Onion, Kale, and Butternut Squash Farro Salad

I have an announcement to make... I am now the proud owner of a real, live YELLOW SPATULA!

It's so beautiful! Thank you, Clara!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I was just busy getting my doctorate... YAY!!!!

Walking across the stage...

Happy Parents!

A little surprise...

This happened...

My beautiful classmates! Minus the one boy in the class!

And then my parents had a wonderful amazing fun party with LOTS of Katella Deli food in their backyard to celebrate!

I'll post pictures from the party when I get them... but here's a preview. My friend Jessica has good taste in ear-related graduation gifts!

So back to business!  Tonight, my mom came over to help me start packing up my apartment (thanks, mom!)  so I made us a little something for dinner to reward our packing efforts.

I've made this salad a few times.  It was originally a Smitten Kitchen recipe (surprise, surprise) over the course of making it several different ways, I ended up with this creation:

It's just as delicious as it is colorful! And here's how to make it:

Ingredients:

2 cups of farro (I used semi-pearled)

Steamed, cubed butternut squash (mine was the steamer bag from Trader's)

A bunch of kale

Small red onion

Pepitas, to taste

Red wine vinegar

Optional protein source to add in later (I used basil chicken sausage)

Directions:

• Cook the farro according to the package directions
• Dice the red onion. Let it pickle in 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of red wine vinegar (just enough to cover the onion) while you make the rest of the salad
• Steam your squash and kale using your preferred method
• When all of these hot ingredients have cooled, pour it all into a bowl
• Add pepitas and red onion/vinegar mixture. Toss.
• Serve along with your "protein" to make a meal out of it!

The farro itself is pretty filling.  I added the kale and the sausage this time and they were both excellent complements to the salad.  There are so many amazing flavors combined in here that every bite is just a little bit different and all the colors make it a beautiful dish to eat! 

That's all for now!  I feel so lucky to have such incredible family and friends who help me pack/move/celebrate.  I love you all so much, and i'm so grateful to have you in my life!  And i'm happy to cook anything for you, any time :D

The dinner table wouldn't be complete without the beautiful graduation flowers. Thanks, Jess! 

Spaghetti Squash with Roasted Asparagus and Almond Pesto

I discovered this recipe on the cover of Fine Cooking Magazine while in line at the grocery store and it was just so beautiful, I had to get out of line and go back into the store to get the ingredients to make it!

I'm glad I did because it was just as pretty and delicious as it looked!

The magazine called for Parmesan in the pesto (left it out), grape tomatoes (I used a mix of grape and yellow heirloom), and the original recipe was made with linguine instead of spaghetti squash.

If you haven't tried spaghetti squash, you absolutely must!  You're bound to see a lot of squashy posts on here due to my fervent passion for the vegetable in any color, shape, size, or season! I have to say that squash in spaghetti form is one of the most easy and fun ways to eat it.

Here we go!

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

3/4 pound of asparagus

2 cups of the prettiest tiny tomatoes you can find

1/2 cup of sliced almonds

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

Sea salt 

Pepper

Olive Oil

Spaghetti Squash:

I'm not kidding... it's really REALLY easy!

• Pick out a nice spaghetti squash (bright yellow and heavier-than-it-looks means it's a good one)
• Bring it home.
• Stab your nice spaghetti squash with a fork several times on all sides (it won't mind)
• Microwave it for 5 minutes.
• CAREFULLY turn it over and microwave another 5 minutes.
• Turn it again and another 3-5 minutes in the micro.
• You'll know it is done when it gives a little when you poke it.
• Wait for it to cool a bit and carefully cut it in half
• Scoop out the seeds and mushy stuff in the middle
• (Here's the fun part) Rake a fork through the squash and you'll see magical spaghetti squash strands appear!  
• Set your spaghetti aside for later

Pesto and Veggies:

• Preheat your oven to 425
• Cut the bottom half-inch or so off of the asparagus (in my picture below, I cut it into chunks too early and later had to separate the stems and tips by hand!)
• Place the asparagus and tomatoes on a baking sheet with some olive oil and sprinkle some salt
• Bake for approximately 18 minutes until the tomatoes are nice and wrinkly and the asparagus is bright green and a little toasty
• Toast your almonds for about 10 minutes on another baking sheet
• Set aside the tomatoes
• Set aside the asparagus tips. Chop up the asparagus stems
• Set aside 2 tablespoons of toasted almonds
• Grind up the rest of the almonds in the magic bullet
• Add the following into your magic bullet along with your ground almonds:
• Asparagus stems
• Basil
• Olive oil to taste and consistency
• A little salt
• (if you're a cheese person, you can add 2 tablespoons of grated parm here)
• Blend it up!  I had to stop, shake it, and add olive oil a few times.

Finishing Touches:

• Mix the pesto with the spaghetti squash.
• Add some water if the pesto is more paste-y than saucy. (Rachael Ray would tell you to add starchy pasta water but since we don't have any, regular water works just fine!)
• Garnish with the asparagus tips, tomatoes, and the rest of the toasted almonds

Enjoy your masterpiece with some vino and keep up the good cooking, good looking!

Short and Sweet and Souper

When i'm on my way home from work, absolutely starving, the only thing that keeps me from driving right past my apartment to Rubio's or omg Native Foods (at least most of the time) is knowing that I have so many delicious things waiting in my fridge to combine into an amazing new creation!  The best thing for one of these occasions is usually something short and sweet, so i'll keep this post just that!

Short and Sweet Squash Soup

Ingredients:

Butternut Squash (Mine came in cubes from a bag from Trader Joe's)

1 to 1.5 cups soy milk

Small bunch of parsley leaves

3 or 4 fresh sage leaves

1 tablespoon chopped shallot

Salt and pepper to taste

Smoked paprika for sprinkling (If you haven't tried it before, you simply must!)

Soup:

• Steam the squash according the TJ's bag. Leftover baked squash also works well. No time to bake squash when you're already hungry!
• Add squash cubes, parsley, sage, shallot, salt, and pepper to magic bullet cup.
• Blend for about 25 seconds until smooth.
• Pour into a bowl and garnish with extra sage and smoked paprika.

For some crunch and added gourmet-ocity, make some garlic toasts for dipping:

Garlic Toasts:

• Slice a few diagonals off of a baguette.
• Brush with olive oil.
• Put under the broiler for about 1 minute. Keep checking on it until toasted.
• Once cool to touch, rub half a garlic clove on the toasts.

Enjoy your soup about 10 minutes after you started making it! I had it with some leftover risotto :)

Bon appetit!