Roasted Squash Toss

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I ate myself silly. I made Thanksgiving lunch for my Dad. Then, later that day I went over to my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner. I'll post what I made for lunch in a little bit. For dinner, I decided to make a squash recipe because I have a ton of squash sitting around just waiting to be eaten. I was going to make Ina Garten's Roasted Butternut Squash, but decided to find a recipe that also incorporated Acorn Squash. I came across this recipe from Sunny Anderson and decided to give it a shot. It got really good reviews, so I thought why not. Well, why not indeed. It turned out to be a very tasty and spicy recipe. The only spice in the recipe (other than cinnamon) is red pepper flakes, but it definitely packed a punch. I highly recommend this recipe not just for Thanksgiving, but for any day of the week. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons red chili flakes
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (2 pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 (1 1/2 pound) acorn squash, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup almond slivers
1/2 orange, zested and juiced (about 1/3 cup juice and 1 tablespoon zest) (I omitted this ingredient and it still turned out fine)

Preheat your oven to 425. Take out a large bowl and combine the garlic thru the cinnamon. Add in the cubed and peeled squash. Toss together well. Season with salt and pepper. I added about half a teaspoon salt and about 1/4 tsp black pepper. Place the squash on a baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes. While the squash is roasting; go ahead and take out a saute pan and add the almond slivers to it. Toast at medium heat until the almonds turn a light golden color; about 4 minutes. Be sure to stir often. Remove the squash from the oven and add to a serving bowl along with the slivered almonds. If you're going to use the orange zest and juice; this is the point where you add it. Serve and enjoy.

Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta

If there's one thing I miss the most (besides bread) with going gluten free; it's pasta. Gluten-free pasta just isn't the same as good ol' grain filled pasta. But, one of my favorite discoveries is spaghetti squash. I already made this recipe, which was really delicious. But, I'm looooving this Pistachio Pesto with spaghetti squash. The pistachios gives the pesto such great flavor. And, I added whole pistachios to my chicken which helped give the dish additional texture. It is so flavorful and tastes great the next day. I found it from PaleoOMG's blog, which is a great blog that you should definitely check out. I'm definitely not missing pasta with this recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 medium spaghetti squash, halved, seeds and excess threads removed
½-2/3lbs chicken, sliced or cubed
1 cup pistachios, unsalted and shelled
1-1½ cup basil leaves
2 garlic cloves
½-1 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
handful of sundried tomatoes, sliced, to garnish

First set your oven to about 400 degrees; take your halved, seeded squash and place on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven and let roast for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Next, take out your food processor and combine the pistachios and pulse. Then, add your garlic and basil and pulse again till combined. Turn on the food processor, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil and then the lemon juice. I believe I used about a half cup of olive oil. Set the pesto aside. Take out a skillet and place on your stove with the heat at medium. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the pan. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and then place in the skillet. Cook until almost cooked thru, and then add the pesto to the skillet. Now, take a fork and shred the spaghetti squash. Place the squash in with the chicken and the pesto. Combine well. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

I've been making a tooon of recipes ever since starting this Paleo/Primal lifestyle. Sorry, I haven't posted them all. Some have been hits and some have been misses. I will definitely post some of my favorites soon. I have to say that I had my doubts concerning this Spaghetti Squash Carbonara that Health Bent posted on their blog. I thought it was going to be too simple, and not enough ingredients. But, it was seriously delicious. I don't know what it is, but I think red pepper flakes and garlic can really elevate a dish. I've never tried spaghetti squash before, but I have to say I really love it. I really can't believe I've never tried a recipe before with this particular ingredient. Where have I been??? Anyway, I really like this recipe and I know I will be making it again and again. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb. bacon
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 handfuls of walnuts, roughly chopped
Parmesan cheese to taste (optional)
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut your spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Then, flip the squash and roast for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and scrape out the squash and place in a serving bowl.

While the squash is roasting, take out a non-stick skillet and set to medium heat. Chop the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and place in the pan. Cook until the bacon is nice and crispy about 5 to 10 minutes. Scrape out the bacon and place on a paper towel. Next, add the chopped onion and the minced garlic and cook until the onion is translucent about 5 minutes. I also added in the red pepper flakes at this point, too. Then, pour into the serving bowl. Heat the chopped walnuts in a skillet for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and into toss them into the serving bowl. Top with the chopped bacon and parmesan cheese if using. Toss together and enjoy.

Summer Squash Saute

As I mentioned in the previous post; I love to peruse Bon Appetit's Magazine on the weekends to find new recipes. The June issue of Bon Appetit was a good one. I pulled out several recipes including this one for Summer Squash Sautee. I love when squash is in season. There's so much you can do with it; saute, grill, fry, etc. You can spice it up by adding red pepper flakes, create a sauce for dipping, or add a little melted butter and eat it grilled. Well, I have to say this was awesome. It was spicy, crunchy, and just plain good. It was very simple to make and I highly recommend this as a side dish. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 lb. summer squash and/or zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 tsp kosher salt plus more
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced (I minced mine)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or a half teaspoon more if you like spicy)
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper

Cut your squash into matchsticks, and place in a colander. Toss with a teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 10 minutes, then squeeze well to remove as much excess water as possible (do not rinse). Next, toast almonds in a skillet over medium heat. Toss occasionally until lightly browned. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate. Then, heat oil in the same skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until fragrant but not browned. About a minute or two. Add squash and cook, tossing occasionally, until crisp and tender, about 5 minutes. Fold in Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Fold in almonds. Serve and enjoy!