Roasted Salsa with My Secret Ingredient

Christmas is just around the corner. I know, it's a little early, but hey it always catches me by surprise. There's always that person who gives you something that you didn't expect. I decided this year that my salsa making skills are honed and ready for the gift giving season. Salsa's already got Christmas colors. They just need a pretty jar, great ribbon and a gift tag and they're good to go. Not to mention they can be an easy hostess gift. The one ingredient that will give a hint of sweetness, creaminess and that unknown depth of flavor is butternut squash. Here's a recipe for one spaghetti sauce sized jar.

Gather up these ingredients:

5 medium tomatoes

1 onion, pealed and cut in half (yellow or white)

2 jalepeno peppers

2 large cloves of garlic

1 small handfull of cilantro

1/2 lime

1/2 cup of roasted butternut squash or pumpkin (I used frozen leftovers from ravioli night but you can also use canned)

2 tbsp canned chipotle peppers in adobo

1 tbsp salt

Steps:

1. Place the tomatoes, onion halves face down and whole jalepenos on a baking sheet.

2. Drizzle with olive oil and coat

3. Place under the broiler for 10 minutes. Turn and keep them under until the top of the onion has turned dark brown/black. Don't discard the blackened bits!

4. Place everything from the oven and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor and give it a whirl until everything is pureed.

5. Place in jars and refrigerate.

Recipe For Cheaters

This recipe comes to us from my favorite vegetarian, Kalindi from Pennsylvania. It's a butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sauce. The kicker is that she uses wonton wrappers instead of homemade pasta. It's not as thick as hand rolled pasta, but hey, it tastes great and does the job. Here's how to do it:

1. Peal the squash and cut it lengthwise down the middle. Scoop out the seeds and cut it into large square chunks.

2. Roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the squash are soft through and golden.

3. Allow the squash to cool and freeze half of it in a ziplock bag for later use. (squash soup is deelish).

4. In the food processor whirl through the following until well blended: squash pieces, 1/4 cup of parmesan, 4 large sage leaves, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 egg, salt and pepper, and 1 shallot if you've got it.

5. In a separate bowl mix an egg white with 2 tbsp of water. This will be used to seal the ravioli packets.

6. Place a dollop of the squash mix into the center of the wonton wrapper, moisten the edges of the wrapper with the egg wash, fold and seal.

7. When you're done making all the ravioli, let em sit 10 min so they're fully sealed before boiling. Boil them in salted water.

8. While the pasta is boiling, take a 1/2 stick of butter and heat it in a saucepan until it's golden in color. Add 3 chopped sage leaves and a squeeze of lemon and let it sizzle till the sauce is browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.

9. Drain your ravioli and spoon the sauce over. Don't forget to top with grated parmesan and a sage leaf to make it fancy.

Buen Provecho!

Healthy Dinner Kick

My hiatus from teaching high school science is over and as the new school year approaches, I am looking to develop new eating habits. One of my goals is to eat healthy dinners, since fish and chips, cheese enchiladas and cheeseburgers are on heavy lunch rotation in the school cafeteria.

Last night I found some great halibut at my local Safeway and decided to get creative. Here's what I came up with: Crunchy Halibut with Basil Corn Saute.

For the halibut:

1. Brush the fish with a mix of equal parts Dijon and olive oil.
2. In another bowl mix a small handful of Panko breadcrumbs, 1/2 a lemon's zest, 1 tbsp chopped parsley, and a crushed garlic clove. Dredge the fish in this mix.
3. Let the fish brown in a skillet using equal parts oil and butter (hey, I said healthy, not starving).

For the basil corn saute:

1. Caramelize one onion cut into fine rounds.
2. Add 2 ears of cut corn.
3. When the corn is cooked and the onions are soft, add one minced garlic clove, 2 tbsp of chopped basil, and 2 large diced tomatoes. Saute until tomatoes are cooked but not falling apart.
4. Season to taste.

Optional Aoli Sauce to top the fish:
1. In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp of mayo, 1 squeeze of a lemon, 1 tbsp chopped parsley, 1/2 a lemon's zest, 1 minced garlic clove, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Sprinkle in paprika for color and smokiness.

Part of a Balanced Breakfast

Today is my last day before going back to teaching high school so me and my long-term summer fling went on a hike through Stinson Beach. For a seven mile, strenuous hike, you gotta have a filling breakfast. Not anything too greasy though or it'll slow you down. I woke up and remembered a breakfast that I had years ago at the Fenn lodge outside of Vancouver in Canada. Perfectly scrambled eggs (see the eggs post) served as a side dish to grainy, but moist apple pancakes. We stayed three nights and I went to bed each night with dreams of this combo dancing through my head.

There's no secret, just follow the directions on the package of Arrowhead Mills Buttermilk Pancake and Waffle Mix and just before cooking, mix in some grated Granny Smith apples (skins on). In Canada we marinated the cakes with real maple syrup of course, but I love Trader Joe's Organic Agave Maple Syrup. Protein, carbs, a little fat but not too much, sweet, salty.... the perfect fuel for an end of summer hurrah.

Blue Cheese Dip

This is just something I mix together when I have to bring something for a party. I usually have the ingredients lying around. Just grab a box of crackers to go with it and people just go nuts. Spinach dip is wonderful but nobody is surprised by it anymore. The same goes for jalepeno artichoke dip. If you're coming to my house I would love either of those additions but sometimes it's nice to have something different. This tangy, flavorfull dip could also go great with buffalo wings or tenders.

1/2 cup of mayo
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese (I recommend Maytag or Pt. Reyes Blue)
1 tsp black pepper
the juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 sliced green onions
a handfull of chopped parseley
1 crushed clove of garlic

Throw all of it into a food processor and you've got it. Add salt to taste.