Pumpkin Wontons

This is a perfect addition to any meal.  A good for you dessert with pumpkin and not too much sweetness.

1 C. canned pumpkin
1/2 C. softened cream cheese
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 egg white for an egg white wash
wonton wrappers
water
powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Mix first 4 ingredients until thoroughly combined.
3. In each wonton wrapper add about 1 to 2 teaspoons of the pumpkin/cream cheese mixture in the center of each wrapper (not too much to have the filling spill out when the wrappers are folded over. 
4. On 2 sides of each filled wonton wrapper, brush the sides with water and fold over.  Press the sides together until they stick.
5. Spray a baking pan and place filled wonton wrappers on the pan. 
6. Brush the egg whites onto each filled and folded wonton.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges start to brown.  
8. Remove from oven, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.  
9. Caution will be hot, but they are best served fresh!

Inspiration courtesy of: http://www.pinkbasil.com/baked-pumpkin-wontons/

Chilean Charquican

I am missing my time that I spent in South America...the people, the food, the freedom, just to name a few...So, what better way to help solve that problem/make it worse  :P than to cook one of my favorite dishes from down there!

Just a little background...Charqui is a form of a dry meat that Chileans used in the dish.  (I used tofu in mine, so don't worry, I am sticking to my roots) Before I go too much into the background, check out this site which has a great explanation of the dish and where I got a memory kick for remembering how my host mom cooked the dish.

http://eatingchile.blogspot.com/2009/06/charquican-tomatican-and-other-cans_11.html

Charquican

Serves 3

1/2 onion diced
1 T. oil
1/4 block tofu cubed
1 medium potato cooked and cubed
1 15 oz can peas
1 C. corn
1/2 - 1 can pumpkin puree
1 t. salt (more or less according to flavor)
1 small roasted green chili chopped (for a bit of an american flare with some spice)
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground pepper
1 t. dried oregano

1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil.  Add the diced onion and saute until translucent.
2. (The original recipe calls for carrots...I forgot to add them, so in this step you could saute a chopped medium carrot with the onion)
3. Add the cubed tofu and continue to saute until the tofu starts to brown.
4. Add the peas, corn, and pumpkin puree.  Stir to combine and heat until warm.
5. Add the salt, chili, cumin, and pepper.  Stir until thoroughly combined.  Continue to cook until everything is HOT!

Serve with fresh bread and enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Quinoa

Welcome to fall!  I do already miss summer, but according to Colorado's forecast, it is supposed to be in the 70s today, so I guess I can't really say I miss summer when it has not really left.  But, I do love fall as well, especially with all the delicious winter squash varieties that I get to experiment with!  This dish was inspired by some leftover butternut squash (when cooking for 1 person, even with how much I eat, you would be surprised how long 1 squash will last!)

Roasted Butternut Squash and Quinoa
Serves 3-4

1.5 C. semi-cooked and cubed butternut squash to soften and make the roasting process faster
1 medium carrot cubed
4-5 oz. tofu cubed
1.5 C. cooked quinoa (could use rice, but quinoa is so much better for you)
1 small fire roasted chili (optional)
1 T. oil
1 t. fresh ground pepper
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1/4 c. slivered almonds
1 small packet honey
2 leaves collard greens or kale chopped into pieces (kale  is preferred, but the greens were so much cheaper at the time)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. In a greased baking dish, place cubed butternut squash, cubed carrot, and cubed tofu.
3. Sprinkle on chili, pepper, cinnamon, and ginger.
4. Toss to evenly coat the ingredients with the spices.
5. Roast/Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the squash and carrot are soft and and roasted to almost your preference.
6. Remove from oven, mix in honey and slivered almonds.
7. Mix in chopped collard greens
8. Place back in the oven and cook for an additional 10-20 minutes or until collard greens start to become crunch up, but not burn.
9. Remove from oven.
10. To serve, place 1/3 of the cooked quinoa in a bowl and top with the roasted mixture.
11. Enjoy!!!

Spicy Carrots and Beets

I have been trying all summer and fall to get my beets to grow.  I planted them mid spring in hopes that I would have decent size beets to use in my fall recipes.  I watered them (well, my parents did most of the time because I kept forgetting about them), but that is beside the point...they got watered, except for the week of evacuation, but they survived.  Well, needless to say, 6 months later I ended up with some beets...the size of these said beets might be a joke...I pulled up one that was a whopping .5 inch diameter...another one fared a bit better and got to 1 inch in diameter.  Not the size I was hoping for, but still edible...not sure I am cut out to be a beet farmer.  I might just have to support my local farmer's market more.  I was still determined to use MY beets in this recipe, so the version I made was heavy on the carrots and onions and light on the beets (and a bit spicier than I had intended).  I am going to post the version I made and then I have provided the link for my inspiration at the bottom if you want the full fledged version.

Serves 2 with rice on the side

3 itty bitty beets boiled and sliced and diced
1 big carrot sliced
1 medium onion diced
1 t. oil for sauteing
1 t. garlic powder
2 green chilies diced
1 to 2 t. curry
1/4 t. chili powder
1/4 t. salt
1/3 C. coconut water + 2 T. powdered milk =my version of coconut milk

1. In a medium pan, heat the oil on medium.
2. Add the onions ad saute until translucent.
3. Add the garlic, curry, chili powder and salt, stir
4. Add the carrots, beets and green chilies.  Stir and cook until the carrots are tender to your liking.
5. Add the coconut water/milk concoction and stir.  
6. Serve over rice (brown rice is preferred if you remember to start cooking it right before you begin sauteing everything

Enjoy!!!!

Inspiration courtesy of:http://www.onetribegourmet.com/2012/02/spicy-beets-carrot-curry-in-coconut-milk/

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters with Tzatziki

Serves 2, Yield=6

2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
1/2 cup coarsely grated potato
kosher salt
pinch of flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon chopped chives (or whatever herb you like)
1 tablespoon chopped mint (or whatever herb you like)
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup diced white onion
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Tzatziki:
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 T. finely diced red onion
1 T. chopped mint
kosher salt
squeeze of lemon juice

1. Place the grated zucchini and potato in a colander. Spread the veggies out to allow for maximum surface area exposure and sprinkle all over with kosher salt. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to drain.

2. Meanwhile, make the tzatziki, if desired: Stir together yogurt, onion, mint, salt and lemon juice. Taste. Add more salt if necessary. Chill until ready to use.

3. After the 30 minutes, squeeze veggies out and wrap in paper towels. Squeeze again. [Note: The veggies will not drain out enough liquid on their own in the collander, so squeezing them with a paper towel is a critical step to mopping up that moisture.] Open up the paper towel and spread out your veggies. Sprinkle with a pinch of flour to soak up leftover moisture.

4. In a bowl, whisk together egg, herbs and lemon zest. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add onion and grated zucchini-potato mixture. Stir well.

5. Preheat over to 200˚F. Place a foil-lined cookie sheet in the oven. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter. When foam subsides, drop a spoonful of your fritter batter in. Gently pat with a spatula to flatten out the fritters, which will help make them crispy.

6. Cook about 3 fritters at a time until golden brown on each side. Place fritters in the oven while you make additional pancakes. Serve as soon as possible with tzatziki on the side.

Easy Oatmeal Banana Bars

Answer: School got in the way.  Question: Where I have been the last few months?  Have I still been eating?...yes.  Have I been cooking as much?...no  However, what I do cook now tends to be super quick, though I am usually starved by the time it is done that there are not pictures for proof that I made something. And, I usually don't measure what I put into each dish, so it makes it even harder to try to write a recipe for someone  :P

I did manage to make these easy oatmeal banana bars, and actually have a recipe for them (though I tend to not follow it now and just start dumping ingredients into a bowl).

What you will need: (serves 1-2)

1 very ripe banana

1/3 C. Milk of your choosing

2/3 C. Oats

1 egg 

1/4 t. vanilla

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. baking soda

3 T. raisins, dried fruit, coconut, chocolate chips and/or almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined.

Pour into greased muffin pans or small baking pan.  I used a mini spring-form pan to get the round shape

Bake for 10-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Again, here is my lack of actually watching what I do, so just monitor your bars/muffins to make sure they don't burn).

Enjoy!

Zucchini Tots

And again, more Zucchini.  This zucchini happens to come from what was left of my zucchini for the Zucchini 'Bread' Oatmeal.  These tots are super easy, better for you than tater tots and super delicious...I did not get a better picture because they were devoured before they really came out of the oven.  I won't continue to bore you with my zucchini stories, but I can tell you, if you find a great deal on zucchini, buy it.  It is so versatile and delicious!

Zucchini Tots

• 1 C. grated zucchini
• 1 egg
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1/4 C. grated cheese of your choice
• 1/4 C. bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. Grate the zucchini and then place on a dish towel.  Use this towel to wring out ALL the excess water that is naturally in the zucchini.  (If this step is skipped, the middle of the tots will be 'soggy' while the outside will be crispy, which kind of defeats having a 'tot').
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until well mixed.
4. Spray mini-muffin pan with non-stick spray.
5. Spoon batter into the pan and press the batter down into each pan to make sure the batter will cook together and the tot will come out in one piece.
6. Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes or until the top is browned and set.
7. Remove from pan.  If the tots are sticking, use a plastic knife and slide it around the outside edge of each tot to loosen it from the pan.

Inspiration courtesy of: http://curiouscountrycook.blogspot.com/2012/03/zucchini-tots.html