A Big Hit with No Meat!

Every now and then my meat loving husband will agree to a vegetarian meal if enough cheese is involved. Tonight was one of those rare occasions. Whenever I go through a new issue of Cooking Light I dog ear the pages of recipes that catch my eye. In the September issue this was one that not only did I dog ear, but also I kept coming back to each time I flipped through it. The recipe is for Ziti with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Gorgonzola Sauce. Russ and I both love macaroni and cheese and Cooking Light touts this recipe as a grown up version by showcasing the pungent flavor of gorgonzola cheese.

To make this dish you start by heating the water and cooking the pasta. This dish comes together so fast that you have to start the pasta first or you will be sitting around waiting on it. Then heat olive oil in a pan and add the cherry tomatoes, crushed red pepper, salt, and garlic. Once they have cooked for a minute or two then add the half and half and gorgonzola cheese and cook it for about two minutes while stirring constantly. Once it has thickened some add the spinach and allow it to wilt. Drain the pasta and then add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and mix to combine. Serve immediately.

This could not have been any quicker or easier to make. The most time consuming part is literally boiling the water for the pasta and cooking the pasta. This is a great weeknight dinner when you don’t have a lot of time or just don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It is also a great one dish meal since it includes your veggies. The strong pungent flavor of the gorgonzola is fantastic and creamy. The sauce while still being light is rich and wonderful. The spinach and cherry tomatoes add beautiful colors to the dish and great, fresh flavors. We both thoroughly enjoyed this dish and it will definitely be repeated in our house. Russ rates it a 10.

Crazy about Squash

As you know I always love getting a new cooking magazine in the mail, however, this one was squeal worthy! Quite literally as I flipped through it I was squealing with delight over all the delicious recipes and was beyond thrilled to see a fantastic squash section. You see I didn’t like squash growing up because I thought it was all yellow squash and zucchini, neither of which I liked as a child. Since then I have not only grown to love both yellow squash and zucchini, but also to realize that there are so many other fantastic squashes out there that I absolutely love! After the first time I cooked with a butternut squash my cooking world was shaken. It is a totally different kind of squash then what I had known before and I loved everything about it. Well, tonight I tried a new to us squash, spaghetti squash, and I absolutely loved it!

Tonight I made Fine Cooking’s Spaghetti Squash with Indian Spices. To make the squash you start out by cutting it into half lengthwise and roasting it. This was the hardest part. I have had trouble cutting a butternut squash before and my hand was sore for a day after cutting and peeling a pumpkin, but this spaghetti squash would not budge for me. We ended up eating later tonight than planned because I had to wait until Russ got home for him to cut it in half. Now don’t let this turn you off from this recipe or any squash recipe for that matter as I now have a new trick. Literally the next day I was reading more of the articles from this issue and in the back it includes tips for cutting squashes and tells you to prick it with a fork in several places all over and microwave it for just a minute or so and let is soften just a bit so that it will cut easier. Anyway, once cut in half you scoop out the seeds and roast it at 350 for about an hour. Then remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly. Then use a fork and rake out the flesh into strands. While the squash is cooling I added oil to a skillet and put the mustard seeds in and covered it. The seeds pop and once the popping has died down then you uncover it and add the butter. Next add the onion, ginger, cumin (I used ground as I couldn’t find the seeds), and coriander and let cook until the onion is soft. Next add the tomato (I used canned petite diced tomatoes) and chile to the dish. Next toss in the squash and finally season with salt and toss in the cilantro.

This was fantastic! I absolutely loved the soft, warm Indian spices and the mild, delicious flavor of the spaghetti squash. The texture of the squash with the soft onions and tomatoes was perfect. This is one of my top ten favorite dishes I have ever made. I could have eaten a bowl of it with nothing else for dinner and been beyond thrilled. Russ liked the dish, but was not as crazy about it like I was. The main reason that Russ didn’t care for it as much as he felt like it had too strong of a squash flavor. In reality it is a mild squash, however, Russ strongly prefers the flavor of sweeter squashes such as butternut, pumpkin and acorn, so to him this was too “squashy”. Russ gives it an 8, while I give it a strong 10.

Spaghetti Squash with Indian Spices, Fine Cooking November 2008

Serves four to six.

1 small (3 lb.) spaghetti squash
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 tsp. brown mustard seeds
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 cup seeded and chopped tomato
1 small serrano chile, seeded and minced
Kosher salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Halve the squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a sturdy spoon. Set the squash halves cut side down on a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet, and bake until strands of flesh separate easily when raked with a fork, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Taste a few strands—they should be tender. If not, continue to bake. Set the squash halves aside until cool enough to handle. Use a fork to rake the cooked squash flesh into strands. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the mustard seeds and cover. The seeds will start popping; cook until the popping subsides, about 1 minute. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium, and add the butter. As soon as it melts, add the onion, ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, and coriander and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato, chile, and 1 tsp. salt and cook, stirring, until the tomato begins to soften and the chile is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high and add the squash to the skillet. Continue to cook, tossing with tongs, until heated through, 1 to 3 minutes. Toss in the cilantro, season to taste with more salt, and serve. You can bake the squash in advance and then finish the dish right before serving.

Tough on Stir Fry

The September Cooking Light had a section on stir fry recipes and despite loathing stir fry night as a child I now am drawn to stir fry recipes and had to give the Curried Chicken and Cashews recipe a try. To make the dish you start by combining the chicken broth, water, fish sauce, sugar and rice vinegar and setting it aside. You then cut the chicken into strips. Once cut heat the oil in the pan and then sauté the chicken in batches until cooked. When the chicken is cooked set it aside and add more oil to the pan. Then sauté the onion, ginger and garlic for one minute or until lightly brown. I added red bell pepper to the dish, so I added it right before the onions and then let it continue to sauté with the onions etc. Then add the curry powder and chiles to the pan and sauté for a few minutes. Next add the chicken back into the pan and the sauce and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Serve it over rice and top it with cilantro and cashews.

I talked to Jess on the phone shortly after making this dish and told her that it was just okay. She commented that I am a tough critic on stir fry dishes on the blog. I think she is right; I am tough on stir fry dishes. To me there are two keys to an excellent stir fry 1. not overcooking or undercooking the ingredients and 2. a tasty sauce. The first just takes practice to make sure you get the vegetables cooked, but not limp or that you don’t leave them to crispy. This is somewhat personal preference too. I tend to like them cooked through, but with some texture left and definitely not limp and overcooked. The sauce is where I think I tend to become critical on a new recipe. To me it does not take an inordinate number of ingredients to make a tasty sauce, but I want it to have some complexity, some heat, and a fairly substantial flavor. To me the sauce in this dish was not complex or substantial. It did have some heat from the chiles and I did like the curry powder in it, however, the rest of the sauce just fell short and left the dish somewhat bland. All in all there are better recipes out there including one that was a staple in our house in the pre-blog days and has yet to make an appearance on the blog (not to self, add it into the rotation in the next few months) and a few that have made an appearance such as . This was quick and easy and I did enjoy the curry and cashew combination and the addition of red bell peppers, but I don’t think I’ll make it again. Russ was in agreement rating it a 7.

Curried Chicken and Cashews, Cooking Light September 2008

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup chicken mixture and 3/4 cup rice)

1/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
3 small dried hot red chiles, broken in half
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup dry-roasted salted cashews, chopped
3 cups hot cooked short-grain rice

To prepare sauce, combine the first 5 ingredients; set aside. Cut chicken across grain into 1/4-inch slices; cut slices into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Cut strips into 3-inch-long pieces. Heat a 14-inch wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok, swirling to coat. Add half of chicken to wok; stir-fry 2 minutes. Spoon cooked chicken into a bowl. Repeat procedure with 2 teaspoons oil and remaining chicken. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to wok, swirling to coat. Add onion, ginger, and garlic to wok; stir-fry 1 minute or until lightly browned. Add curry powder and chiles; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add sauce and chicken to wok; stir-fry 1 minute. Spoon into a serving dish. Sprinkle with cilantro and cashews. Serve over rice.