Now, on to the butternut squash soup. This could not be easier or more economical.  I’ve made this the past two weekends while entertaining guests for dinner.  Both times, guests were impressed by the flavor and presentation.  You can play with the ingredients and seasoning to suit your taste, but this combinations was very tasty.  Good luck.

Recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

2 lbs. already peeled, seeded, and cubed squash (I used butternut, but you can also try other varieties); I actually bought a 2 lb. package of chopped butternut squash at Costco (see photo)

2 medium onions, peeled and quartered

3 cloves of garlic, peeled (or more, if you like – I do)

2 apples, peeled, cored, and quartered

Virgin olive oil (enough to lightly coat all veggies)

Sea salt to taste

Chili power to taste

1 quart of Organic Chicken Stock (again, I buy this by the case at Costco)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put all of the chopped ingredients in a large bowl, and drizzle some olive oil to lightly coat all of the veggies.  Dump onto a large cookie sheet or flat pan.  Sprinkle with some sea salt and chili powder, to taste.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until everything is tender and lightly browned.  Occasionally give the veggies a stir.

Remove from oven and let cool.  Place half of the veggies in a food processor or a good blender (like a Vitamix), add some broth, and blend until smooth.  Pour into a pot.  Repeat with the rest of the ingredients until all of the veggies and broth have been used up.  You can taste the soup at this point and adjust the seasonings,  and adjust the texture, adding more broth if it seems too thick.  With the 2 lbs. of cleaned squash, I ended up using the entire 1 qt. container of stock.

I serve this soup warm, not piping hot.  I’d avoid boiling this soup.  Pour into pretty soup plates, put a dollop of sour cream in the middle, and sprinkle with your favorite chopped herb (I used chives, because they’re still growing madly in my garden).

Bon Appetit.

They introduced us to authentic Salade Nicoise, something I had enjoyed at restaurants in the past, but never realized how wonderful and easy it is to prepare at home.  So, try this recipe the next time it’s hot and muggy outside.  You can prepare it in advance, while it’s still cool in the morning, and wow your guests for dinner.

You can make a single serving, or a large, colorful, summer platter full of light, healthy goodness. Bon Appetit!

Sylvie’s Salade Nicoise

The ingredients in this recipe are not measured, because it will depend on how many people you want to feed, and the proportions of each ingredient you prefer, so there’s a great deal of flexibility.

Some type of poached or grilled fish, which can be served chilled or room temperature (I prefer wild Alaskan salmon); seared ahi tuna or even canned tuna is the more traditional ingredient, but a lot of people are trying to avoid the mercury these days

Fresh, organic baby spinach leaves, washed and spun dry

Lightly steamed green beans (preferably haricot vert variety, thin and delicate; I buy mine at Costco)

Several boiled eggs, cut in half

Several medium sized tomatoes, quartered (Campari tomatoes are a nice size)

Canned, quartered artichokes; drained

Anchovy fillets

Assorted olives (especially if you can find nicoise olives)

Small and / or new potatoes, boiled, in the skin, and cut in half (I like to have fun with red, yellow, purple varieties)

Optional:  onions, and fresh peppers, sliced

Serve on the side:  homemade vinaigrette (or my favorite bottled brand, Garlic Expressions), mayo, a variety of high quality mustards

Freshly ground salt and pepper

***Some recipes call for tossing all the ingredients in a bowl with the dressing, but I much prefer the more elegant presentation of arranging all the ingredients on a platter, and guests can add their own vinaigrette.

Sausage & Potato Packets

3 medium onions, cut into wedges

16 whole garlic cloves

1 or more pounds of small, gourmet potatoes, such as fingerlings (try to find some that have a blend of yellow, purple, and red), washed and cut in half, not peeled

2 lbs. pre-cooked sausage (I like to use smoked turkey sausage, but any kind will do), cut into bite-size chunks

High quality organic olive oil

Course sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Sprigs of fresh rosemary

Freshly chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Arrange heavy duty foil on a large cookie sheet, with enough of a flap to fold over the top of the ingredients and completely seal around with a few inches to spare.  Place the onions, garlic, potatoes, and sausage in the foil, and drizzle with the olive oil.  Toss the ingredients around with your hands to coat, and then make sure that it’s evenly distributed in one layer.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper , and lay the rosemary sprigs on top.  Seal the foil packet, and bake for 1 hour.  When done, carefully open the packet, and sprinkle with parsley.  You can carefully transfer the packet, or the ingredients onto a platter, but we just serve ourselves directly from the pan, sizzling hot!

Now for some of my “helpful hints:”

• While one, large packet is very easy to make and clean up, we’ve made individual packets, too, varying the ingredients (e.g., using different types of sausage, omitting rosemary, etc.).
• Jacques calls for using fresh sausage, which I don’t like to do because of the fat that is rendered, and because I’m nervous about it being fully cooked, which is why I use pre-cooked sausage.
• The juices that are created from these ingredients are sinfully good, so make sure you get a great, crusty loaf of bread.
• This is a meal in a packet, but you can serve a green salad with a light vinaigrette to go with it, if you’re feeling healthy.

Bon Appetit!

Roasted Winter Vegetables Recipe:

1 part brussels sprouts (clean off outer leaves; cut cross into the core about a 1/4 of the way down, and soak in cold water)

1 part baby carrots or regular carrots cut into 4″ sticks

1 part parnsip, cut into 4″ sticks

1 part sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

8-12 whole cloves of garlic

Toss all of the ingredients in a large bowl with some olive oil to lightly coat the veggies.  Place on a rimmed baking sheet (preferably one with a dark, non-stick coating).  Spread the veggies out in one layer – don’t overcrowd.  If you are feeding a crowd, I often roast the vegetables individually, and them toss them together in the end.

Bake at 425 degrees, on lower rack, until the veggies start to get a nice dark coating, and are somewhat tender (not too soft) when poked with a fork.  Remove from oven, generously sprinkle with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, and serve hot out of the oven.

Stuffed Turkey Breast Recipe

Turkey Breast Preparation:

The day before, prepare one or two turkey breasts (depending on how many people you are serving) by butterflying the breast; place it between two sheets of plastic wrap, and pound it out with a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat tenderizer.  Salt both sides of the breast well, and refrigerate overnight.

Also, the day before, prepare the stuffing:

Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

6 oz. mushrooms, chopped

2 carrots, shredded

2 bell peppers, chopped (one red, one yellow)

2 packages of frozen, chopped spinach, cooked and drained

2 eggs

½ c. Mozzarella

Heat olive oil in a large skillet, and sauté onions.  Add garlic and continue to sauté.  Then, add carrots, mushrooms, peppers, and cook until softened.  Add spinach and stir until heated through.  Let cool.  At this point you can put the stuffing mix in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake the turkey breast.  When you’re ready to stuff and roll the breast, add 2 eggs and the cheese to the mixture.  Remove the turkey from the refrigerator a couple of hours in advance to get it to room temperature.

Spread a layer of the stuffing onto the breast (skin side down), being careful not to overstuff.  Roll up the breast on the long side, and tie it with twine every few inches.  Place the roll seam side up in a roaster on a rack.  Pour canola oil over the rolls, and pour some water on the bottom of the pan.  Cover the pan.  Bake at 375 until a meat thermometer reads at least 170 degrees in the thickest part of the roll.  Rotate the rolls half way through cooking, so the top of the roll gets nice and brown.  Add water to the pan as necessary so it doesn’t burn too badly.

Remove the roll to a cutting board and let rest and cool.  In the meantime, make a regular gravy from the pan drippings.

Slice the roll on a diagonal, place on a pretty platter, and pour some of the gravy over the slices to keep them moist.  Keep warm in the oven, covered, until ready to serve.

Last week, as I was testing out holiday recipes, I tried Michael Symon’s recipe for stuffing muffins, and they turned out well.  The orange essence wasn’t well-liked by everyone in my family, but I thought the citrusy flavor went well with turkey and gravy, and the almonds added even more crunch.

Have some fun with this idea, and let me know how it turned out for you.

It turned out amazing. The rice turns a dark purple, tastes kind of nutty, and stays loose (vs. sticky). The next day, I had rice and asparagus left over, so I decided to try making rice salad. I’ve never made it before, but I was anxious to keep experimenting with the black rice. I cooked up some white rice, and added whatever vegetables I had from the farmers’ market sitting in my fridge. I added white rice for color contrast and a little drama, but you can make this salad with any kind of rice.

HINT: My teen son decided this year he could no longer eat the cafeteria food at the high school. And, he also decided he was cool enough as a junior to pack a lunch again. This rice salad makes a GREAT brown bag lunch … doesn’t really need to be refrigerated for a long time; would also be good for picnics.

Here’s my version, feel free to improvise:

Black & White Rice Recipe

Bake black rice using Alton Brown’s recipe
(I found some at Whole Foods from the Lundberg brand, which I like anyway, called Japonica)
Cook up 1 cup of white rice in 2 cups of water
1 cup of Garlic Expressions salad dressing or make your own garlic vinaigrette
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup of chopped bell peppers
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped grilled or steamed asparagus
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (I prefer French feta)
Kalamata olives
Cherry tomatoes

Pour the salad dressing into the bottom of a large metal bowl. Put the hot, cooked rice into the bowl, and stir well. Add the spinach and stir again. Let it sit for about 20 minutes as the rice cools and spinach wilts.

Then, add the veggies and stir again. Reserve feta, olives, and cherry tomatoes for the top. Put it all onto a pretty platter or shallow dish, and serve room temperature. YUM!

Bon Appetit!