Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Ahh Pinterest, you've inspired me again. I was so set on making this, that I went to three different stores to find spaghetti squash. Even at the third store the only ones I found were pretty tiny, so I used two small ones. I hope this doesn't mean that it's done for the season! Winter squash may be one of the only good things about the cold weather. I deviated from the original recipe by eliminating cheese and using what I had on hand, so the ingredients are pretty flexible. 

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Serves 2 as an entree, or 4 as a side

The cooked squash.

• 2 small spaghetti squash (or 1 large one, but only if you're making an entree for two people)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloved, minced
• Loose handful of fresh spinach
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup of cilantro.
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400º.
2. Roast the squash: Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Cook until easily pierced with a fork, 30 minutes for small squash and up to an hour for large squash.
3. In a skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil.
4. Throw in the spinach, and saute until the leaves begin to wilt. 
5. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cilantro and cook until everything is warm, about 15 minutes.
6. Add the cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. When the spaghetti squash is cool enough to handle, scrape out about half the flesh with a fork to create "spaghetti". 
8. Add the scraped spaghetti to the skillet, and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
9. Spoon the contents of the skillet into the cavities in the squash.
10. Serve immediately. 

St. Patrick's Smoothie

What can I say, I'm in the holiday spirit. I adapted this recipe from one I found somewhere online. Probably Pinterest. This smoothie tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream, but it's much much healthier. I kept the ingredients the same, I just changed the amounts to suit my taste. After making this smoothie, I think I need to add mint to my garden!

St. Patrick's Day Smoothie

Serves 2

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 loose handful of spinach
• 2 small bananas
• 1/4 cup mint
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. chopped chocolate
• 2 cups ice

1. Blend everything except the chocolate until smooth. 
2. Add the chocolate and blend for a few more seconds, or until the chocolate has been finely chopped and incorporated.

Crock Pot Chili

This recipe is one of my favorites for several reasons. First, it's a filling, hearty, vegan meal. The ingredients are very basic and the prepping is minimal. It makes so many leftovers that I usually end up freezing a Pyrex container full to thaw when I'm sick and have no interest in cooking. Best of all, it's made in the crock pot. I love having the sense that dinner is "done" when it's not even noon yet.

I made the chili this weekend when Andrew and I had friends over. The kitchen turned into a disaster area pretty quickly. Andrew was brewing two batches of beer and I was teaching Yvonne how to make blue moon orange cupcakes. After an hour or so it was hard to believe there was countertops and a table underneath all the mess, so I was especially relieved that dinner was already made and the crock pot was already cooking.

The ingredients of this chili change every time I make it. It's a versatile recipe, so I basically use what I have available. This particular batch came out great, probably the best it's ever been, so I better write this down before I forget. Andrew agrees, he said this was the most "amazing" it's ever tasted. Derek said it tasted just like the one he makes, which has meat, and Yvonne said she didn't even notice that meat was missing. I guess this is a good recipe to make for meat lovers and animal lovers alike.

Crock Pot Chili

Serves at least 8

• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 medium sized yellow onions, diced
• 4 garlic cloves
• 10 oz. frozen spinach
• 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 2 yellow squash, diced
• 30 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2 6 oz. cans of tomato paste
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 6 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. oregano
• 1 Tbsp. parsley
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Saute the oil, peppers, onions and garlic in a pan until the peppers start to soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the spinach and saute until mostly thawed, just another 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add to the crock pot along with the rest of the ingredients. 
4. Cook on a low setting for a minimum of 4 to 5 hours.

If you plan on serving this to kids who don't like or can't handle "spicy", mix everything in the crock pot except the chili powder and cumin. Transfer some to a pot and cook slowly on the stove top. Add the chili powder and cumin to the crock pot and continue cooking. This isn't very spicy to begin with, but my toddler cried for about an hour after he ate it the first time he tried it. I felt so terrible!

Sticking with a southwestern theme for the day, I also made guacamole. I came to love the stuff in college when my mom always sent me back to school with a batch after coming home for the weekend. In a college dorm it was pretty hard to come by fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, etc.. so I improvised and used salsa. Some people, especially you die hard guac fans, would think this is cheating, but it works. It's my go-to recipe for a quick easy snack or for last minute company. 

Easy Peasy Quacamole

Serves 4

• 2 avocados
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp. salsa

1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed. 
2. Scrape out the flesh into a bowl.
3. Add the lime juice and mash to the desired consistency using a potato masher or a fork.
4. Stir in the salsa.
5. Serve with tortilla chips.

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach "Cream" Sauce

I can't believe how beautiful it is today! It's hard to believe it's the first day of February when it feels more like April. I took Logan to the park so he can run wild while I update my blog. It's hard to focus when he's being this cute though!

My little tree hugger

I've been digging through raw food blogs for some recipe inspiration, and came across something called nut cheese. Basically it's a mixture of nuts and other ingredients to make a food with a cheesy texture. A lot of these recipes contain raw cashews, which I was having trouble finding- until yesterday. I went to the grocery store promising to only buy fresh produce since Andrew and I are still on our 2 week grocery strike of non produce items. The cashews were right there in the produce section. I couldn't help myself.

Last night was my first experience with nut cheese. I made spaghetti squash with a creamy spinach sauce. The cashews gave the sauce it's creamy texture. The original recipe, which I got from The Sunny Raw Kitchen, was a little bland for my taste. This could have been because I used frozen spinach instead of fresh. Next time I'll definitely use fresh, but I wanted to use up what I already had, and that was frozen. To make up for the blandness I added some onion and doubled the amount of spices. It came out pretty good, and tastes great with the spaghetti squash. I'd say my first nut cheese experience was a success!

To make this dish, start by roasting the squash. Cut in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Roast in the oven at 400º for about an hour, or until easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and flip the squash over. Scrape a fork along the inside to create "spaghetti". This is a very versatile squash. It can be eaten hot or cold, and you can top it with just about anything you would put on top of regular spaghetti, it's even good with brown sugar if you're looking for a sweet fix.

Creamy Spinach Sauce

• 1/2 cup of cashews
• 1/4 cup of water
• 4 cups of spinach
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. of safflower oil (or whatever type of oil you have on hand)
• 2 Tbsp. of finely chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. of thyme

    1. Blend the cashews and water until a cream forms. It should look like this:

     2. Add the rest of the ingredients until smooth and creamy.

I also made a whole wheat loaf to go with the meal. To make this, just follow the recipe for whole wheat burger buns through step 5. Once the dough has doubled, punch down and knead for a couple more minutes. Form the dough into a loaf shape. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled again, about 30 minutes. If you're having trouble making the dough rise, place it on the stove towards the back and preheat your oven. Dough needs warm temperatures to rise. Brush the top of the loaf with a mixture of 1/2 Tbsp of water and 1/2 Tbsp of almond milk. Top with sesame seeds if desired. Bake for 20 minutes in a 400º oven.

We ate this bread dipped in a peach balsamic vinegar that I bought from a vendor at the organic Garden of Eve's Garlic Festival. If you're in the Long Island area in September I highly recommend checking out this festival. Last year I bought the most delicious sicilian garlic and made a vegan roasted garlic soup. It's on my to-do list to make again soon, so stay tuned for that post!

Spinach and Chick Peas

I came across this recipe while browsing through the vegan link of the Big Girls Small Kitchen website. It's a great site by the way, and I'll definitely be getting more ideas from them. The recipe detailed a few steps that I didn't have time for, so I changed the cooking method and a couple ingredients to make it my own. Prep time was less than 10 minutes, and it was super easy. It was delicious, too! The entire dish was gone by the time the three of us finished dinner. Logan probably ate as much as Andrew and I did. He couldn't get enough of the chick peas! The only thing I would do differently is add more spices next time to boost the flavor, but this will definitely become a regular in our house. It's perfect if you're looking for a quick, light meal. The original recipe calls it a stew. The liquid in this version never thickened enough for me to consider it a stew, but that could be because I skipped the oven step. When serving I just scooped everything out, leaving the small amount of liquid behind.

Spinach and Chick Peas

Serves 3-4

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 large onion
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 bunch of baby spinach
• 1 15 oz. can of chick peas, drained
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. ground cumin

Heat the oil in a large skillet with a lid and cook the onions until translucent.

Add the water and spinach, and cook until the spinach begins to wilt.

Add the chick peas, tomatoes, salt, paprika and cumin. Stir until combined.

Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.

Serve warm.