A Seasonal Recipe or Two, or Three...

A Seasonal Recipe -Or Two, or Three...

I can assure you this posting twice in one day business will not be a common, if ever again, thing. Today is an exception because two of my three leprechauns (aka children) are sick so rather than clean (which I so adamantly posted about in my previous entry today) I figure I will share a few recipes while they are napping. This food and recipe part is what people have been asking me to blog about for years now so I had better give it a shot! I am just a food enthusiast and aspiring foodie -not a chef, so please be patient with me! As I said before in the first post on the blog, we eat organically and seasonally as much as possible so I try my best to keep the recipes in harmony with those principles. I hope you embark on your own culinary adventure and as my Irish family says, "Ádh mór sa chistin!" (Good luck in the kitchen!)

Seasonal Vegetable Enchiladas Verde

Ingredients: 

-*Roasted acorn squash, skin removed, cut into one inch cubes, and cooled (to prevent over-cooking)

-*Roasted butternut squash, skin removed, cut into one inch cubes, and cooled

-Scallions, whites and greens separated and reserved, whites cut on the angle into 1/2 inch pieces, greens chopped to preferred serving size

-One medium yellow onion, finely chopped 

-One 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

-1-2 jalapenos depending on your taste, seeded and finely chopped

-three cloves of garlic, minced

-one 10oz bag frozen corn (optional)

-Fresh cilantro, leaves torn and roughly chopped

-1 TBSP cumin

-Prepared or homemade Verde sauce (you will need about 2 Cups)

-Tortillas (use wheat or white -whichever you prefer)

-2 limes

-1 1/2 cups Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded

-1 TBSP canola or vegetable oil

-Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prep all vegetables and ingredients and set aside. 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant -about 30 seconds. Add scallion whites, and jalapeno. Saute until softened -about two minutes. Clear a little space in your skillet where no vegetables are and add cumin there. Saute cumin on its own for about 30 seconds until fragrant (sauteing the spice alone further releases its flavor). Stir cumin and moved vegetables together. Add yellow onion and saute until translucent and softened -about five minutes -stirring occasionally to keep ingredients from burning. Season ingredients generously with salt and pepper. Add squashes, black beans, and frozen corn. Saute until ingredients are combined and fragrant throughout -about six to eight minutes. Pour in one cup of the salsa verde and stir gently to avoid mushing the squash too much. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Bring back down to a simmer over low heat for about two minutes and then remove from heat. 

Divide mixture into tortillas. Place tortillas in glass baking dish and make sure not to over or under-stuff the tortillas. Pour remaining cup of verde sauce on enchiladas and then sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake covered in parchment-lined tinfoil for about 20 minutes. Remove tinfoil and let continue to bake until cheese has browned a bit. remove and top with cilantro and squeeze lime juice over the top. Makes about 6-7 enchiladas. Serve with sour cream, tortillas chips with lime juice squeezed on them, avocados, and cilantro.

*Roast squashes by cutting in half, rubbing with olive oil, seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper, and baking in a 400 degree oven on a baking sheet for about an hour to an hour and a half depending on thickness of your squash and power of your oven (or until flesh is easily pierced with a fork).

*Also, don't be afraid to swap out and play with other seasonal vegetables. Example -you could use sweet potatoes and parsnips instead of squashes. 

 Sweet Potato Grilled Cheese

~This is a great quick week-night meal and a welcome variation to the classic grilled cheese. 

Ingredients:

-Sourdough bread (or any bread you think sounds good or that you have on hand)

-olive oil

-Your cheese of choice (I like Havarti, Sharp Cheddar, Muenster, or Dubliner with this sandwich)

-Two large, cooked sweet potatoes

-1TBSP brown sugar

-salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

-Heat grill to medium high

-pour olive oil into a bowl and with a pastry brush, brush bread slices, on one side, with olive oil

*(If you prefer butter, you can simply spread butter on one side of the slices -either way is delicious)

-Scoop out cooked flesh from sweet potatoes into a bowl. Add brown sugar and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Stir with a fork until well mixed and smooth

-Spread sweet potato mixture onto bread and top with cheese. Cover with remaining slice of bread and grill until cheese is melted and gooey. 

Serve with your choice of soup or crispy kale. 

Avocado and Orange Salad with Lime and Honey

Ingredients:

-Two navel oranges (although clementines and tangerines work well, too), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

-Two avocados, scooped from skin and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

-2 Limes

-Honey

-Pink salt

-Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Place oranges and avocados into a bowl. Squeeze juice from both limes onto oranges and avocados. Toss gently and then divide salad onto plates. Drizzle lightly with honey and season with pink salt and freshly ground pepper. Serves two.