Pumpkin Recipes for a Happy Pumpkin Day!

Pumpkin Soup


Pumpkin Cashew Curry


Hot Halloween Stew


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Just in case you have some leftover pumpkin to cook with.

Happy Halloween!

Zucchini & Tomato Salad with Basil-Kale Pesto

This surprising tasty salad was inspired by raw dishes that use zucchini in place of pasta. I've never done much with zucchini. It's always seemed too bland to be the center piece of a dish. Baked and stuffed with a tangy cheese is the biggest nod I've given this vegetable. But here, raw, and very thinly sliced, combined with chopped heirloom tomatoes and a tasty basil-kale pesto, it works as a magically fresh and light pasta substitute.

A very simple and attractive dish, this salad packs hearty flavor without weighing you down. Definitely, a salad I'd make for company!

Zucchini & Tomato Salad with Basil-Kale Pesto:

2 medium zucchini, very thinly sliced on a mandolin
1 orange and 1 red heirloom tomato, finely chopped
12-15 basil leaves
I large leaf of dinosaur kale, stem removed
olive oil
sea salt
pine nuts
lemon juice
pinch of sugar if needed

Combine the thinly sliced zucchini and chopped tomatoes in a bowl.

In a mini-prep, combine basil leaves, kale leaf, a generous pinch of pine nuts, olive oil and salt. Puree. Add lemon juice to taste and if the kale gives it a bitter taste, add a little sugar. Puree adjusting oil, lemon juice, and salt until desired texture.

Combine pesto with the zucchini and tomato mix and add a few pine nuts if desired.

Millennium Chile Class Oct 2009

What the heck! Let's start this post with dessert first, just as we do in cooking classes at Millennium. On the decadent dessert menu this time, Peanut-Chocolate Torte, Sweet Potato Ice Cream with sugared jalapenos, and two "Bacon" -Chile Caramel sauces (smoked apples provide the "bacon" flavor).

I worked on the sugared jalapenos - aren't they lovely?


Sugar and water boiled together, sliced jalapenos added, cooked for 5 minutes, then pulled the jalapenos and rolled them in sugar. Saved the liquid and used it for the thick unstrained "bacon"-chili caramel. Yum!

A selection of chiles from the ingredients tray:

A gorgeous cauliflower mushroom:


which was one of the ingredients to the Mushroom- Corn filling:

for amazing Plantain Empanadas:

Yes, the dough was made of roasted, processed plantains and salt.

Lunch was Steamed Buns with Tea-Smoked tofu and Yuba Pancake with hoisin sauce, chile sambal and blackened arbol-shallot salsa:

Close-up of the Yuba pancake (yuba from Hodo Soy):

The buns were made with pastry flour, yeast, scallions, baking powder, and sesame seeds:

A persimmon salad with a scotch bonnet kick:


Dinner was peppers stuffed with a potato-pea curry and chard saag (made two ways, with cashew cream and coconut milk):



Cooking buddy C & I managed to ruin our potato-pea curry beyond salvation by adding fenugreek towards the end of the dish. Opps...it was supposed to be ground fenugreek. Here's a lesson I'll never forget. We added the grainy fenugreek near the end and those grains just stick in the pits of your teeth and make a previously delicious curry, a mouthful of bitterness. Well, it was my 13th class!

We had a mass of chile sauces to enjoy of varying degrees:


And beer-drunken beans with smoked onions made an additional side:



So vote in the comments for the recipe from this class you'd most like to have!

Many thanks to Eric Tucker, Chef and Teacher Extraordinaire, my enthusiastic classmates, and Thomas, Veronica, Jason and Ann for making this another fab Sunday class at Millennium.

Look at classmate Kate's flicker for more photos at:
flickr.com/photos/katedollarhyde

Here's links to the previous 12 classes:

July Cooking Class 2009

June Cooking Class 2009

Spring Cooking Class 2009

Mushroom Cooking Class

Holiday Cooking Class

Fall Harvest 2008

Indian Summer

Southern Comfort Cooking Class

Spring Cooking Class

Fall Harvest Cooking Class

Chiles Class

Tomato Class

Potato & Lentil Salad

Ever made a recipe because you couldn't imagine how it would taste? That was part of the impetus behind making this potato and lentil salad from a book called Detox by Sara Rose.

A friend and colleague is doing a special 3 week Cleanse recommended by Gwyneth Paltrow and is bringing in all sorts of tasty detox salads. So I shared the recipes from Roses' book with her and decided to try this very simple potato salad with lentils, scallions, olive oil and balsamic. I added a sprig of rosemary to the Lentils du Puy, and peeled the potatoes, but was pleasantly surprised by how tasty and satisfying this dish was.

It may not be beautiful to look at, but for a low-fat, high protein potato salad, this is a winner. I would definitely make this for a picnic/potluck or as a tasty packed lunch treat. The recipe below is for two servings.


Potato & Lentil Salad:

8 oz baby potatoes
1/4 cup Lentils du Puy
sprig of rosemary
3 scallions
high quality olive oil
balsamic vinegar
sea salt
Black pepper


Boil the potatoes until soft all the way through. Drain, peel, and cut into quarters lengthwise.

Boil water and add the lentils. Turn to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes then add small rosemary sprig. Cook 10-15 minutes more. Drain and rinse.

Chop 3 scallions, roots and green tops removed.

Combine potatoes, lentils, and scallions with a little high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add sea salt and black pepper and serve.

Light Vegetable Soup with Spinach

Continuing my spinach soup adventures, this simple vegetable soup included baby potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, snap pea, peas, corn, with the spinach thrown in right at the end after the heat was off.

I really loved this light, fresh soup! It's the kind of meal you can feel 100% good about and it's quick to make to boot!


Light Vegetable Soup with Spinach:

1 TBS olive oil
1/3 onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 pinch Herbes de Provence
5 baby potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 carrots, thinly sliced and cut in half for larger pieces
1/2 cup cauliflower florettes
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup peas (I used frozen)
1 cob corn kernels
1/2 cut snap peas, cut into 4
2 big handfuls of baby spinach
S & P

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the onions, and cook for a few minutes until they start to soften. Add the minced garlic and Herbes de Provence, stir well, and cook for 1 minutes. Add the potatoes and carrots. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring to avoid sticking. Add the cauliflower the last minute.

Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Add the peas, cook 3 more minutes. Add the corn and snap peas and cook 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Roasted Red Pepper, Lentil & Spinach Soup

Spinach is making a splash in my culinary life right now. I'm particularly interested in soups with spinach. Not cream of spinach soup but rather soups where the spinach is barely cooked, just thrown in at the end so you can really taste it.

This spinach variation on my Roasted Red Pepper & Red Lentil soup (see recipe variants below) was suggested to me by my work colleague, S.

I made a lighter version of the original recipe, reducing the lentils and eliminating the potatoes. The result was a wonderful combination I wouldn't have thought of myself! And this soup is full of healthy vegan protein!

Here's the recipe and I'd love to hear about your favorite vegetarian spinach recipe in the comments.

Roasted Red Pepper, Lentil & Spinach Soup:

1 -1/2 TBS olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp of ground cumin
generous pinch of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of ground coriander
generous pinch of coriander seeds
salt
3 cups vegetable broth
2 cups of water
1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
7.5 oz jar roasted red peppers or 2 large roasted red peppers, skinned and seeded
1/3 jalapeno, deveined and finely chopped
spinach, baby, stems removed (as much as desired!)
salt to taste


Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium-low heat. Cook the onion for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently (avoid browning) . Add the the cumin, cumin seeds, coriander, coriander seeds, and a pinch of salt and stir well. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, water, red lentils and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and add the roasted red peppers and jalapeno. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until lentils loose their shape.
Remove the soup from the heat and puree using an immersion blender.

Adjust seasoning and add the spinach. Stir until wilted.




Other roasted red lentil soup recipes from Albion Cooks:

Roasted Red Pepper & Lentil Soup

Roasted Red Pepper, Lentil & Corn Soup

Red Lentil Soup with Ricotta Dumplings

Mushroom Pasta Salad with Parmesan

I couldn't resist the Chef's Sampler Pack of mushrooms on my last visit to Whole Foods and wanted a simple dish that really highlighted the delicious pioppini's and King Trumpet mushrooms. I also wanted a dish I could share in a picnic setting with others.

This very simple pasta salad with mushrooms and parmesan hit the mark!

I sauteed the mushrooms (cutting the larger Trumpets into slices) with olive oil, minced garlic and some very finely chopped fresh rosemary. The pasta was cooked al dente and I added a little of my best quality olive oil. Fleur de Sel salt and freshly ground Terricherry pepper and some microplaned Parmesan and the dish was complete and wonderful!