Kale and Pumpkin Ministra

This was inspired by my Aunt Sharon who gave everyone a box of kale chips for Christmas this year. This is another dynamite tastespotting find. Original blog here. I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and it turned out beautifully. The butternut gave it a wonderful natural sweetness.  

Kale and Pumpkin Ministra

Inspired by a recipe in Food and Wine

The original recipe calls for butternut squash pasta and gently wilted kale. I decided I wanted a heartier and richer flavored soup, so I used some of stash of fancy Peruvian Christmas Lima beans in place of the pasta and roasted the veggies in the oven.

What you’ll need~

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 small pumpkin, or squash of your choice, seeds rinsed and reserved and cut into quarters

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled

1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped

4 cups chicken broth

Salt and pepper

1-2 cups beans, cooked

Parmesan for shaving

Heat the oven to 375.

Toss the pumpkin and onion with half of the olive oil, a generous pinch of salt, a couple of grinds of pepper and the crumbled dried sage. Place on half of your baking sheet.

Place in the oven and bake until the pumpkin is tender. About 30 minutes. Be sure to stir the onions here and there so they don’t char too much.

Toss the kale with the rest of the olive oil, the reserved pumpkin seeds and sliced garlic.

After about 15 minutes into cooking, add the kale to to the other half of the baking sheet.

Stir the kale every 5-10 minutes until it’s nice and crisp. About 15 minutes.

Once the kale is cooked and the pumpkin is tender, remove from the oven and set aside until the pumpkin is cool enough to handle.

In the meantime, warm chicken broth in a large saucepan and add the beans. Add the kale and onions.

Scrape the pumpkin meat out of its skin, and cube up the meat as best as you can. Toss into the broth.

Let simmer gently for about 20 minutes to allow the flavors to come together.

Serve warm with a generous serving of parmesan shavings on top and some crusty bread for sopping on the side.

Mussel Chowder

I was inspired by the delicious chicken chowder pit stop we made in Idaho a few weeks ago. This is a hybrid version of a few different recipes. This would be utterly amazing in a freshly baked bread bowl.... just throwing that out there. 

Ingredients:

• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 leek finely chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 TBS butter
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 3 TBS beef broth powder
• 1 butternut squash, pealed and cubed
• 1 can sweat corn
• 16 oz boiling water
• 2 cans mussel meat
• 16 oz milk
• 8 oz extra sharp cheddar, grated 
• sea salt and black pepper
• ground bay leaves 
• ground thyme
• ground sage
• garlic powder

What to do:

• heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy based pot or big ass skillet
• add the onion, leek, garlic, carrot and celery and cook until soft (about 5 minutes)
• push veggies off to one side of the skillet; add the bacon strips and cook for 5 more minutes
• add the canned corn and squash
• in the mean time bring water to a boil and dissolve beef powder
• once bacon is browned remove from skilled, slice into small pieces and return to skillet; add spices to veggie bacon mixture
• add the broth, bring to a boil for a few minutes and then allow to simmer for about 15 minutes on a low heat and until squash is tender
• gently mash the squash with a potato masher
• add the mussels and the milk and bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes
• adjust the seasonings and add cheddar cheese 

for your listening pleasure

....and more

Chicken Coconut Soup

I found this recipe this summer in Clean Eating magazine. Despite the magazine's unappetizing title, it has a lot of really cool recipes and articles. This soup is a healthier version of most coconut soups which are heavy in fat. It uses half coconut milk half skim milk, giving it a lighter consistency but just as yummy!

Here's the Clean Eating recipe with a few of my own adjustments:

2 TBS evoo
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c carrots, chopped 1/2 in pieces
2-3 small white or red potatoes, 1/2 in pieces (I used both)
salt n pepper
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 c skim milk
1 c coconut milk
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c snow peas
juice from half a lemon
3/4 tsp chile powder
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 TBS cilantro

Heat oil in pot, add garlic onions carrots potatoes. Season w/ salt n pepper, saute. Add broth and milks bring to boil. Add chicken (I used the George Foreman to brown them before adding to the soup. Didn't cook them all the way through). Cover, simmer, for 10-15 minutes on low heat. Remove chicken, set aside. Add peas, chile powder, red pepper flakes. Simmer 2-3 minutes. Slice chicken and add to soup. Add lemon juice, sprinkle with cilantro. (~300 cals per serving, makes 4)


Used fresh cilantro from my backyard garden.


Served in my pretty flowered dishes from Thailand. Love them!


My lovely cooking assistant/brother demonstrating how to eat like a real adult.