Autumn Squash Soup

With My CSA- I feel like I can barely keep up with all of the vegetables I am getting each week! 

My recent solution: Soup. Soups are a great way to use up a variety of veggies, and make something warm and delicious. I love the fact that soups are so diverse and you can put essentially anything in them and get a some wonderful product. 

Here is my most recent creation, which came out quite well! 

I'll have to add a picture later.

Autumn Squash Soup

1- medium Onion – finely chopped

~ 1 tb Olive oil

1 tb butter

1 clove Garlic – minced

1- Butternut Squash

1- Acorn Squash

2- Sweet Potato

1 head Green Cabbage

2- Apples (I used macintosh)

1 quart Vegetable broth

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Sage

Pepper

Salt if desired

2 cups Low fat milk

* Peel and chop all ingredients

* In a large pot, simmer onions, garlic, olive oil, butter and a splash of water for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent.

* Add in all other chopped vegetables and apples, and vegetable broth, and spices. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring periodically.

* Once ingredients are soft, use an immersion blender (or portion out and use a regular blender or food processor) to blend ingredients until pureed.

* mix in enough milk until desired thickness. Dry white wine could also be added if desired (~1/2- 1 cup).

Notes:

 I just used whatever vegetables I had on hand, I’m sure any yellowish squash/ pumpkin would be good.  I used fresh, but canned would work fine too. 

Other recipes used white potatoes… I thought the sweet potatoes kept nicely with the color scheme, and I enjoy sweet things.

 I do not think the cabbage did anything for taste- I just had it on hand and wanted to use it, but nice way to sneak in a green vegetable and add some more fiber and nutrients J  

This made a very large portion of soup, you may wish to scale down.

Trail blazing

This post falls more under the "Live abundantly" section.

My friend Christina has been all into doing new and exciting things (...though, this is the girl who lives on french fries and will not try any new foods.)

But at any rate- we decided to go horse back riding!  Each of us have only been on a horse once in our lives... I was last on one in the 6th grade, so it seemed like a new and interesting adventure. We went to Ridge Valley Stables in Grafton MA. We did the beginners trail ride.

My Grandmother called me while I was on the way there, and I informed her I was going horseback riding, her response was, "I don't believe you."
so... I had to get pictures.  Unfortunately the horses were not cooperating.

I took many shots like this with a horse, where the horse would then move its head out of sight.

This horse Bit me! I was unaware horses just bit at random, but I was going around, patting all of the horses, and this one started nuzzling me, and then nipped my hand. I had to take a picture of the offender, but alas, he like all of the others moved at the last second. 

As for the actual ride I lucked out with a cute little horsey named "Nilla" short for Vanilla Bean. I was happy she was on the smaller side, as some of the others looked extremely wide and hard to ride.

Nilla decided to take up the rear of the pack... she also enjoyed taking the route less traveled by, all of the other horses stayed on the path, she liked to take the "Long-cuts" going in little loops through the trees.

At any rate, it was a fun and interesting experience. By the end I was even just holding onto the reins and not holding on to the saddle for dear life every time she ran! Progress.

Seasonal Soup and Salad: The Soup

My last post discussed Jon and I's seasonal dinner inspired by the bounty of my CSA box.

I had made a Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Cider Vinaigrette, and he made a lovely potato and leek soup.

I generally attempt to make my recipes healthier- but Jon was only willing to do so much tweaking to the recipe...

He used:

1/2 stick unsalted butter
olive oil
2 leeks
1/4 large onion (so.. like one small one?)
3 cloves garlic, minced
~1.5 pounds potatoes, peeled (we used russet potatoes )
1 pt chicken or vegetable broth
parsly
black pepper
salt
1 cup heavy cream (Um.... I would not have chosen this. You can substitute 1/2 or all milk, or use a light cream at least)

* wash and chop leeks, garlic and onion.
* Heat a bit of butter and oil in pan (big frying pan/ wok).
* add garlic, leeks and onions. Saute until soft. Set aside.
* peel and thinly slice potatoes.
* prepare pan again with olive oil and butter, and add potatoes. You are not trying to brown the potatoes. Add a bit of broth and cover pan. Cook until soft.
* add in the leek combo, and saute. Add the rest of the of the broth and spices as desired, and let simmer.
* place a large pot over heat. Pour the soup mixture into pot.
* add 1 cup of cream (or milk).
* use immersion blender to blenderize some of the soup until reaching a creamy consistency.
*** note: Jon blenderized quite a bit, but in retrospect we think he should have left some chunks of potatoes etc. So blend to your desired consistency.





Enjoy!

We served ours with our salad and a side of french bread.

Seasonal Soup and Salad: The Salad

Getting a CSA is a great way to force you to eat seasonally- and eat some what creatively. Normally I just go to the grocery store and buy whatever is on sale or looks good.

With a CSA- I get a box of random vegetables and fruits that are fresh, local and in season. It has also forced me to get more variety in my diet which is always good too.

This weeks box included:
leeks (which I had never had before last week- I had to google to figure out what they were)
cabbage
arugula
broccoli
Some leafy green (Red Chard?)
lots and lots of potatoes
apples

Jon, as per usual, was pestering me what we were doing for dinner, so I told him what vegetables we needed to use- and we went ahead and googled recipes.

I decided on the Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with cider vinaigrette, and he made a Potato and Leek soup (recipe to follow!).



For my salad I used:
1 butternut squash
3 tb dried cranberries
1 tb pure maple syrup
salt and pepper
1 bunch arugula
1/2 head romaine (I used a whole head and had lots left over.)
1/2 cup walnuts
3 tb apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup apple cider
1 shallot
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 apple
fresh parm cheese

* first pre heat oven to 400*
* peel, cut and cube squash
* Place squash on baking sheet or pan, add maple syrup, a little bit of olive oil and some pepper and salt to squash and toss. Roast for ~15 minutes.
* add cranberries after 15 minutes, mix again and continue to roast until cooked.
* add chopped shallot, vinegar and apple cider to a small sauce pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
*remove dressing from heat. Add dijon mustard and olive oil. Mix well.
* wash, dry and cut arugula and lettuce.
* cut apple (add lemon, or other citrus juice to keep from browning.

* prep plates by placing greens, apple, walnuts, parm cheese.
* once squash is done, add some to salad. (I let mine cool for a little bit first.
* add small amount of well mixed dressing to salad and enjoy!

Cuban Dish #2: Cuban Sea Bass (um… Tilapia)

I am still on the mission to force health eating upon people, along with becoming more ethnically diverse, so I decided to try my hand at another Cuban dish. This time, I simply found a dish that was relatively healthy to begin with rather than editing a less healthy dish.

The recipe was for Cuban Sea Bass. However, when I go to the grocery store, I was unable to find sea bass, so I decided to settle for tilapia.

Cuban Tilapia (or whatever other fish you decide to stick in it)

2 tb olive oil

2 white onions, sliced

1-2 cloves minced garlic

4 chopped tomatoes, seeded

1.5 cups dry white wine

1/2 cup slices olives

1/4 cup drained capers

crushed red pepper

~ 1 pound of fish

1 tb butter

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1. heat olive oil in a pan/ wok and cook onions and garlic.
2. Add tomatoes, cook until soft.
3. Add wine, olives, capers, and red pepper. Allow sauce to simmer.
4. Add fish to sauce. Cook 10-15 minutes until fish is easily flaked.
5. Remove the fish from the sauce.
6. Add butter to sauce and turn up the heat. Add cilantro. Cover sauce, and allow to thicken.
7. Serve sauce over the fish.

I served my dish with fresh steamed green beans, black beans, and a brown rice/rice pilaf concoction.

It came out pretty good in my opinion. I am not a huge fan of olives, so if I did it again, I think I would omit them, but overall tasty.

Eating Healthy for the Busy Person

"If you need something done, give it to a busy person!"

Ah… how true it is. It does seem the more we have to do, the more we get done.

Of course, it's also easy to let certain things go when you are really busy, such as going to the gym and eating healthy.

So here's the key:

Plan

Prep

Do!

My professor always complains that people say they are either organized, or they are not. She states, "Organized people are organized because they take the time out of their day to get organized," which, in the end, saves time!

So:

- plan what kind of meals you want to make for the week.

- make a shopping list

- go to the grocery store

- at some point soon after going to the grocery store- take the time to prep any of the healthy food that requires effort that might later deter you from eating it.

If you set out to chop/ peel/ prep a bunch of stuff at once it takes much less time than going through the process each time you want to eat something. Plus, think of the time and energy you'll save on washing the knives, vegetable peeler, and cutting board.

I personally go through this process not only because I am busy, but because Jordan is lazy, and I know he will not bother to use vegetables if they are not ready to be used.

Last week at the grocery store I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots for $1.99! but of course, whole carrots require a bit more effort than baby carrots, so I took the time after I went shopping to peel and cut them up.

Along with a bag of green peppers, I cut up a few into strips to be used for whatever my heart desired at the moment. They can always be chopped smaller later on if desired.

It also seems we are more likely to go through fruit in our house if it is cut up and mixed together (in this case, apples, bananas, plums and nectarines are all pretty easy to eat anyway, but I do enjoy the variety. It works even better if there is something that required cutting up such as a melon.

Then finally- once I am all done prepping I stick it all in the fridge in tupperware for easy access and quick meal making throughout the week :)

I say Tomato, you say Tomahto: Antioxidant Series

Lycopene: Heinz tomato ketchup did a lot of promoting of lycopene, especially in the late 90s, but what is it?

Lycopene, is another phytonutrient! It is the bright red carotenoid pigment. It's usually associated with tomatoes, but it is also found in:

watermelon

pink grapefruit

apricots

pink guava

red bell pepper

wolfberries

Unfortunately for any raw-foodies out there, lycopene is more bioavailable after is is processed or heated. It is even better when consumed with a fat (such as olive oil). The processing is what makes ketchup and tomato sauces a good source of lycopene, whereas raw tomatoes, are not.

As per usual with antioxidants, there is a lot of missing or conflicting research. However, based on empirical data there is an inverse relationship between consumption of lycopene/serum lycopene levels and chronic diseases, including cancer.

Lycopene works it's magic by quenching free radicals on a mission to steal from your cells. In vitro, (like test-tube-lab-studies) lycopene has been shown to decrease DNA damage, decrease oxidative stress, decrease oxidation of LDL, and prevent lipid peroxidation.

In vivo, (in living creatures), lycopene's metabolism is much less understood, and its overall health benefits still remain controversial. More research is needed especially in the area of how lycopene interacts without metabolites and environmental factors.

Nonetheless, as with most antioxidants, the sources of lycopene are healthy overall. (tomatoes, watermelon, grapefruit?) If you are getting your lycopene from ketchup, just remember its sodium and sugar content, maybe try a no sodium or natural kind.

So…. how do you say tomato?