Pomegranate Guacamole

Pomeamole!!  That's what I want to call it, so that's what it is. Guacamole with the addition of tiny little pearls of sweet and tangy juice.. I mean, come one, it can't get much better. This is what happens when avocados are on super sale, I buy a lot…and then eat a lot….and then eat some more.  I start to get a little crafty and, wa la.. add pomegranate seeds. I also inflict anyone eating around me with avocado, even if they believe that they don't like it because that's not possible. I know this because there was a time where I believed that I didn't like avocados… and that's just crazy. I remember the very moment I realized I was wrong. It was the first food Nick ever made for me. I was working at a pottery studio and wasn't able to leave because of a raku firing  and I was starving. My love saved me with a sandwich, and it was the best I had ever eaten.  A sandwich that contained hummus, greens, sun-dried tomatoes, and yup, big slices of avocado. That sandwich change my life. I knew from that moment on….  I loved avocados……oh and that I loved Nick too. I know, we are so cute that you want to barf. Well go ahead, just do it before you eat the pomeamole.

It's all pretty simple...One very tasty ripe avocado, about 1/2 cup of pomegranate seeds,  a little chopped onion, a bit of chopped tomato,  a lemon, a few cloves of garlic and a pinch of salt.  It's what dreams are made of.

Mash it all together minus the pomegranate seeds… As smooth or as chunky as you like it….

Fold in 1/2 the seeds

And top with the rest! And another squeeze of lemon… just like that. You can eat this magic with anything you want;  chippers, rice cakes, tacos, toast, or even top a kale salad with a big scoop. …..we at it with carrots and broccoli. SO GOOD!

Pomeamole! (Pomegranate Guacamole)

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 a small red or sweet onion
• 1/2 a small tomato
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• salt
•  a lemon or lime

Pit and scoop avocado into a medium bowl and smash until desired consistency. Finely chop onion, garlic and tomato and mix together with avocado and half the juice of the lemon. Fold in most the pomegranate seed. Top with the rest and the squeeze the other half of lemon on top.

Serve with food, or just eat with a spoon.

Hooray for on-sale avocados!! 

-C

Warm Winter Salad

Lets kick the weekend off right, with a nice warm and hardy salad. Not a frilly little salad, but a salad that fills you up and leaves you feeling warm and cozy.   A salad with a lot of squash! So here's the thing, I eat a lot of winter squash, maybe 4 plus a week. Because I eat so many, I store a good amount in a cold storage area outside of the little warm living space we call home. Last week we had a drastic temperature change and  a good few of the my butternut and spaghetti squash froze.. then started to de-thaw. Not good. That was the second bad food experience of the day….. Earlier that day I had bought about 2 dozen super ripe bananas that I had been planing on freezing and what not. There were four bunches and each bunch was wrapped in plastic and were in a bag that I left near the back door. The thought crossed my mind, but I hastily brushed it away. Washer won't eat those….. Well guess what? The shit ate half of my freaking bananas…plastic and all. Needless to say, I was kind of pissed already so finding my squash on the way out really set me off. I was not about to let more food go to waste.(or be eaten by the dog) I went into rescue mode..Chop chop and dice…boil, roast and steam…and eat eat eat…. and eat. I have been eating butternut for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past week and that's ok with me cause man it does taste oh so tasty. But for some people in my life, eating mashed squash out of a jar all day long does not hold the same appeal so I have been sneaking it in where ere I can.  

So some of that diced squash tuned into this lovely warm salad. Even the mister liked it and he is not a fan of warm salads(he says he is not, but I think he actually is, as long as I don't call them "salads") Any who…This salad hits all the marks…. Fantastically filling, super delicious, fast and healthy.  Check, check, and check! I am so good. 

Easy peasy….

Diced butternut squash, half a vilalia onion,  prepared lentils and a bunch of kale… Nothin else.(salt and pepper, but they don't count)

Diced butternut and a mediumly sliced onion..(mediumly is a new cooking term) Spritz a bit of oil in a pan and toss the squash and onion in there and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Shove into the hot oven and roast until squash and onion are tender and tasty.

Remove the pan from the oven and toss in finely chopped kale and a big scoop of lentil… Mix it up and let the sit in hot pan for a few minutes…it will make the kale get soft and warm.

Plate it and eat eat… I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on mine…Nick like his straight up. Do what you will cause either way, it's going to be awesome!!!!

Hooray for Friday and for winter squash!!!!

-C

Warm Winter Salad

Ingredients (This made one good sized salad…and exact measurements were not used so feel free to add greater or lesser amounts of any of the ingredients)

• 1 1/2 cup Diced Butternut squash
• 1/2 Vidalia Onion(or any variety you like)
• 3-4 large Kale leaves
• 1/2 cup Precooked Lentils
• salt and pepper to taste
• Balsamic Vinegar 
• drizzle of oil for pan

In a 425 degree oven,  place diced squash and sliced onions in a slightly oiled pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for about 20 minutes until tender. Remove pan from oven and toss in chopped kale and lentils and let sit in hot pan for a few minutes… Plate and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Candy Cane Hot Chocolate

My motive for this drink…get rid of a few candy cane…..  And maybe make a little kid happy, but that was just a bonus... I would have made him drink this even if he didn't like it. (I am awful like that)

I have noticed lately people are really into peppermint in their hot drinks and  I have an excess of candy canes in my house, so  this was the perfect drink to make. I was initially just going to make hot peppermint milk but added the cocoa for an extra treat. If you want, omit the cocoa and just make peppermint milk.. Or you might want to replace 1/2 the milk and add coffee! Or for those adults out there..maybe add a spash of vodka.. my version of .a hot black and white peppermint Russian(I just made that a thing)

A little advise ….check the temperature of the drink if you are giving it to a kid..What I thought was not too hot turned out to be a too hot. My little niece took a big gulp, and instantly sprayed the drink all over the kitchen and my clean hat, scarf and mittens… and then proceeded to cry….Hot chocolate is supposed to make the kids happy….so yeah...

All you need is a cup of milk(cow, soy, rice..whatever) a tablespoon of cocoa powder, a tiny pinch of salt and a candy cane. We don't need to add any extra sugar because the candy cane is sugar. 

Peel plastic off candy cane and place in a baggy and smash with something hard (rolling pin worked great)Stick all ingredients into a pot on medium heat and whisk until the candy cane is melted and the milk is as hot as you like it.

It you want(we did) top with a dollop of whipped cream(or whipped coconut cream) and sprinkle with a little more crushed candy cane…..Best served after a long afternoon of playing in the snow!

Go for it, watch your tongue and enjoy!

 

Ingredients (Makes one serving)

• 1 normal sized candy cane
• 1 tablespoon powdered cocoa
• 1 1/4 cup of milk(cow, soy, rice, hemp…what ever milk you want)
• pinch of salt

Place unwrapped candy cane in baggy and smash.  Place all but a sprinkle of the candy cane, the milk, and the cocoa in pot on medium heat  and whisk until candy cane is fully melted and the cocoa is you preferred temperature.

Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed candy cane.

Mushroom Kale Gravy

This year for Christmas my family decided to do a mid day brunch lunch thing. Everyone has their own little families that they do the morning with and then everyone goes their own ways that nigh(Nick and I do our own Christmas celebrating at night)…That leaves a chunk of mid day to hang, talk, play, exchange stockings and then usually someone gets a little pissed and yup, time to go. Its totally cool, we see each other too much anyway. So food wise, it was pretty basic. Eggs, hash browns, a ham, fruit and bagels… The hash browns were store bought, Me and nick did the eggs frittata style and the ham was just stuck in the oven….Not much to do. But then one of my lovely sisters requested gravy…..and so it was made. And a basic brunch was turned into a gravy laden food feast. And so you know, I am not a huge gravy fan, or I never really have the opportunity to eat gravy, its just not in my food rotation..until now. I was really impressed with myself on this one.

We have white mushrooms, kale, red onion, garlic, soy, nutritional yeast(if you don't have, no worries, you can get away with not using it), sage and thyme and corn starch…

Dice up onion, mushroom and garlic… Into a pan on medium heat with a bit of olive oil…just to soften up

Toss in the spices, nutritional yeast and the soy sauce and let meld together for a minute or 3

Add 2 1/4  water and whisk in a tablespoon of  corn starch….and let it simmer

 Once the gravy gets to that super nice consistency…add in finely chopped kale and let gravy simmer for another 5 minutes or so

Transfer to a nice bowl or gravy boat, stick a ladle or big spoon and get to graying up all your food!!!!!

Everyone was to busy eating for me to get a good picture of the gravy on food, but trust….it was all over everything!

-C

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Mushroom Kale Gravy

Makes about 2 1/2 cups 

• 7-8 white or cremini  mushrooms
• 1/2 small red onion
• 2 kale leaves
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy or tamari
• 1 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon nurtitional yeast
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 1/4 cups water
• tablespoon corn starch

Dice onion into small bits, slice mushrooms nice and thin and dice garlic into wee little pieces.. Toss into a skillet with a bit of olive oil on medium heat and let mixture soften and smell nice and fragrant. Toss in the dried herbs, nutritional yeast and soy sauce and let cook for another few minutes until the mixture sucks up all the soy sauce and the veggies start to brown.

Add in the water and whisk in the corn starch. Turn heat to low and let simmer until gravy starts to thicken. Finely chop the kale and toss into gravy when its about done.. Simmer for another 5 or so minutes or until you can't wait any longer….Serve straight from the pan or transfer to a gravy holding device,. Pour gravy on everything!

YUM YUM YUM ENJOY!!!!

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

What we got here is an easy one pan meal for the beginning of a hectic(but fun) holiday week . But I am sure that you  have your wits about you, that you are not feeling like a stretch Armstrong doll. No, you are all calm and collected… Well that's nice because I feel like my head going to explode.So what I need this week is easy,  fast food  with lots of healthy good stuff and maybe to get rid of the meatballs that are in the freezer….. Mission accomplished with this dish. It's basically a hug pan of veggies with a few left over meatballs from Nicks bday dinner and a little cottage cheese.  Nothing fancy… hearty and warm..Nick likes it so it's a winner. 

The spaghetti squash is the main component in this dish so if you want to use other veggies, go for it. You can make this vegan and leave out the cheese and use fake balls or no balls at all (hehe)  You can even toss in some beans, lentils, or tofu. I make variations of this dish often… and lentils are a really good addition..

Besides the squash and the meatballs, I used mushroom, onion, kale, tomato and garlic  plus about a half cup of cottage cheese, cause that was what I had in the fridge. 

First thing first, cook the squash.  Just stick it in the oven for half hour at 425.. Once you can stick a fork into it, pull it out and let it cool enough to handle.. While thats cooling off, cook down the veggies. Started with a little oil in a cast iron skillet on medium heat, toss the onion and mushrooms ands frozen meatballs*(or whatever you want to use) and heat  until meatballs are cook through and the onion and mushroom are browned. Now add the garlic, kale and tomato, Turn heat off.  When the squash is cooled enough to handle,. slice open, scoop out the seeds and scoop the flash out. Spaghetti squash and cottage cheese into the skillet and toss.. Sprinkled a bit of mozzarella or parmesan cheese on top.  Lots of crushed black pepper and into the oven for about 15 minutes. or until the cheese is nice and melty and you are hungry and want to eat. 

*Note. If you want to make meatballs fresh, my recommendation would be to make them in the skillet first and then just toss all the veggies into that pan to cook down… No need to make more dishes. 

Pulled straight from the oven….Served nice and hot, placed right onto my wooded counter. I need to stop placing hot pans on the wood, I am leaving burn marks. There is actually a lot of thing that I need to stop doing in the kitchen, like setting towels on fire, burning myself at least once a day, slicing my fingers,.breaking dishes…….So maybe place skillet on a trivet of  some kind and serve it up!

So easy and fast.. Served with a piece of crusty bread… Man, I wish everything this week could be this fast sans easy….. but I am not complaining. 

Have a good Monday!

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Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

• 1 small Spaghetti Squash

• 5-7 pre cooked vegan meatballs

• Small red onion

• 2 -3 big mushrooms

• 1 small tomato

• a few kale leaves

• 3-5 cloves garlic(or as many as you like)

• half a cup of cottage cheese *

• a handful of shredded parmesan or mozzarella*

• salt and pepper

• oil (for pan)

*use vegan versions or dairy versions.. up to you.

Preheat oven to 425

Place spaghetti squash in oven. Let bake for about a half hour or until fork tender. Remove and let cool enough to handle.

While that's happening, chop the veggies into any size you want.. Drizzle olive oil in medium skillet and place diced sliced mushrooms, onion, and pre made meatball to brown. Once meatballs are warmed through, add the kale, garlic, tomato, and cottage cheese. Take the cooked spaghetti squash and remove seeds and scoop flesh into the skillet. Toss everything together, sprinkle with salt pepper, top with shredded cheese and place in oven for 15 minutes

Take it out of the oven and let cool. for a minutes and…...

EAT!