Mixed Roots Roasted in an Oversized Summer Squash

Late summer and early fall are great time of year for fresh vegetables.  A couple times a week I can stop by our garden on the way home from work and pick up some groceries.  This week I took a couple boxes home and dropped off a box to my granddaughter's house too. Except for fruit, I haven't had the need to go to the grocery store for a couple weeks now.  I do stop in at the farmer's market for fresh goodies.  We don't grow enough cucumbers and greens to keep up with the amount we like to eat.  There's always trading with other gardener's too.  EZ meal choices!

My son's friend recently gave me two very large yellow squash.  I think they were each about a foot and a half long.  My first thought was to stuff it.  I had just been out to the garden and pulled up a nice load of fresh root vegetables.

This was a simple dish.  I choped the veggies: golden beets, carrots, parsnips, red & purple potatoes, red onions, and white Onions. I tossed it all with a little garlic chili oil and Italian herbs. I roasted it for about an hour. The veggies were still crunchy. The moisture from the vegetables made a nice broth on the bottom of the squash.  The big squash which looked like it would be too tough and woody was very tender.  We enjoyed this for dinner and lunch the next day.

To  add to our already colorful meal, I marinated some fresh locally made tempeh in a little tamari, lemon juice, and toasted sesame oil.  Then I browned the marinated tempeh strips and set them aside while I made a simple vegan mushroom and onion gravy. 





Stuffed & Roasted Acorn Squash

I tried this stuffed acorn squash today.  I had a couple really nice organic Acorn squash from Willow Grove Gardens and a couple little pumpkin from Isabelle's garden.  I used some homemade rosemary oil I made from my homegrown rosemary to brush the squash before stuffing. The recipe didn't mention adding any liquid to the stuffing.  I added vegetable stock, about a half cup at a time until the stuffing was the consistency I wanted.  I think I used about a cup and a half or so. I also poured about a tablespoon of stock on top of each one before baking.  We're having Thanksgiving a little everyday this week. Very nice vegan meal with a bowl of the creamy broccoli soup I made this weekend.

Ingredients:

    * 3 acorn squash
    * 2 tbsp margarine, softened
    * 2 tbsp olive oil
    * 1 onion, minced
    * 2 stalks celery, diced
    * 2 apples, chopped
    * 1/4 cup maple syrup
    * 1/2 cup raisins
    * 1/4 tsp parsley
    * 1/2 tsp dried sage
    * 1/2 tsp rosemary
    * 1/2 tsp thyme
    * salt and pepper to taste
    * 1 package store-bought cornbread stuffing mix (read the label to make sure it's vegan if needed)

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 400°.

Slice each acorn squash in half and remove the seeds. Brush the squash with the softened margarine and set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté the onion, celery and apple in the olive oil for 6-8 minutes. Reduce heat and add the maple syrup, raisins, herbs, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

In a large bowl, mix together the stuffing mix with the onion, celery and apple mixture until well combined. Spoon this mix into each squash half.

Cover each squash with foil and bake 40-45 minutes, or until squash is soft. Serve with vegetarian gravy if desired and enjoy!

Recipe by Jolinda Hacket

Quinoa with Roasted Squash and Greens

I took the rest of the roasted squash, a pumpkin, a delicata, and the butternut squash and cut them up in about 1 inch cubes and tossed them with some quinoa.  Then I sauteed a red onion, rough chopped portabello, some fresh green beans, garlic, a little sea salt and pepper and then added chopped Swiss chard and tossed it about until the chard was just wilted.

EZ Harvest Food and Vegan Chocolate Pudding

I have a small collection of little squash from the garden.

Pumpkins, orange and white, butternut squash, and delicata squash.

I roasted some of them for about 40 minutes at 375°.

Took the skins off, scooped out the seeds and cut up one of each kind and split between two bowls. I then heated up the potato leek soup I made yesterday and poured it on top. It became potato leek sauce. I didn't take a picture of it with the soup because we'd been out and we were hungry. I'll do something with the other roasted squash tomorrow.

I wanted something sweet afterward so I whipped up some vegan chocolate pudding.

2 avocados
2 bananas
about a 1/4 cup non dairy vanilla milk
4 TB chocolate hazelnut hot cocoa mix
1 TB mint sauce (fresh mint and agave thickened in the freezer)

all blended in the food processor until smooth.

Roasted Fall Vegetables

The roasted vegetables are my husband's handiwork. He brought home some very large, tired carrots I wasn't interested in using. I already had a few things going. He said he would peel and clean them. So, I walked him through the process while he prepared the vegetables. He added some parsnips, a large beet, a big yam that needed a home, some homemade garlic chili oil, and fresh herbs. He's my favorite sous chef.

Roasted Garden Veggies

Columbia River Gorge, George, WA

We went to the Gorge this last Labor day for some sunshine, camping, wandering, and enjoying music with friends.  When we returned after not being to the garden for almost a week, we found that it had kind of exploded.  We harvested at least three carloads of veggies out of there this week.  I not only gave away lots to friends and family, our local produce stand took some too, giving me credit toward some winter veggies and fruit.  Life is good.

A portion of what I harvested yesterday became a tasty vegetable roast shortly after arriving home.

I sliced the squash, eggplant, and tomatoes to about a half inch thick. I chopped the parsley, a little fresh oregano, and the garlic. I layered it all in a glass baking dish lightly greased with some coconut oil. I added a little grated Romano cheese and some Panko bread crumbs to the top. I baked it for about 40 minutes at 375°.

Before Roasting, adding just a small amount of Romano Cheese

After Roasting.

The lemony early girl tomatoes were delightful with the roasted eggplant and fresh oregano.