Learning Something New
A new recipe tonight is shaping up very very nicely. It's "Acorn Squash Sauce" from Claire's Corner Copia Cookbook (vegan). When I asked Ben to buy 4 large acorn squash (squashes?), I didn't count on them taking up so much space in my medium-sized fridge. So, I moved this meal ahead instead of waiting to make it on the weekend.

Serves 8
4 large acorn squash, cut in half and seeded
1/2 cup of veg oil (I used olive)
6 large cloves of garlic, chopped (I used garlic from a jar, so shoot me)
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped (I always use scissors to cut up herbs, way quicker)
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped
SNP to taste
1 package noodles (I used whole wheat linguine)

Oven at 425. Arrange squash cut side down on a cookie sheet with sides, cover with foil and, once in oven, pour boiling water onto sheet to 1/2 inch. Bake for about 15 minutes and then turn off the oven and leave for about 1 hour. NOTE: the recipe said to bake for 1 hour and then cool but I had to go out and didn't want to leave the oven on so I turned it off and came back later and tada! cooked to perfection - I LOVE finding out energy-efficient tips this way :)
Once cooled, scoop out flesh and set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet and cook garlic, basil and parsley for about 10 minutes on low. The garlic should be softened but not brown. Add the squash, SNP and cook, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Spoon some sauce over noodles and toss well. Serve with remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle with butter, brown sugar or agave syrup if you want.

Cabbage-Mushroom Sauce
Okay, this one doesn't sound that exciting but it is really, really yummy. And cabbage is one of the three farty veggies that we're all supposed to eat once a week (along with broccoli and cauliflower).

1/3 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium red onion, diced
1 medium cabbage, chopped (I used a green one)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 pound of mushrooms (hmmm, about 4 cups)
1 tbsp dried dill weed
S&P to taste
1/4 cup of water
noodles (we used soba noodles because they were in the pantry but the recipe calls for spinach-fettucine)

Heat the oil in a large pot over ML heat, add the garlic and onion. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often until softened but not brown. Add the rest (except the noodles) and cover the pot. Raise the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes, or until the cabbage is soft, stirring often. Meanwhile, cook the noodles to coincide with the sauce being finished. Serves 6.

Carrot-tofu scrambler or The-Meal-That-Ben-Loves-to-Hate

2 tbsp oil
10 carrots, grated
1 pack extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 tsp sesame oil

1. In a large fry pan, heat the oil and cook the carrots about 15 minutes on med-low.
2. Add tofu, cook about 5 minutes
3. Add soy sauce and seeds, cook 1 minute
4. Drizzle with sesame oil, stir and serve over rice.

This recipe came from a fellow librarian, Karen, in Kingston, Ontario. She didn't eat meat, was a single mother of two, worked full-time, biked her kids to preschool and fed Ben and I every Sunday night that we lived there, so we could do our laundry at the place and play with her kids. She was (and still is) amazing. I consider this food comfort food. The women I worked with in Houston considered it freak food. Ben considers it sigh food. As in, (sigh) "is that what's for dinner?"