Roasted Carrots with Maple Syrup

This is one of those recipes that tastes way better than it should.  You look at the list of ingredients -- carrots, olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper, maple syrup --  and think, yeah, so?  But something about this combination is irresistible.  I think it's the sweet of the maple syrup matched against the saltiness of the salt.  Kind of like chocolate-covered pretzels, if you can let your brain go there.  
Plus it's super easy to put together.  You start with a bag of pre-peeled baby carrots, toss with olive oil and garlic and salt and pepper, and boom!  Into the oven it goes.  Perfect for a busy school night, or an afternoon snack, or company dinner.  Just about any time, I say.
In fact, I would like to announce this humble carrot dish as my favorite 2015 recipe discovery.  Tied with sunshine apricot preserves.
Good stuff.
Eat your carrots.

ROASTED CARROTS WITH MAPLE SYRUP

2 lb. bag peeled baby carrots
3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed, plus 8 cloves, not peeled
3 T. olive oil
salt and pepper (I like to use sea salt)
1/4 c. maple syrup

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Put parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet.  Dump carrots onto pan.  Then add the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix it all together.  (If you have little ones, you can let them mix everything up with their [very clean] hands.)  Roast for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.  Carrots are done when they're fork-tender and a bit browned.  Remove from oven, put in a serving bowl, and pour the maple syrup over.  Taste and see if you want to add more salt or pepper.  Serves six. One hundred fifty calories each serving, according to the Sept./Oct. 2006 Hallmark magazine, where I got this recipe.

Roasted Tomatoes

The hunger-inducing aroma of garlic is wafting throughout the house -- waft, waft, waft -- and I can hardly wait to snag a spoonful of these delicious, delicious roasted tomatoes.

I've been roasting our garden tomatoes for the last five years, ever since I first discovered the recipe on Notes from a Cottage Garden blog. 
One of the beauties of roasting tomatoes is that the flavor becomes super concentrated -- the essence of tomato.
Also, since they cook down in volume, three or four pans of tomatoes contract into a couple quart-sized Ziploc bags that can be easily stacked in the freezer, ready to pull out midwinter to amaze your taste buds.  Not to mention  your dinner guests.
We usually serve these over pasta.  But they're pretty delicious just slurped from a spoon.

Check out Notes from a Cottage Garden's roasted tomato recipe here.
Happy roasting.

Parmesan-Roasted Acorn Squash

We've been trying to eat more vegetables around here.
Don't tell our mothers, they'd never believe it.
Not to worry, we are still sneaking in other nummy foods -- like these maple oatmeal scones (bake 30 minutes, not 40), from the book Flour by Joanne Chang.

And these pancakes made with leftover Panettone crumbs.   See sad panettone story here.

But, really, and truly, we are aiming for more fruits and vegetables.

Here is exhibit A. 
Too bad I didn't take a picture of the asparagus salad, that would have been Exhibit B.
But back to acorn squash.  I was talking about acorn squash.
This fine recipe, from Real Simple magazine, really is simple.  And really is tasty.  You just chunk slices of the squash, 3/4-inch thick, toss with a bit of olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese, and put 'er in the oven.  Snapperooni.
Parmesan-Roasted Acorn Squash.  Give it a try, even if you're not big on vegetables.  You just might like it.

Green Salad with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Aaah, it's good to be married to a gardener.

 

Today's salad comes to you courtesy of Kahuna's lettuce which, as you can see, is thriving.  This nice, simple salad is made with a variety of lettuces

picked just moments ago for your dining pleasure.
Make that MY dining pleasure.
With the simple addition of minced garlic, pine nuts, golden raisins, and Parmesan cheese, it's a winner.

(recipe adapted slightly from an old issue of  Better Homes and Gardens magazine; serves 4)
NUMMY SALAD
1 T. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced (I used the stuff in the jar)
1/4 t. coarse sea salt
1/4 c. golden raisins
2 T. pine nuts
12 c. lettuce
1 T. freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

In microwave-safe bowl, place olive oil, garlic, salt, raisins, and pine nuts.  Nuke for 20 seconds; stir and nuke for 20 more seconds.  Add lettuce and stir to distribute ingredients.  Top each salad with cheese.

What's cooking at your house?


Eggplant Spread

This is less of a recipe and more of a food idea.

That's because this year's eggplant crop so far has yielded just three itty bitty little eggplants -- not enough for most eggplant recipes, which presume you are starting out with at least one of those volleyball-sized babies. 

One perk of a small crop, however, is that every morsel becomes all the more precious.  Which is why I wanted to do something special with these beauties, even though I really don't know what to do with food you can't knead or dip into chocolate.

Thankfully, famed cookery writer Elizabeth David came to my rescue.  What, you don't know who Elizabeth David is?  Check her out here.  And check out your library to see if they carry any of her books.  You won't be sorry, even if you don't cook from them but just enjoy them in that vicarious almost-as-though-you're-in-the Mediterranean-yourself staycation kind of way.  This idea comes from the book At Elizabeth David's Table:  Classic Recipes and Timeless Kitchen Wisdom.  By Elizabeth David, compiled by Jill Norman, preface by Ruth Reichl.

EGGPLANT PUREE

Cook your eggplant (!).  I had to google this to figure out exactly how to cook my eggplant; I baked it, skin on, at 400 degrees, until it was soft and kind of charred looking, only 10 to 15 minutes for these little guys.  I also thought, halfway through, "I'd better poke these things with a fork so they don't explode."
Once they felt pretty pokable, I took them out of the oven, cooled for a few minutes, then peeled.

Smash them up with a fork, add a dollop of plain yogurt and a dollop of olive oil; squeeze in generously some lemon juice, add salt, and there you have it.  Oh yeah, you can garnish with some chopped up fresh mint.  A truly delicious little eggplant spread that Elizabeth says you can serve as an hors d'oeuvre with bread, or with meat, "in the same manner as a chutney."  I had mine with leftover grilled steak.  Delicious.

Avocado-Roasted Pepper Salad

Mmmm.  Yummy salad. 

Make this. 

Official recipe title is Chopped Salad.  But that just doesn't begin to describe its numminess.

Recipe from the outstanding publication Nutrition Action Healthletter, which is filled with the latest scientific studies on healthy eating.

And we just won't mention yesterday's chocolate chip cookie dough ingestion.  'Kay?

Homemaking Fun (and Asparagus)

It's been a busy homemaking week  here at the castle.  From plum compote made with fruit plucked from my freezer

to smoked salmon-deviled eggs sandwich-ettes;

 from ice cream smothered with peanut butter then chocolate sauce (if you're a fan of p.butter/chocolate ice cream, you MUST try)

to orange poppy seed scones;

from a happy bday package to one of my favorite people :)

to  homemade blackberry jam, lid decorated with the cutest Gooseberry Patch scrapbook paper ever.  Yes indeed, it's been a mighty happy kitchen lately, with plenty of  good tastes and smells going on around here.

One of our favorites of the recent experiments?

This springtime asparagus dish.  Which, for reluctant vegetable eaters like us, is saying something.  Kahuna roasted theolive oil-coated spears on the bbq, then we poured over a  sesame oil, lemon juice, green onion marinade.  Outstanding.  Recipe from this fun little almanac.

DRESSED-UP ASPARAGUS
2 bunches asparagus, about 2 lbs.
1 T. olive oil
3 T. soy sauce
3 T. sesame oil
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice (or lime juice)
1 T. finely grated fresh ginger (I used the minced stuff from the jar)
1 lg. clove garlic, pressed
2 green onions, minced (use both green and white parts)
1 t. brown sugar

Rinse asparagus, and snap each stalk in two with your hands.  (They will snap at just the right point;  you will keep the spear part and throw away the tougher end part.)  Put asparagus in bowl and coat with oil.  (You have my permission to use your hands for this.)  In a separate bowl, mix up the rest of the ingredients and set aside.

Cook your asparagus, either barbecuing the stalks on the grill, a few minutes each side (turning with tongs when they look good and roasty).  Or, place asparagus spears on baking pan and  broil, four inches from  heat, for about eight minutes, shaking pan halfway through to turn asparagus.

When done cooking, put asparagus in bowl and pour over the dressing.  Serves four.

Apple Yogurt Salad

Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations has one of the most entertaining food blogs around.  Every post, she culls through old cookbooks, researches food holidays, tells her readers about historical events and magically connects them to food.  If you've never stopped in for a visit, you must go, and soon.  You are in for a treat.

When Louise posted her challenge earlier this month -- to try out a recipe from a cookbook you own that corresponds with one of the October food holidays she spotlighted on her blog -- I knew I had to give it a go. 

We've got an apple tree

and I happen to have a few cookbooks  . . . and October, according to Louise, is Apple Month. 

So just in under the October wire, here is my apple contribution.  Not the grated apple pie I made, not the baked apples with custard sauce, not the applesauce or apple and cheese platters -- though they were all yummy.  But the recipe I'd like to share for Louise's cookbook party is this humble apple yogurt salad.  It's easy, tasty, and healthy, passing my test for a recipe that's a keepr.
Taken from this book, one in my collection that I really ought to use more, this delightful little dish serves 6, at about 100 calories apiece.

APPLE YOGURT SALAD

1/4 c. walnuts, chopped
2/3 c. plain yogurt
1 T. lemon juice
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. honey
2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced
lettuce

Toast the walnuts at 350 degrees until lightly browned -- 5 minutes or so.  Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, cinnamon, and honey.  Toss sliced apples with yogurt mixture and serve on lettuce leaves.  Sprinkle with walnuts.

Homemaking in the Fall

Turns out sometimes you're too busy being productive at home to actually blog about being productive at home.  Like a squirrel gathering nuts, I have been nesting -- saying goodbye to the season past and preparing for the one to come.

There were the leaves collected and flattened and traced and turned into the cutest autumn towels ever.

Idea from this delightful book.

There were the home-grown tomatoes, transformed into oniony/Parmesan-y tarts, soup for the freezer, dehydrated disks, and juice, glorious juice.

There were the apples made into chips, dehyrated snacks, and a nice little side dish doused with a citrus-y dressing of orange juice, lemon juice, and diced red onion.

There was the eggplant --  itty bitty ones, to be sure, but enough for a quiche and lovely cracker spread and a couple other dishes I forgot to photograph ;)

And finally, the peppers.  Are they not gorgeous?

This year, rather than making pickled peppers, I opted for lots of slivering for the freezer, and a wee bit o' roasting.

To roast, just cut them in half and remove core and seeds, put them in the oven on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil for 10 minutes or so, until quite blackened, then sweat them out in a sealed zippered plastic bag for 20 minutes before peeling.

A bit of work, I'm not gonna lie.  But in the end, the roasted peppers, pureed with a clove of garlic and a bit of olive oil, circled around a platter of lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, salami, and tomatoes -- probably the best meal of the season.

Happy fall.

Y'all.

NOTE:  Instructions for roasting peppers came from an old issue of Cooking Light magazine.  Salad idea with the roasted pepper puree came from another old magazine clipping -- maybe McCall's?  Not sure.