Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos

Squash is the theme of the week. It's been on sale, and I think it's yummy.
So, here's the first squash recipe we tried. I think it was yummy. I even got some good responses from the kiddos after I got them to try it.

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cubed, & roasted
• 1/2 cup uncooked short grain brown rice (yields: 1.5 cups cooked)
• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 2 tsp ground cumin, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
• One 15-oz can black beans (about 1.5-2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
•  tortilla wraps (large or x-large)
• Toppings of choice: (avocado, salsa, vegan sour cream, spinach/lettuce, cilantro, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 425F and line a large glass dish with tinfoil. Drizzle olive oil on squash and give a shake of salt and pepper. Coat with hands. Roast chopped butternut squash for 45 mins. or until tender.
2. Cook brown rice
3. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, add oil, onion, and minced garlic. Sautee for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Now add in salt and seasonings and stir well.
4.  Add chopped red pepper, black beans, and cooked rice and sauté for another 10 mins. on low.
5. When b’nut squash is tender remove from oven and cool slightly. Add 1.5 cups of the cooked butternut squash to the skillet and stir well. You can mash the squash with a fork if some pieces are too large.
6. Add bean filling to tortilla along with desired toppings. Wrap and serve. Leftover filling can be reheated the next day for lunch in a wrap or as a salad topper.

Healthy Broccoli Salad

My kids love broccoli. I know. That's pretty weird. But it's true. And we like to be weird.

If you've been to very many pot-luck dinners, you've probably had some form of a traditional broccoli salad. Lots of Mayonnaise. Lots of sugar. Sometimes bacon. Yummy.

I wanted to find a healthier version for my broccoli-loving kiddos. This is what I came up with.

This version doesn't have any sugar or Mayo. The dressing is made using avocados (Yum!) and lemon juice.

Next time, I won't pulverize the broccoli in the food processor. The kids almost didn't believe me that it was broccoli. It just looked like "green stuff". I think that just chopping it into bite-sized paces would be good enough. Other than that, I thought it was great!

Healthy Broccoli Salad
Ingredients:

• 1 pound broccoli (2 small heads)
• 3 small carrots
• 1 apple
• 1/2 cup craisins (or raisins, or chopped up grapes)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• Dressing:
• 3 avocados
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt

Instructions:

Chop up broccoli into small bite-size pieces and place in bowl. In food processor, grate carrots and apple. Add to broccoli. Add craisins and sunflower seeds. Toss to mix. Seed and peel avocados and place in food processor. Add lemon juice and salt. Process until mostly smooth. Toss dressing with salad and serve.

This was really good stuffed into a pita! The leftovers kept well for a few days.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheeze

I happened to catch a little of the Today show last weekend - something that NEVER happens - and they were interviewing a chef. Her "thing" was healthy foods, so my interest was piqued. One of the dishes she had brought was Vegan Mac & Cheese made with butternut squash. "Very interesting..." I thought. So, I looked up recipes and decided to try it. The only problem was, one of the ingredients I had never heard of: nutritional yeast.

After a brief consultation with Google and Wikipedia, I learned that "nutritional yeast has a strong flavor that is described as nutty, cheesy, or creamy, which makes it popular as an ingredient in cheese substitutes. It is often used by vegans in place of cheese. It can be used in many recipes in place of cheese, such as in mashed and fried potatoes, and atop scrambled tofu. Another popular use is as a topping for popcorn."

Very interesting. However, it was not to be found at my local Wal-mart. So I thought I'd find a substitute. Some websites suggested cashews. So, that's what I tried. However, it did not make the dish taste very cheesy. The butternut squash taste was still a bit too strong. It wasn't unpleasant, just not much like the mac&cheese taste I was looking for.

I think we will revisit this recipe after I have nutritional yeast in my hands.

Here's the copied recipe with a few of my adjustments. I had some roasted squash on hand from a previous meal, so I skipped that part.

Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh butternut squash* (peeled and chopped) OR 1 cup canned butternut squash OR canned pumpkin
• Extra virgin olive oil, S & P
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 3/4 cup unsweetened & unflavoured almond milk (revised from 1 cup)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 6 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste (this is where I tried cashews)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4-3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2-1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2-1 tsp kosher salt (to taste) & ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 servings brown rice macaroni (8oz or half a 16oz package) makes 3 1/4 cup cooked
• Mix-ins of choice (e.g., kale, spinach, broccoli, peas, pumpkin seeds, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a casserole dish with tin foil. Mix chopped squash with EVOO, S & P. Roast for about 40 minutes, uncovered, or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the cheeze sauce in a pot on the stove top. Add coconut oil over low-medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together milk and cornstarch until clumps are gone. Add into pot and whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, Dijon, garlic, lemon, S & P) and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so).
3. Cook your pasta according to package directions. The sauce makes enough to cover 4 servings of pasta.
4. In a blender, blend the sauce with 1 cup of roasted squash (or if using canned, simply stir 1 cup into the pot).
5. Add cooked, drained, and rinsed macaroni into pot, along with cheeze sauce & mix-ins. Heat and serve.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/10/03/butternut-squash-mac-n-cheeze/#ixzz3y02I2yKQ