squash

You are currently browsing articles tagged squash.

Craving the Green

November 16, 2012 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 6 comments

The past week has left me feeling slightly better. I don’t know where this cold came from, but it really wants to hang out with me. The good news is that my appetite has slowly returned, and I have gone from wanting to eat nothing but bread, soup, and tortilla chips to having major cravings for all things green. I’ve munched on kale chips, roasted dozens of Brussels sprouts, and added fists full of cilantro to the last bowls of hot and sour soup. Tonight we’ll be dining at Van Shabu, and I am already planning on multiple orders of seaweed salad.

Bring on the green!

This week I also thoroughly enjoyed our first visit to The Regal Beagle in Brookline. We joined Lin and Jon Saturday night for a truly delicious dinner, where I was, unsurprisingly, all about the green (and cocktails, of course).

kale salad

The Regal Beagle stole my heart with a simple, crispy kale salad special. I wanted this dish times ten. I usually don’t order a veggie starter and entrée, but I couldn’t resist. I was a vegetarian for about 10 years in the days when vegetarian food at restaurants often meant an iceberg salad with some carrots and cucumbers and maybe a pasta primavera, so I continue to be impressed with restaurants that offer creative food for veggies.

acorn squash, lentils, greens, cider cream

Though the photo is horrific, this dish of grilled acorn squash, warm mixed grains, dried fruit, greens, and cider cream was absolutely amazing. There was so much flavor, from the soft and sweet squash, to the crunchy hazelnuts that topped the whole thing off.  And cider cream should just be on everything, I am convinced. This dish epitomizes fall/winter comfort with lots of healthy elements. It just felt good.

broccoli and Brussels sprouts

Also enjoyed this week was a broccoli pesto inspired by my review copy of Carla Hall’s Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You. I plan on doing a complete review soon, but I love the writing style in the book, the fun stories, and most of all, the homey, tasty-looking recipes. The vibrant green pesto was a fun twist on a classic and something that can be made all winter.

Broccoli Pesto

And while my palate is definitely craving green still, I think it’s my heart and soul that might be craving it the most, which is handy, since we are off to 40 shades of green tomorrow. It’s been a year since our last visit to Ireland, and it’s time to go home. The excitement on my husband’s face this week just says it all. We get to see my in-laws, my husband’s sister and brother, and our nephew who was just a couple of months old the last time we saw him. I can’t wait.

The Burren

I have some guest posts coming up, and I will be checking in from time-to-time, especially before Thanksgiving with a recipe roundup.

What do you have planned for the holiday week? What have you been craving?

Tags: brussels sprouts, Food, green food, greens, Ireland, kale, squash

Crunchy Baked Vegetables

April 7, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 4 comments

One of the cookbooks that has been inspiring me this week is The Secret Ingredient by Sally Bee. I wrote about The Secret Ingredient last year, and I picked up again this weekend when trying to plan out some healthy and exciting meals. I love that this book never sacrifices flavor. It treats food as something that is supposed to be pleasurable but also something that is meant to be fueling and healing.

As a lover of fennel, I was excited to try a take on Sally Bee’s Crunchy Baked Fennel recipe. I bought two giant bulbs at Trader Joe’s over the weekend.

fennel

I cut the fennel into quarters and put the quarters into boiling water for about eight minutes.

fennel

While the fennel was boiling, I sliced a summer squash and a sweet onion. The original recipe did not include either, but I had them and thought they would go well with the other ingredients.

summer squash

Once the fennel was soft, I layered the veggies in my new casserole dish. My sister and family got me a whole set of these dishes for my birthday, including cute little ramekins and new loaf dishes. I love them!

baked vegetables

I topped the layers of veggies with slivers of garlic, panko bread crumbs, and olive oil.

crunchy baked vegetables

Into a 400 degree oven they went, and 20 minutes later, I had these crunchy baked vegetables. The anise-flavor of the soft, gooey fennel, the sweetness of the onion, and the buttery bread crumbs all went perfectly together. This veggie side dish was incredibly enjoyable. And it was the perfect side for my fish in a packet. I wish dinner was this good and healthy every night!

What should I make next?

Tags: fennel, health, healthy recipe, onions, side dish, squash, vegan, vegetables, Vegetarian

Summer Fall Salad and Curry

September 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 6 comments

Anyone else feel caught between two seasons? Don’t get me wrong, I love this time of year, especially the warm afternoons and chilly, great-for-sleeping weekends, but I find it a tough time to get dressed and a tough time to plan meals.

I always wake up freezing, dress too warmly, and by mid-day am too hot. Or I plan a meal that is perfect for a summery day, only to be eating chilled soup on a dreary evening.

Last night this was not the case. We woke up to the perfect day to sleep in, but alas we had work. I was freezing all day, went to the farmers market in the rain, and had my mind set on an evening with a hot, spicy, veggie curry, Shipyard pumpkin beer, and maybe a little Travel Channel ghost show. 🙂

The market is also trapped between summer and fall, and that is a very good thing.Squash, heirloom tomatoes, and honeycrisp apples in the same place might just be heaven.

autumn squash local shallots

image flowers from Friendship Farm

The colors of the market splashed across Copley Square against the gray, rainy backdrop like an abstract painting. It was quite beautiful and made me feel SO much better than I did inside my office.

honeycrisp apples

I bought a ton, a head of broccoli, some shallots, a bag of apples, a few acorn squashes, an heirloom tomato the size of my head, the sweetest corn I have ever eaten (raw!), and some spicy peppers for my curry.

heirloom tomatoes

heirloom tomato

jalapenos 

acorn squash

We had a very veggie dinner, starting with chopped heirloom tomato with a simple dressing of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, shallots, and black pepper. After eating some of the corn raw, I roasted the rest with olive oil and added a tiny bit of sea salt at the end.

image

The curry contained one whole red onion, roughly chopped, 6 carrots, a head of broccoli, a green bell pepper, acorn squash, and some hot peppers, seeds and all.

To prep the veggies, I simmered the onions on their own in a tiny bit of olive oil so they would soften and sweeten up. While doing this I roasted the acorn squash at 400 for about 20 minutes. Everything else got tossed into the big pot, then covered in a can of coconut milk, a couple spoons of red curry paste, a bit of lemongrass paste, Burmese curry powder, and cayenne pepper.

curry veggies

It was so simple, yet so delicious and comforting. I enjoyed a bowl of curry alongside my summery tomato salad and corn and a Shipyard brew.

I needed a quiet night in. It was a very trying week. Luckily I have a fun weekend trip ahead, heading on a blogger road trip to Vermont to take some baking classes at King Arthur Flour! It should be a very exciting weekend!

And next week is Boston Wine Week and then the Newport Mansions Food and Wine Festival, my favorite event of last year. Too many fun things happening, too little time!

Do you feel like you are still savoring summer, or have you made the leap to fall?

Tags: curry, farmers market, Food, recipe, squash, vegetables, Vegetarian

new restaurant
WordPress SEO fine-tune by Meta SEO Pack from Poradnik Webmastera