Warming Winter Roasted Kabocha Squash

This is a fabulous dish which I found in my Food & Wine Magazine. The combination of warming spices and kabocha squash with the peel on caught my eye at first. I mean, who doesn't love cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg!? And eating the squash with the peel brings me back to Japan where this was common with tempura or pumpkin dishes and I loved it! Then they added coconut milk to the mix, and HELLO.....I am going to make you for dinner and eat you all up!

Warming Winter Roasted Kabocha Squash

1 can coconut milk

1/4 C light brown sugar

8 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1 fresh hot red chile, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly ground cloves

3/4 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

1 medium kabocha squash, cleaned, seeded and cut into 2" chunks

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine coconut milk, brown sugar, garlic, chiles and spices and mix well. Add squash chunks and stir until well coated.

Pour into a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover pan with foil and roast for 45 minutes in oven until tender. Remove foil and up the heat in your oven to 400. Place back in the oven for about 15 minutes. The squash should be starting to form a nice glaze at this point. Check and it may be done, or if you desire more brownness, give it a stir and an additional 15 minutes. Devour and enjoy! ;o)

Remembering Roots at Pilgrims Place & Raw Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing

At long last, back to my beloved blog after a nice long hiatus. I am one of those people that just kind of checks-out when I am traveling. I admit it. I don't keep my phone on hand.....am bad about returning phone calls.....don't like to check e-mail often.....forget about the bills that need to be paid.....yes, I really just check-out! I guess it can be a nice thing for the mind; to be able to detach once in a while....just so long as it doesn't get you into trouble!

During my hiatus, I had a chance to get out to Colorado to visit the folks, see my beautiful sister and her new town home (absolutely adorable!), and also meet my best friend's new poodle (also adorable)!

[Dad&Mom, Sees&Mom; KK Holiday(B.F.), Harvey boy (standard poodle pup) & Annie (toy poodle); Seester at her new town home; Harvey boy]

One of the pleasure's of Colorado this time of year is the coolness of the air, the leaves on the cusp of changing color, and the harvest. My Dad's harvest that is. Growing up on the plains of north Denver, we had dirt roads, some acreage, farm animals and last but not least, we had a GIANT garden! I guess you could say it was a bit of an alternative lifestyle. I remember the days of harvesting more corn than I think we could eat in a year! My Dad has always gotten pleasure out of growing a variety of vegetables, and I got the pleasure of eating them. : 0 ) I would love to say I have inherited his gardening skills, but I think my thumb has a bit more of a brown hugh than green! But I am still at it...

[From Dad's Garden: okra, lucinato kale (aka dinosaur kale), cabbage and shallots...for...days...!]

As for the farm animals, we never had horses or cows like most of our neighbors. No, Instead we had a little 'hobby farm' full of miniature pygmy goats, sheep, chickens, geese, Guinea hens, rabbits, a llama, a parrot and a peacock. I was kind of like a petting zoo and my mother (being the animal-lover she is) was the circus ring-leader. A lot of fun times were spent at the place we affectionately call "Pilgrims Place."

me bottle-feeding Diasy (a nubian goat)

me, Abner (a toggenburg goat) & Sees

me & 2 week old pygmy goat Oreo

Sees & I in the tree house with Lucy (toy poodle)

Now that me n' sees have grown up and moved out, the farm animals have gone, but the garden still prevails as strong as ever.

A highlight of my hiatus was getting some great shots of the beautiful veggies, planning recipes and cooking using the abundance of produce, enjoying an afternoon with my favorite people....and remembering my roots at Pilgrims Place:

from top to bottom: Dad w/ pepper plants; shiso leaf; basket of veggies; Mom with a kohlrabi; BF Katie, Sees & I; lucinato kale; me & Harvey; corn; Dad w/ a kabocha squash; beets, carrots, red onions & herbs; more peppers; varietals of garlic; Harvey; heirloom watermelon; Dad w/ his watermelon]

And to finish off my well-winded story, I will include one my favorite salads of all times! Here is a Raw Beet & Kale Salad, which I loved making with my 100% of my Dad's veggies and herbs.

Raw Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing

1 bunch kale, thinly sliced (lucinato kale pictured)

1 red or golden beet, peeled and shredded

2-3 carrots, peeled and shredded

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 bunch green onions, diced

1/4 cup raw hempseeds

Tahini Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. nama shoyu (or soy sauce)

2 Tbsp. tahini

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh oregano or thyme (or both!)

1 tsp summer savory (if available)

1 tsp fresh basil

Place the prepped vegetables and hempseeds in a bowl. In a blender, blend the oil, vinegar, nama shoyu, tahini, garlic, oregano, basil and thyme until smooth. Pour over vegetables and mix well to coat.

Nutritional Nugget: Kale is a nutritional standout in three basic areas: (1) antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients, (2) much-needed macronutrients (in which the average U.S. adult is currently deficient), and (3) cancer-preventive nutrients called glucosinolates. Also worth noting in kale's nutritional profile is its vitamin K content. Kale contains nearly twice the amount of vitamin K as most of its fellow cruciferous vegetables. [source:whfoods.com]