Toss cubed butternut squash with extra virgin olive oil, cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper and roast in a preheated 450°F oven for 30-40 minutes or until fork tender.
Saute onion over medium heat until translucent (about 8 minutes) then add cubed apple, remaining salt and pepper, and curry powder and saute for 10 minutes or until apples are fork tender.
Add roasted squash and saute for 5 more minutes.
Pour in broth and almond milk and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
Add more seasonings to taste if needed.
Use a food processor or immersion blender to blend until soup is smooth and creamy and serve with crusty bread.
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
22-24 Medium cremini mushrooms
8 oz crab meat
Small shallot, diced
5 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2-2 tsp louisiana hot sauce, to taste
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs or panko bread crumbs
Cooking spray, Chosen Foods avocado oil preferred
Directions
Wipe mushrooms with a damp paper towel to clean. Remove stems from mushrooms. Spray tops of caps lightly with cooking spray. Roast mushrooms (cap side up) in a preheated 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Let cool and use paper towel to soak up mushroom water from each mushroom.
Chop stems and saute with garlic and shallots in butter in a small pan until mushroom stems are tender. Remove from heat and let cool a bit.
Combine cream cheese, chives, parsley, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and hot sauce in a medium bowl. Add in crab meat and cooked stems.
Add more seasonings to taste if needed.
Fill mushroom caps with rounded tablespoons of the filling, enough to create a dome of filling.
Place seasoned bread crumbs (if using panko, add italian seasonings) and remaining parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Roll tops of stuffed mushrooms in the bread crumbs to coat. Place mushrooms in a large baking pan. Spray tops lightly with cooking spray.
Bake in 350°F oven for about 20 minutes, or until tops are golden. Can also broil at end for a few minutes for extra crust and serve.
Main Courses & Sides
Shrimp Tacos with Slaw
Ingredients
Shrimp:
1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and cleaned, tails removed
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp each chili powder and cumin
1/2-1 tsp each salt and pepper
1/2 tsp each onion powder and garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
Cilantro Lime Coleslaw:
1 bag of shredded coleslaw mix
1/2 cup cilantro
Juice and zest of two limes
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 small jalapeno, omit if too spicy
1/3 cup each sour cream and greek yogurt
Toppings:
8 small tortillas (corn or flour)
Sliced avocado, cotija cheese, and lime wedges for serving
Directions
Toss clean shrimp that has been patted dry in olive oil, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, onion power, garlic powder, and cayenne. Set aside to marinate.
Pulse cilantro, lime juice, salt, pepper, crushed garlic cloves, jalapeno, sour cream and greek yogurt in a food processor or blender until mostly smooth. Add water to thin it out.
Add more seasonings to taste if needed.
Leave a small amount of sauce for topping tacos at the end. Toss rest of sauce with coleslaw mix and add more fresh cilantro if preferred.
Heat a drizzle of oil a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the shrimp to the hot pan and sauté for 5-8 minutes, flipping occasionally, until the shrimp are cooked through.
If you have a gas range top - heat the tortillas on the flame using tongs to flip just a few seconds on each side. Or heat them up in a hot pan using the same method. Otherwise, place 3-4 tortillas at a time on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a slightly damp paper towel. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time.
For the prettiest and easiest-to-eat assembly, go in this order: smashed avocado, slaw, and shrimp. Finish with Cotjia cheese, lime wedges, and extra sauce.
Oven Roasted Honey Harissa Carrots with Whipped Feta and Chimichurri
Ingredients
2 lbs petite whole carrots, cleaned and stems trimmed
1 1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup whole feta
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp both honey and harissa paste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp both salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Chimichurri:
1 bunch fresh, clean parsley
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, OR 2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or 1 small red pepper, add more to taste
1 tsp both salt and pepper
2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2-3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, use vegetable or sunflower if storing in fridge as EVOO will solidify. If using EVOO and need to store in the fridge, thaw container in hot water
Directions
Toss carrots, olive oil, salt, pepper, and cinnamon and roast in a preheated 375°F oven for 30 minutes.
Make the chimichurri sauce by adding parsley, crushed garlic cloves, oregano, red pepper, salt, pepper, cumin, red wine vinegar, and olive oil to a food processsor or blender. Pulse the mixture in one second intervals. This should be chopped not pulverized. (If you don't have a blender or food processor, you can also just mince everything really fine and mulch it by hand with the vinegar, adding the oil slowly while whisking so that it emulsifies.)
Add more seasonings or oil/vinegar to taste if needed and set aside.
Add yogurt into a mixing bowl and break apart feta into smaller pieces into the bowl. Whisk if you want whipped or stir if you want chunky. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Toss chickpeas into the carrot roasting tray and return to oven for 15 more minutes, until they are crisp.
When chickpeas are crisp and carrots are fork tender, remove from oven and add honey and harissa paste and toss until well combined.
To plate, spoon feta yogurt onto large serving plate and top with roasted carrots mixture. Drizzle with chimichurri and serve.
Baking Items
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup bread flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp espresso powder
1 cup or 16 tbsp unsalted butter, browned
1 whole egg & 1 egg yolk
1/2-3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
5-6 oz chopped dark chocolate bar
Maldon seasalt to taste
Directions
Melt butter in saucepan until brown and nutty, stirring often to not burn about 10 minutes. Using spatula to pour browned butter and the nutty bits into glass measuring cup. Add water until it reaches 1 cup. Let it cool to room temperature - very important!
Sift both flours, salt, and baking soda into medium mixing bowl.
Only when butter has cooled to room temperature: in a separate large mixing bowl cream together both sugars, vanilla, espresso powder, and browned butter. After about 2-3 minutes, add 1 whole egg and 1 yolk.
Incorporate dry Ingredients 1/3 at a time into wet ingredients. Mix in chocolate with a large spoon.
Using a small to medium cookie scoop, scoop into equal mounds on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate at least overnight.
When ready to bake, make sure there is 2-3 inches between each cookie. If using a half sheet only bake 6 cookies at a time and for a full sheet 12 cookies.
Place baking sheets in a preheated 350°F oven for 12-14 minutes and cool on cookie rack. Top cookies with Maldon seasalt and serve.
Pancakes
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp both baking power and baking soda
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup or 8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs - whites and yolks separated
Splash vanilla
Directions
Melt butter in saucepan about 5 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature - very important!
Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into large mixing bowl. If you want fall pancakes add pumpkin spice to sifting.
Only when butter has cooled to room temperature: in a separate medium mixing bowl whisk buttermilk, melted butter, and 2 egg yolks together.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula. Once incorporated, add egg whites and fold in but be careful to only fold in a few times to break up the egg whites.
If possible, cover and refrigerate pancakes for 24 hours for better flavors.
When ready to cook, let mixture sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Add any chocolate chips or fruit to pancakes before cooking.
Cook on a medium-low skillet or griddle with butter flipping only when small holes form on the top - low and slow. Serve with more butter and syrup.
This project was coded by Alicia Taylor and is
open-sourced
