Gnocchi & Sage & Butternut Squash, Oh My!

Ok, this is good stuff. I got most of the recipe from over at Savory Spicy Sweet, but took a few liberties. Here's what went down...

I used...

Butternut squash, cubed
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh sage leaves
1 package gnocchi
4 ounces high quality Parmesan, shredded or shaved
1 can white beans

Now, here is where Trader Joes is awesome:

I could have spent 45 minutes and lost a couple fingers trying to cut up and peel a butternut squash (that is one of the things I am very very bad at), but the nice people at TJs have opted to put pre-cut cubes in cute little bags for a price low enough to make it worth it. So, I used 2 bags. I also used their gnocchi which seem just fine.

This is what you do:

Toss the squash, onion, and half of the sage (chopped) with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast it in the oven at about 375-400 for 40 minutes or until its getting brown and everything is cooked and soft. Towards the end cook the gnocchi according to the directions, drain, and set aside.

Now for the sage. I loooooooove it when things have crispy sage leaves in them so this was pretty much the main motivator for making the whole thing. Basically, heat some oil, toss in the leaves, and remove them when they're a little brown and crispy. Mmmmmm.

Take that out (if you're me, you may not have any experience frying leaves, so I kind of overcooked them. therefore, I changed the oil so there was no burnt taste). In 2 batches toss in a mixture of gnocchi and the veggies and lightly brown in the oil (the 2 batches part is apparently important so it all gets brown). At this point I added the drained and rinsed beans (I couldn't get white beans but that would be best. the recipe doesn't call for them but I wanted to add some protein). Toss them in with the remaining sage and Parmesan cheese (the fancier the better. mine was not remotely fancy). In addition, the real recipe calls for toasted pine nuts which might have been nice but I didn't miss them.

This was GOOD. I also only used about 2/3 the package of gnocchi and it made a ton.
Try it!

Peanut Noodle Goodness

Sometimes you just want spicy peanut noodles, and nothing else will do. I used to know someone who had a Moosewood Cookbook with a really great recipe that was served cold and involved cucumbers. I don't have it anymore, but I concocted something similar based largely on this post and this...

Here you go...

The parts
1 4oz package soba noodles (cooked)
1/2 English cucumber in large cubes
1/2-1/3 red bell pepper
a few pieces of leftover chopped chicken
basil leaves
toasted sesame seeds

The sauce
1/8c peanut butter and tahini (a combo totaling 1/8c)
1/8c water
2T soy sauce
1T seasoned rice wine vinegar
.5T sesame oil
.5T spicy chili oil
red pepper flakes
diced ginger (maybe 1tsp)

Cook the noodles and run under cold water, combine with other chopped ingredients ("the parts"). In a small bowl whisk together the sauce ingredients. Combine it all. It is delicious, and is good the next day if not better! Yum! Craving: satisfied.

Who knew?

You may or may not be aware that Andrew Carnegie rode on the dinosaurs. I did not know this myself until a recent visit to Pittsburgh...

Worth Making an Exception

I have this weird pet peeve about embedded you tube videos on blogs. I think this is because normally I like to read things rather than watch them because I'm impatient and I read faster than I watch.

BUT, someone sent this to me, and it is absolutely worth an exception. Mainly, because I crack up every time I watch it, and I have watched it a number of times. You should check it out.



I like the whole thing, but I really start cracking up right around "I want beef jerky!". Although, other key moments are "bow chicka bow wooow", and "I'm your Mom" "Nooo.. you're not".

HA. I love it.

An unlikely duo.

So, it has been raining here in LA. For the rest of the country this would be no big deal, but as far as we are concerned, this is a monsoon (aka three days of rain IN A ROW). I decided the least I could do is to let my little plants get a bath and celebrate, so put them out on the edge of the balcony the other day.

I just got a kick out of how funny they looked together, partly because there is no natural scenario in which these two kinds of trees would ever mingle. And partly because something about the way they're leaning towards each other makes it look a little like they've headed over to the corner to chat, and are conspiring on some secret scheme.

Is this Superbowl Food?

This year I took a break from the Superbowl (although, I did end up watching the end, which was very exciting even for me).

Instead, I made this: Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry and Poppy Seed Roti (from Veganomicon, again). Generally, it went well. The curry is basically red lentils, onion, a wide variety of spices parsnip (to be fair: I do not know the difference between a parsnip and a turnip, never having eaten them growing up. I used one of the two and it worked beautifully. I am also too lazy to google it and determine which one the thing in my fridge actually was, since I'd forgotten since I bought it. It was kind of a supporting player, at any rate). So, the curry was delish! (picture to come). It made a ton and I would totally make it again.

The roti... now, the roti was another story. It was all very promising, and I was so psyched about the results of my previous pita bread efforts, I was very optimistic. Basically, the ingredients are simple (whole wheat flour, cornmeal, poppyseeds, corriander seeds, and a bit of oil. The process of making them, not so easy. It involved a lot of rolling and folding and brushing with oil, over and over. Then, you cook them on a hot pan. I'm not entirely sure whether I did something wrong, or whether this is how they are, but they never puffed up and were just sort of tough. They were ok, but not really worth the effort (sad!).

Here are the roti in their nascent state:


And, here is the whole deal (with brown rice):