Spaghetti Squash with Smoky Almonds

I wasn't always a squash fan, herbivores. I avoided it like the plague growing up, rolling my eyes dramatically every time my mother placed it on our dinner table. But I have been forced to reconsider my youthful hesitation. Strictly by necessity at first-- this month our CSA box is arriving every week with at least one gourd, sometimes two or three. At first I groaned. Squash is so... so... so much work, amiright?! All of that hacking and chopping and peeling and scraping and roasting. Plus cooked squash is often mushy and overly sweet and frankly, just not very interesting.

I'm rethinking my initial hesitation. My thrifty nature will not allow me to discard perfectly good produce, so I have been experimenting like a crazy woman with all of the gorgeous local squash piling up on my window sill.

And goodness me, has it ever paid off. I have been roasting and sauteing and braising so many different varieties of squash, experimenting with flavor profiles and textures. It's been a delicious autumn, produce junkies. I think I've even picked a favorite among gourds.

Why yes, I sure did need both of these knives to cut this sucker in half...

Oh, spaghetti squash. Will you marry me? Le Sigh. My new-found ardor inspired me to monkey with this Martha Stewart recipe, amping it up with spicy, smoky almonds.

The salty cheese, the snap of the fresh herbs, the al dente pasta-like texture of the squash all combine into an infinitely satisfying autumn meal. This would make a stylish side dish at any harvest gathering, or if you're like me, you'll eat it standing at the counter, hot out of the oven.

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: 45 minutes

COOKING TIME: about 1 hour

MAKES: about five 1 cup servings

INGREDIENTS:

for the roasting squash:

• 1 large (4-5 pounds) spaghetti squash
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper

for the almonds:

• 1 cup unroasted, unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• pinch of cayenne powder, to taste
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper, to taste

to bring it all together:

• 1 large shallot, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup coarsely shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the squash: halve lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup brown sugar, a generous sprinkle of sea salt and a few twists of the pepper mill. Brush brown sugar mixture over the squash halves and place cut side down on a rimmed sheet tray. Roast squash in the oven until very tender to the touch, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. When squash is tender, remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. With a fork, scrape out the flesh horizontally to the top of the squash, creating long strands. Place in a large bowl and set aside.
3. While the squash is cooking, prepare the almonds. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey and 1 teaspoon smoked paprika. Add cayenne powder, salt and pepper to taste. Toss almonds in the bowl, stirring to thoroughly coat.
4. Place almonds on a sheet tray and put in the oven next to the roasting squash. Roast until the almonds are slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Don't forget about these babies-- they burn fast! Remove from oven immediately and allow to cool.
5. To bring it all together: heat up 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small skillet until the surface begins to shimmer. Add shallots and saute until soft and translucent. Add garlic and saute for one minute more, taking care not to let garlic brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
6. In a large bowl, mix together roasted squash, sauteed shallots and garlic, shredded parmesan, fresh thyme and fresh sage. Season liberally with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
7. Garnish with smokey almonds. Serve immediately.

Ranch Dressing

I'll admit it, carrot nibblers. I'm a ranch dressing junkie. It's been my favorite salad topper since I was a little girl. Now that I'm an adult, I would love to turn my nose up at the crass nature of this condiment-- I mean, people smear it on pizza, for chrissakes!

But... but... you guys... those pizza smearers are on to something! Ranch dressing is friggin' delicious. I love a good balsamic vinaigrette, I adore me some green goddess dressing, I'll often choose to douse my salad in a lovely (vegan) Caesar. But those are just flings. My one true love, the dressing to which I will always return, is ranch.
I blame our CSA for the renewal of my vows to ranch. No, truly-- it's the fault of that gorgeous box of amazingly fresh and local produce that comes to our house every week. As the weather has started to cool, our weekly box has been crammed with lettuces. Seriously, I got SIX heads of lettuce one week. Instead of grumbling about the lack of variety, my gal and I have embraced this challenge from Mother Nature. We've been eating a lot of salads.

And I've fallen back in love with my old friend ranch dressing. In honor of my commitment to the October Unprocessed project, I walked right by the glistening bottles of ranch dressing on my grocer's shelves. Well, actually, I picked up a bottle, read the ingredients, made a face and decided I was better off just not eating ranch dressing at all. There were unpronounceable chemical ingredients. There were partially hydrogenated oils. There was... fish? Yep, that's right-- one of the ingredients in a bottle of national-brand organic ranch dressing was anchovies!

WHAT'S A RANCH-LOVING VEGETARIAN TO DO?!

Oh, you guessed it. I made my own. And you can too. It's so easy! And guess what else? You can make ALL of it from scratch. Even the mayonnaise.

That's right, you're gonna make mayonnaise. Don't be nervous, you can do it. All you need is a bowl and a whisk, I swear. I mean, a hand mixer would speed things up a little and save your arm from some soreness, but if you're like me you'll add "hand mixer" to your kitchen wish list, roll up your sleeves and congratulate yourself for canceling that gym membership. Nothing builds biceps like a little vigorous hand-whisking.

After making the mayo, it's just a matter of chopping some herbs, sauteing some garlic and stirring things together. You'll be amazed how fast it all comes together. Plus it's super-versatile: aside from salads and pizzas, try using it as a dip on your next veggie platter. Experiment with adding flavors: a little crumbled bleu cheese stirred in makes a great (meatless) wing dipping sauce, a little chipotle powder makes a delicious taco dressing, a little fresh dill adds a Scandinavian flair.

What's the big lesson here, plant fiends? Even our most basic, most homey, most guilty-pleasure foods don't have to contain mystery ingredients or be heavily processed. You can indulge yourself and impress your friends with fresh, natural junk food!

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 5 minutes

MAKES: 2 1/2 cups of dressing

INGREDIENTS:

for the mayonnaise (adapted from this Alton Brown recipe):

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 cup canola oil (if you like your mayo to have an olive oil taste, use 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 cup canola oil)

for the dressing:

• 2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup homemade mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh chives
• 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the mayonnaise: In a glass or ceramic bowl, whisk together egg yolk and salt. In a separate bowl, combine lemon juice and vinegar. Whisk half of the lemon juice & vinegar mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
2. Whisking very vigorously, add a few drops of the oil. Continue to whisk vigorously until the liquid lightens in color and begins to thicken. Begin to stream the rest of the oil into the mixture, whisking continuously.
3. After half of the oil has been whisked in, add the rest of the lemon juice & vinegar mixture. Continue streaming the rest of the oil into the mix, using those biceps to whisk thoroughly until a thick, jiggly mayonnaise develops.
4. Leave mayonnaise at room temperature while you assemble the rest of the dressing.
5. Place the minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a small frying pan. Turn flame to medium and gently saute the garlic until just fragrant, about 1 minute.
6. In a large non-metal bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, chives, oregano, thyme, lemon juice and sauteed garlic. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. This dressing will last in the fridge for up to one week.
7. Take to work with your salad and impress your co-workers!

October Unprocessed

Hey there, plant nibblers! No recipe to post today, but I wanted to tell y'all about a great thing happening right this very moment. And YOU can be a part of it!

Do you think you could go a whole month without eating anything processed? A whole month without packaged candies, frozen dinners, bottled salad dressings, sodas or Pop-Tarts? Perhaps you're a locavore rockstar and already do. Or perhaps you can't think of a recent meal that wasn't wholly processed. It doesn't matter where you fit on this spectrum. Because for the month of October, a whole blogging community is pledging to eschew packaged goods in favor of homemade, freshly prepared food. And we want you to join us!

Does all of this food have to be baked/cooked/canned by you? It sure doesn't. In fact, you don't even have to commit to the whole month if you don't think you can. A week, a day, a meal-- challenge yourself to cut out the processed food for the longest amount of time you think you can manage. And then try to push yourself a little further.

Because the less processed food we put in our bodies, the better.

This challenge is the brainchild of Andrew Wilder, of the fabulous blog Eating Rules. For a full list of the October Unprocessed "rules", please click here. And be sure to check Eating Rules regularly for guest posts offering recipes, tips and suggestions to help your October Unprocessed challenge be both effective and delicious.

Does hand-crafted whiskey made in a super-local distillery count as "unprocessed"?

I say hell yes!

As for me, I'm busy whipping up some delicious homemade salad dressings, condiments and other things that I normally reach for on supermarket shelves. Recipes will be up on this site very soon, so be sure to check back!

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!