Squash Nut Muffins (No sugar added)

I don't know what else to call these muffins. They are a riff on morning glory muffins, and I made them because I wanted a satisfying muffin with no added sugar. They have everything in them: squash, nuts, raisins, coconut, bananas and applesauce. And a bunch of other stuff. When I have one, I don't need to eat another thing for a while. They satisfy my sweet tooth even though they are not sweet. I've been noticing: the best thing about changing your sugar habit is that things don't need to be too sweet to calm your sweet tooth anymore.

I used two recipes to guide me in making these muffins. One is from Rebecca at Cakewalk, who made these carrot banana muffins which are very good, and the other was from Paleo Comfort Foods for morning glory muffins, which are also good but I would add the cider vinegar to make them a bit lighter. Do not leave out the vinegar! It activates the baking soda, and you won't taste it. Not only do these muffins have no added sugar, but they are also gluten free. By the by, I've been noticing an uptick in the paleo craze. Is it just me? Maybe I'm noticing it because it creates some interesting ideas in making desserts.

Squash Nut Muffins
(makes 12 muffins)

2 cups of nut meal (I used a blend of almonds, pecans and walnuts blended in my food processor)
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup raisins or dried currants

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

3 eggs
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of olive oil or coconut oil
1 cup of squash puree
1 small ripe banana
1/2 cup of applesauce, unsweetened
1-2 tablespoons of honey or brown rice syrup

Preheat oven to 325. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. (I usually don't do this, but for these muffins, I think it's worthwhile.)

Mix together dry ingredients (first five ingredients). Whisk up the eggs with the rest of the ingredients. Add the wet to dry quickly. Fill the muffin liners up to the top--they won't rise too much so they can be quite full. Bake them for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops have formed a golden shell.

Roasted Carrot, Celery and Acorn Squash Soup

This soup really hit the spot for the past few rainy, then chilly, spring days. I roasted two acorn squash, a big bunch of carrots, and celery. Yes, roasted celery is delicious! I especially like to add it to sweet vegetables like carrots and squash, because it balances it out with its green parsley-ish taste. I sauteed onions in olive oil and then added all the roasted vegetables, added water and simmered to make sure it was all nice and soft. I added a small amount of fennel seeds, instead of the usual nutmeg or ginger. Then I got out the trusty immersion blender and went to town on it. It was perfect topped with crème fraîche and fresh chives.

And in local rhubarb news, I've been obsessed with my rhubarb plants these days with good reason. They are huge and by far, the most exciting plant in the garden at the moment. But even still, they are such vigorous and beautiful plants, and not to mention I love me some rhubarb, that I love them all year round. My plants just started to flower, and they looked incredible and alien, but due to my greedy need for more pieplant I had to chop the flowers down to encourage more stalk growth. I can't shut my piehole!

Winter Squash Redux: Bread, Soup and Savory Bread Pudding

Last week I bought a squash, and it's still giving. Soup with a dollop of yogurt and fresh baked bread makes for cozy days in the Hudson Valley winter. Then some savory bread pudding using my old recipe, but I used two cups of stock and one cup of yogurt and no leeks. The cheese sprinkled on top was from a cheese plate left over from Sunday's brunch. Scrumptious!

And then this quick bread which I made to cheer up both me and a friend, as we were both in need of some substantial and healthy, yet a little sweet, treat to pick us up on a gloomy day. This is ever so easy, not too sweet, and packed with good-for-you squash. The crystallized ginger on top was decorative and decadent for such a sturdy bread. I think I might do without it in the future, but it does look pretty!

Sweet Squash Quick Bread

Makes two large loaves. Preheat oven to 350. Have all ingredients at room temperature.

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice

Have these mixed together and ready to go.

In a seperate bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil and 1 cup sugar

Add 3 beaten eggs. Whisk up fluffy-like.

Add 2 cups of pureed squash.

Add dry to wet in three parts. Beat until smooth. Pour in greased loaf pans. Adorn with crystallized ginger or what have you. Bake for about an hour. Cheer someone up by giving them one loaf and keep the other to yourself!

Winter Squash Soup

I love squash, but that wasn't always the case. I've finally managed to find ways in which I love it and want to eat it all the time. There's a few vegetables I have problems with, and I always feel bad that I do. I always try them, year after year, thinking that somehow my tastes have changed. For example, I don't like cantaloupe, but I think it smells amazing, and its flesh is tantalizing. But every time I take a bite, something in me just says no. That doesn't stop me from planting it or buying it. I love cantaloupe. I just can't eat it. It's weird.

Moving forward, I am now officially in love with winter squashes, and I do believe that I will try to grow as many as I can next year. I've had some squash vine borers in the past two years, so I'm going to move them out of the old bed and plant them everywhere else I can. The other day I stopped in the Apple Bin, a little orchard around the corner from us, and purchased this little gem. The sign said Marina di Chioggia, but they have bumpy skin and this was smooth, so I believe maybe it was wrongly identified? Or perhaps there is a smooth-skinned version? The newest Organic Gardening has a nice article on winter squash that was good.

All that aside, I made some soup. I can't rave enough about said soup, and I really think that was just because the squash was so good. The gorgeous orange color just shouted out, "I'm making you healthy just by eating my deliciousness!!!" I really think that the soup was saying this.

I roasted the quartered, de-seeded, olive-oil-rubbed squash at 400. Peeled it and chopped it in chunks. Sauteed diced onion, celery and fresh ginger in olive oil, then added the squash and about five cups of chicken broth and water. Salt and pepper. Pureed it with the trusty immersion blender. Served it with a dollop of greek yogurt. Chives would have been nice, but isn't that always the case? I rarely have them on hand. Is that wrong?

Savory Winter Squash Bread Pudding

Another winter squash recipe that can be a main course, good for baby, vegetarian, and uses my miracle cooking ingredient: yogurt. I was doubtful of this, but it was delicious! I can't stress enough how wonderful a spot of nutmeg is with squash. I also can't talk highly enough of my friend the leek. Especially the local farmer's market variety, all muddy and fresh from the soil.

1 loaf of stale, hard bread (I used a baguette) cubed

1 winter squash, roasted, pureed

1 cup milk

1 cup yogurt

1 cup water (or chicken stock)

6 oz feta cheese

1 cup sauteed leeks

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Mix squash, milk, yogurt, nutmeg and leeks (which I sauteed in lots of olive oil and butter). Toss the cubed bread with the mixture. Put in greased baking dish (13x9?). Crumble cheese on top. Pour water or stock over all to moisten. Put in preheated 35o degree oven and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it browns a little on the top, looks bubbly, but most of the moisture is out of the bottom of the pan, and hopefully saturated in the little cubes of bread. 

Winter Squash, Rice and Chicken Casserole

I don't really like squash, but I really want to like it. So, I buy it and try to cook it in ways that are, to me, delicious. It's something about the texture, I think, although my mother thinks that I had an issue with all foods orange as a child. I disagree, because I drank orange juice all day and night. I always volunteered to make the orange juice because not only was it a fun science project, but I could sneak spoonfuls of the orange, sticky, sickly sweet stuff while no one was looking. But, yes, sweet potatoes, squash were not friends of mine in their chunk form. I love them pureed, though, so that's what I do.

This was brilliantly easy, and I happened to have everything on hand, which is how I roll when it comes to cooking. I thought it would come out dull, but it was just delicious. And, of course, it's good for baby, too. You could very easily leave the chicken out for a vegetarian option.

2 cups of cubed, roasted winter squash, roughly pureed (I used butternut)

2 cups of cooked white rice (I'm sure brown would be just as nice; I happened to use Jasmine)

Shredded cooked chicken--1 or 2 cups?

1 cup plain, low-fat yogurt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix all together. Grease a lidded quart casserole and fill it with the mixture. Grate some nice sharp cheddar cheese (or whatever you have) on top. Cover with a thick layer of bread crumbs. Drizzle a little olive oil on top. Pop in preheated 350 oven. Bake for about thirty minutes, or until bubbling and looking good enough to eat.