Tag Archives: Squash

Winter Squash Bisque

Posted on October 27, 2010 | 12 Comments

Hello dear readers. Yesterday, I referred to a soup recipe I was hoarding from you. I made squash soup and it was the perfect thing on a chilly, fall afternoon.

Heartwarming Winter Bisque

Recipe: Serves 1

2 cups roasted butternut squash (or any other squash or pumpkin!)

1/2 cup 1% or 2% milk

2 tsp real butter

a few pecans and walnuts

cinnamon

nutmeg

pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp ground mustard

cloves

chili powder

pinch cayenne pepper

salt

Place it all in the blender and shazam! Top with ground flax and pecans.

Another idea is to make it sweet by subbing in some apple and vanilla and nixing the mustard and chili powder.

Benefits:

Cinnamon * In one study, after taking 1/4 – 1 tsp cinnamon daily for 40 days, all participants benefitted from a reduction of fasting blood sugar levels, blood triglycerides, and LDL (bad) cholesterol! It is very high in antioxidants and can help stabilize blood sugar levels, which will help prevent an insulin spike, and thus the storage of fat.

Butternut squash * A great source of Vitamin C, A, potassium, manganese, and folate. It is also very high in fiber and water content!

Cloves * super high in manganese and antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory effects on the body!

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A super easy dinner: Coconut kabocha bowl!

Posted on September 26, 2010 | 10 Comments

Once again, the picture of this dish really doesn’t convey its deliciousness.

It is almost too easy to call a recipe, but I am going to anyway.

There are only three ingredients: kabocha squash, coconut butter, and coconut milk!

I would serve this plus a side of protein (chicken, fish, greek yogurt, whatever) for a more complete meal.

Almost all health bloggers are in love with kabocha squash; it’s basically a rite of passage to make a recipe using one. My only issue with it is the texture. To me, it is strangely dry… despite being very moist. This is why I added in some coconut milk, which I definitely recommend.

Recipe: Serves 1

1 Kabocha squash

2 tbsp Artisana coconut butter

1/4 cup light coconut milk

salt

Roast the squash at 400 for about 40 minutes, until you can easily pierce it with a knife. Slice in half and scoop out the seeds. Place 1 half in a cute bowl. Scrape out the innards of the other half until you fill up the kabocha bowl. Stir in salt and 2 tablespoons of coconut butter. Drizzle the coconut milk on top. Enjoy!

Benefits:

Coconut * coconut gets a bad rap because of its saturated fat content, but its fatty acids are mainly medium-chain triglycerides, not long-chain. The long-chain triglycerides are bad for our cholesterol levels, but coconut has been shown to improve cholesterol levels. Animal studies suggest that medium-chain triglycerides can increase metabolism.

Kabocha squash * 1 cup has 70% of your daily needed vitamin A and 15% of your daily needed vitamin C, plus calcium and iron!

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Truffled Mac n’ Cheese

Posted on July 22, 2010 | 15 Comments

I have been wanting to make this for months. I have put it off and put if off either because I was homeless or because I didn’t have all the ingredients or because the apartment fire alarm got pulled.

But I finally did the damn thang.

I was inspired by a mix of Heather’s mac and cheese and Mae’s humnut sauce, but I took it to the next level.

I mixed vegan with cheese.

I blended vegetarian with beef.

I dumped truffled salt upon healthy.

I crumbled carb onto low carb.

And it was good.

This might just be my favorite dinner. And it is healthy, despite all the jokes I am making about it. Two people could split the entire pan and walk away without a tinge of guilt. We certainly did…

“I had no idea healthy food could taste this good.” – Emily’s father

“OMG, Im sending a mass text out to the girls about this dinner.” – Emily

Recipe: Serves 2-3

Bake 1 medium spaghetti squash at 390 for 35 minutes.

In the mean time, mix together 1/4 cup hummus with 2 heaping tbsps of nutritional yeast. Thin with 2 tbsps water and stir. Then add about 1 to 1.5 ounces of fontina cheese and a large splash of milk. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and microwave again. Sprinkle in some truffled sea salt and stir until it is mostly smooth. This is your cheese sauce.

Saute 6 ounces of extra lean ground beef in a skillet until it is just thoroughly cooked. Set aside.

When the squash is done, scrape out the noodles into a large mixing bowl. Add in half a can of drained peas and the beef. Stir in lots of truffle salt. Pour in half of the cheese sauce and stir again.

Grease a casserole dish and pour in the squash mixture. Evenly spread the top with the rest of the cheese mixture.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs over the top and bake at 400 for a couple minutes. Turn up the heat to broil for 2 minutes to finish it off. To serve, sprinkle with more truffled sea salt!

Please make this soon, I promise you will not regret it. And you can easily vegetarianize or veganize it! Just nix the obvious ingredients and double up on the others.

Benefits:

Spaghetti squash * Contains vitamin C, thiamin, niacin, B6, and lots of fiber!

Lean beef * A lot of people look down upon beef because they think it is bad for their health. However, beef is actually very good for you as long as you buy lean cuts (I buy 95% lean) and limit your consumption to a couple times a week. I didn’t used to eat  red meat very often, but when I found out I was iron deficient, I started eating it at least 1-2 times a week. I have felt much better since! Lean beef is a great source of iron, B vitamins, and protein.

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How To Crack A Coconut

Posted on July 21, 2010 | 14 Comments

Hello everyone! I am sorry that I haven’t been posting as often! I have been staying at my lovely friends’ homes, bouncing around, and living out of a suitcase. However, today Emily and I whipped up a bomb lunch that I highly recommend you make! Once again, we went to HEB with no idea what to make and came up with a Coconutty Squash & Tilapia Flatbread! Sadly, the store didn’t have shredded coconut, so we had to buy a whole one…

How To Crack Open a Coconut

1. Get a towel, cup,  nail, hammer, coconut, and go outside.

2. Find the three darker indentations on the coconut. Hammer a hole into each indentation.

3. Drain the coconut water into the cup.

4. Once all of the coconut water is out, beat the coconut with the hammer. Try to aim for the general area of the three holes you made.

Once I got all my anger out on the coconut, I was ready to make lunch.

Recipe: Serves 2

Ingredients

2 whole wheat tortillas

2  4-ounce filets of tilapia

1/3 cup finely chopped coconut meat (you can substitute shredded coconut)

1 cup diced butternut squash

1/3 cup diced sweet onion

canola oil (or you can sub coconut oil if you have it!)

rum extract

cinnamon

salt

pepper (if you wish, Emily did, I didn’t)

almond slivers (optional)

To prepare, finely chop the coconut meat until you have about 1/3 cup. Finely chop up about 1/3 cup’s worth of sweet onion. Skin part of a butternut squash and chop into thinnish cubes, about 1 cup full. Rub a few drops of rum extract onto the tilapia filets and sprinkle on cinnamon and sea salt. Preheat the oven to 375.

Place two pans on the stove at medium heat and add 1 tsp canola oil to each. Divide the coconut and onion between the two pans. Saute & stir until light brown.

In one pan, add another 2 tsps of canola oil and stir. Throw in the butternut squash and cover. Occasionally stir. Remove from heat when the squash is soft and lightly browned.

In the other pan, place the tilapia on top of the coconut-onion mixture. After a few minutes, flip the tilapia and cover. Remove from heat when the tilapia is white all the way through.

Combine all of the onion, squash, fish, and coconut into one pan and lightly mix. Add salt.

Lightly spray the two whole wheat tortillas with canola oil (or coconut oil if you have it!). Pop in the oven for a few minutes until crispy.

Optional but recommended: Once you take out the tortillas, spread a thin layer of coconut butter over them.

To serve, slice the tortillas into quarters. Top with the squash-tilapia mixture. Garnish with slivered almonds, salt, and toasted coconut. Serve with a side salad!

Benefits:

Coconut * coconut gets a bad rap because of its saturated fat content, but its fatty acids are mainly medium-chain triglycerides, not long-chain. The long-chain triglycerides are bad for our cholesterol levels, but coconut has been shown to improve cholesterol levels. Animal studies suggest that medium-chain triglycerides can increase metabolism.

Cinnamon * In one study, after taking 1/4 – 1 tsp cinnamon daily for 40 days, all participants benefitted from a reduction of fasting blood sugar levels, blood triglycerides, and LDL (bad) cholesterol! It is very high in antioxidants and can help stabilize blood sugar levels, which will help prevent an insulin spike, and thus the storage of fat.

Tilapia * a lean source of protein that has some omega 3′s!

Butternut squash * A great source of Vitamin C, A, potassium, manganese, and folate. It is also very high in fiber and water content!

Whole wheat *  when you choose white flour over whole wheat flour, you are losing over half of the B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.

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Butternut Tartlets

Posted on May 21, 2010 | 7 Comments

Good morning! Today I have the honor of being featured on a fantastic food blog, Ohh May! I did a guest post for Mango Coconut Chicken, if you would like to see it, click here.

I am so excited for this recipe. I was inspired by this squash action to make a butternut squash tart. I couldn’t decide between sweet and savory, but I ended up going with sweet. I wanted to make the tartlets like little squash-filled cupcakes. These were amazing.

And the boyfriend had the genius idea to top them with coconut butter! Butternut cupcakes, voila!

Bite!

Recipe: Makes 3 tartlets

3 tbsp flaxseed

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

sea salt

1/4 cup water

1 egg, divided

1 butternut squash

cinnamon

1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp butter

Directions – Preheat the oven to 350.

Grind 3 tablespoons of flax seeds in a blender until they become a powder. Mix the flax powder with 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and a few grinds of salt. Add 1/4 cup water and stir until it becomes a dough ball. It should be very dry, but it should still stick together in one clump.

Dust a baking sheet with flour and lay the dough on top of it. Cover with wax paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten it out until it is thin.

Grease a muffin tin with coconut oil. Cut the dough into 3 portions and press into the cupcake holders.

Using your fingers, paint a thin layer of egg white over the flax crusts. Bake for 10 minutes. When you remove the crusts, turn the oven up to 400.

Meanwhile, peel 1 butternut squash and remove the seeds. Chop into small cubes.

Spray a baking sheet with canola oil and spread the cubed squash on the pan. Spray lightly with coconut oil. Give it a dust of cinnamon and brown sugar. Bake  at 400 for 20-35 minutes, until the squash is very soft, even caramelized.

Remove the squash and put into a blender. Add 1 egg yolk, 1 tbsp melted butter, and 1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar. Blend until smooth. Pour the squash puree into the three tartlet crusts. You will have leftover squash! Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until the edges of the squash just begin to brown.

Optional: Frost the tartlets with Artisana coconut butter!

Benefits:

Flax seeds * are loaded with omega 3′s (specifically alpha linolenic acid) which can reduce inflammation! Omega 3s are also used to prevent blood clots and increase cell plasticity (which can help diabetics). Daily flax consumption can lower cholesterol levels and also provides a healthy dose of fiber in every tablespoon!

Butternut squash * A great source of Vitamin C, A, potassium, manganese, and folate. It is also very high in fiber and water content!

Whole wheat *  when you choose white flour over whole wheat flour, you are losing over half of the B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.

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Hug a Fat!

Posted on April 27, 2010 | 2 Comments

This post is for Chocolate Covered Katie’s hug a fat month! Woot!

I eat  different variations of squash fries all the time. This is probably my favorite. Coconut butter makes the best topping, but ketchup is good too!

Recipe: Serves 1-2

Cut a butternut squash in half longways and then chop into thin slices. Depending on how hungry you are you can use the whole squash or just half. Spray a large pan with canola oil and put on medium-high heat (a 4 on my stovetop). Arrange the slices face  down on the pan and cover with a plate or lid. Cook on that side for about 10 minutes and then flip and recover. Cook until soft and brown to your liking. Top with salt and coconut butter or ketchup or whatever!

Also pictured is a salmon burger…

Benefits:

Butternut squash * A great source of Vitamin C, A, potassium, manganese, and folate. It is also very high in fiber and water content!

Coconut butter * High in fat, but mostly the good kind! Fat is key for practically all metabolic processes. It is also what makes up our cell membranes and some vitamins can only dissolve in fat! So if you eat a non fat diet, you are missing out on many key nutrients.

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