many different forms. One of my favorite methods is roasting them in a way that makes them finger food, but I also found that stuffing them is another way to have delicious results. A few weeks ago we bought a variety of small squash to add a fall touch to our home décor. We included with them some Big D bought, which were orange acorn squash. Little B has enjoyed moving them around to decorate different parts of our place each day. When I get home from work I am never sure where they will be – in the bathroom, the patio or right in the middle of the kitchen floor. I wonder if Little B will realized she is eating some of her decorations for dinner…

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 acorn squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
2 cups ham, diced*
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup Monterrey jack cheese
¼ cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 400F. Divide the butter among the squash halves and spread it around inside each (using your fingers is the easiest way, of course). Sprinkle each half with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. In a large glass baking dish place the four squash halves. Bake for about 30 minutes, until soft and beginning to brown. Remove squash from oven and lower oven temperature to 350F.

Fill each squash half with a layer of spinach, followed by ¼ of the ham. Press the ham down firmly to remove any extra bulk from the spinach. Top with a mix of the cheeses and sprinkle with pecans. Bake for about 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese begins to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for about five minutes before serving.

*This recipe is a great way to use leftover meat, so feel free to substitute the ham for diced chicken, ground beef, pork roast or beef roast. If you don’t use ham, which is typically salty, you may want to consider sprinkling some salt on the meat before adding the cheese and pecans.
 

August 31, 2012

Zucchini Lasagna

Posted by ladybug under baked, casserole, cheese, sausage, Silver Spring Kitchen, squash, tomato, vegetables, wheat free
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Here is another low carb dish! We are really enjoying the increased level of energy we are experiencing with our current diet, which includes avoiding grains, sugars and processed foods. I am not a die hard fan of most pasta dishes, but I am a lasagna lover. When we traveled in Italy eight years ago I was all about the meat, fish and vegetables – the pasta was, surprisingly to me, not my go to dish while there. Probably because I was corrupted by American knock offs, or because I did not go to Northern Italy, where there is supposedly ‘better’ pasta. I do not really feel like I missed out. Especially in Rome there were almost as many places to get a skewer of roasted meat as there were pizza slices. Go figure. The time we spent renting a villa in Tuscany was sprinkled with visits to the local co-op for freshly butchered meat and freshly picked produce. The cheeses and cured meats were quite an experience, too. Of course, the evil alcoholic concoction we came up with while relaxing the nights away made the eating at the villa a pleasant blur. We would take Coca Cola light (the Italian version of diet Coke) and mix it with some quite horrible tasting Grappa. We did find what I consider very good Grappa before we left, but that first bottle was nasty. Not to waste alcohol, we combined it with the soda and boom! We dubbed our creation Crappa. We got schnockered and did some skinny dipping in the pool. To make a long story short, and totally disconnected to our libation, this recipe takes care of my lasagna craving while keeping me away from the processed carbs found in pasta

Zucchini Lasagna

2 large, narrow zucchini
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 tsp dried parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Splenda or ¼ tsp sugar
12-15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 ½ pounds ground Italian sausage, broken up and cooked thoroughly
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. In small sauce pan combine the diced tomatoes, paste, oregano, parsley, onion powder, salt and Splenda or sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, turn down flame and simmer for about 15 minutes, then remove from flame and let sit. While it is cooking prepare the rest of the dish. In a medium bowl mix the ricotta cheese, spinach and nutmeg and set aside – trust me – it sounds odd, but the nutmeg enhances the ricotta flavor. Slice ends off of zucchini. With a vegetable peeler peel off long strips of zucchini. If you don’t have a peeler, instead make zucchini coins as thin as you can with a knife. To build the lasagna begin with a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Add a layer of zucchini strips/coins overlapping generously to make a solid layer, followed by the ricotta mixture, sauce, mushrooms, sausage and 1 cup of mozzarella. Repeat the layers again. Top with a third layer of zucchini and the last of the mozzarella. Bake lasagna until heated through and cheese on top begins to brown, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about ten minutes, allowing the lasagna to set.
 

August 2, 2012

Japanese Eggplant Tomato Salad

Posted by ladybug under salad, side dish, squash, tomato, vegetables, wheat free
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The summer heat has made itself at home in Maryland, for now. I was hopeful that the triple digit temperatures had moved on earlier this week, since the highs dropped into the 80s, but alas, it was not so. They shot right back up. I know it is August, but a girl can hope! I am very much an Autumn/Winter kind of girl – wearing sweaters and pretty scarves, taking brisk walks to get the blood flowing without sweat raining off my brow. Cooler weather will come eventually – it always does – so for now I will trudge on in the heat and make some summer salads. I found some Japanese eggplant at the store this week and grabbed a few. The are longer and more narrow than the typical eggplant, and in my opinion sweeter and more tender. Maybe I need to work with it more, but the short, fat eggplant tends to be tough and lacking flavor when I have prepared it in the past. The Japanese eggplant is more appealing, but also more elusive. I wanted a cold side dish to accompany some spicy tacos for dinner, and this is what I came up with, adapted from the recipe here.

Japanese Eggplant Salad

¼ cup white vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
¼ tsp red pepper flakes, crushed
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/8 cup olive oil
2 Japanese eggplants
1 large tomato

Cut off ends of eggplants, cut each lengthwise into six pieces, then cross cut into cubes. Sprinkle cubes lightly with salt and let sit for about ten minutes. While waiting for the eggplant make the dressing. Combine the first five ingredients and whisk together until combined. Slowly add oil while you continue whisking until it is all added. Set aside the dressing. Heat dry skillet over medium high heat. Add eggplant and about one Tablespoon of dressing, then saute until tender, about five minutes. Transfer cubes to paper towel and let cool to room temperature, or chill until ready to serve. Cut tomatoes in half and scoop out seeds, leaving as much flesh as possible, then cube the tomatoes so they are about the same size as the cooked eggplant pieces. Combine the tomato and eggplant cubes. Drizzle with dressing and toss lightly to coat. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.
 

July 5, 2012

Baked Zucchini Wedges

Posted by ladybug under eggs, garlic, side dish, Silver Spring Kitchen, squash, vegetables, wheat free
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I did it! I finally did it! I made a zucchini dish that Big D declared as the best he has ever had. This is a BIG deal. I love zucchini, but Big D does not. As usual, if I cover something with garlic and cheese there is a high possibility of culinary success around here. Besides being absolutely delicious (hot or cold, we discovered) they were a great balance for the spicy meat Big D cooked up to go along with the zucchini – he has promised to guest blog about it soon (nudge nudge). I don’t know if this bread crumb-less version will work with anything other than the powdery Parmesan cheese typically found in shaker-type containers, but I do know the powdery stuff did a great job of sticking, with the help of some egg.

Baked Zucchini Wedges

2 large zucchini
2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 Tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Slice zucchini in half, then lengthwise into narrow wedges – at least 20 slices per squash. Make available a large non-stick cookie sheet to receive the prepared slices. Mix together eggs and water, making sure they are well combined. Pour into a shallow bowl or deep plate. In another bowl/plate combine cheese, garlic and salt. Dip each slice into the egg mixture, followed by dipping in the cheese mixture. If they will stand on their skin edge, then set them on the sheet skin side down. If they only stand on a wide, white edge, they will be fine, but will cook brown on the side touching the pan. Bake for about 30 minutes until coating on top starts browning. Serve immediately.
 

July 3, 2012

Roasted Squash Seeds

Posted by ladybug under cinnamon, Silver Spring Kitchen, snack, squash, wheat free
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Every time we cook up a spaghetti squash we discard the sinew and seeds. The seeds remind me of pumpkins and fall and cooler weather. They are the same shape, size and color as pumpkin seeds, so why not treat them the same? Since it was about 100 degrees today and I would give anything for cooler weather, it made a bit of sense to roast up the squash seeds as a reminder of cooler times past and future. This recipe, although including cinnamon and stevia, is rather savory and did the trick as far as cooling me off. Little B and Big D loved them too. The seeds ended up being a healthy snack that I plan on repeating any time our menu involves seeds and a waiting cookie sheet.

Roasted Squash Seeds

1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chili powder
2 packets Stevia in the Raw
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 – 2 cups spaghetti squash seeds

Preheat oven to 250 Fahrenheit. Separate seeds from sinew and set out to dry on a tray for at least half an hour. Don’t worry about rinsing them – any squash left on the seeds helps to enhance the flavor. In a small bowl combine spices and sweetener, then add the oil. Add seeds and toss until coated. Spread seeds on a cookie sheet, making sure they are spread out as much as possible. Toast for about 30 minutes, until dried out and crispy. Remove from oven and let cool. If not all eaten immediately store in airtight container until somebody decides it is wrong to let them alone and inhales what is left.
 

July 1, 2012

Squash Pizza

Posted by ladybug under baked, casserole, cheese, garlic, pizza, Silver Spring Kitchen, squash, vegetables, wheat free
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We love pizza and we love squash, especially spaghetti squash. It is not processed like store bought pasta or the flour used in most pizza crusts. Don’t get me wrong – I love pasta and pizza crust and pretty much any bread I encounter, but it never seems to leave after I eat it. I might as well just glue it on to my hips and butt instead of biting into it, because that seems to be where it goes. Not so with spaghetti squash. It is pretty darned good for you, as I have mentioned before, and is a great way to take care of those pizza cravings, because the wheaty crust of the traditional pizza is just not gonna work with our diet strategy. We have officially thrown up our hands and now make a casserole version of pizza. Yes you need a fork to eat it, but is it really a great loss? Not when it helps me keep my weight down. I am not saying this recipe will help you lose weight, but if you are watching your carbohydrate intake like me, there is nothing better for battling pizza advertisements. The squash does a wonderful job of helping the herbs mix and spread their joy, and thick sliced pepperoni is just heaven to me on a pizza. Omigosh is it good!

Squash Pizza

1 spaghetti squash
8-12 ounces pepperoni, sliced thick
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups Italian mix cheese (romano, mozzarella, parmesan…)
2 cups roughly chopped mushrooms (or 8 ounces canned mushrooms)
2 Tbsp dried parsley
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp garlic powder
2-3 tsp sea salt
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper

Slice squash in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds and sinew. In a microwave safe dish place halves open side down and add about ½ cup water. Cook on high for 10-12 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. While the squash cools prepare the rest of the dish – start with slicing pepperoni and roughly chopping mushrooms. When squash is cooled scrape out the ‘spaghetti’ with a fork into a bowl. Add mushrooms to the squash along with half of the herbs, salt and pepper and mix well. In a medium to large rectangular baking dish (no larger than 9×13) sprinkle about ½ cup of the cheddar cheese. Add the squash mixture. Take a mix of the cheese, about a cup, and spread on top of the squash mixture, pushing it into the squash a bit. Add the rest of the herbs and spices. Make a layer of the pepperoni, then top with the remaining cheese. Place in preheated oven and cook for 30-35 minutes, until cheese is melted and there is some browning. Let stand outside the oven for about ten minutes before serving. Slice like a casserole and serve with a simple garden salad.