Another way to use up that abundance of end-of-summer squash!

Summer Coconut (Squash?) Custard Pie

Trick your non-veggie loving family members into a healthy, veggie packed "dessert":)

Its quite simple, really.  I remember, several years ago, I may have still been in high school, maybe college, when my mom made this brightly colored yellow pie obviously made from coconut shreds and lemon custard, based on appearance AND flavor.  My dad has never, ever liked squash or zucchini.  He gets a sad look on his face at restaurants when they tell him the vegetable of the day that comes with the entree is sauteed squash and zucchini:( :( :( I usually ended up eating it.  

So, I will never forget the sly, innocent look on my mom's face as my dad and brother hungrily devoured every last crumb of this new dessert she had made one night on vacation called "Coconut Lemon Custard Pie".  I think she waited until next day when they were sitting on the beach to tell them that guess what, you ate squash last night and actually LIKED it, he he:)

 I'm bad.  Every time we get a bushel of fresh summer crookneck: or pattypan squash:   the first recipe that comes to mind is not some fresh, uber healthy, light roasted squash salad or side dish but this pie that my mom and now I have successfully used to feed Vitamin A and C, magnesium, fiber, folate, riboflavin, phosphorus, potassium, Vitamin B6, and manganese, to friends and family.  (Manganese is a mineral which helps the body process fats, carbohydrates, and glucose).  This tasty (I think) summer gourd contains virtually no fat or cholesterol.  A cup of summer squash provides about 135 micrograms of beta carotene and 2,400 micrograms of lutein, which helps prevent cataracts and macular degeneration.  Did you have any idea it was such a power-packed summer fruit? (yes, its technically a fruit because it contains the seeds of the plant).

Ok, on to the recipe.  It is ridiculously easy.

 Ingredients: 

3 eggs

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of super-softened, almost melted, coconut oil

3 tablespoons of flour or corn-starch (corn starch for gluten free)

2 teaspoons of real coconut extract 

2 teaspoons of real lemon extract

2 cups (ish) of grated summer yellow squash

1/2 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut

homemade or store bought pie shell

handful of pecan pieces or halves, optional

 

Directions:

 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, or in a bowl with a handheld mixture, beat the eggs

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes until very smooth

and squash and coconut are evenly incorporated into custard mixture.

4. Pour contents of bowl into prepared pie crust

5. Sprinkle with even more coconut shreds and chopped pecan pieces, if desired. 

6. Place carefully on a sheet pan (to catch any custard overflow while cooking) and gently place in center rack in oven

7. Bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on the temperature of your oven) until center of custard is set and not still liquidy (is that a word???) 

8. Remove and place on cooling rack to well, cool.  

 9.  LET COOL FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE before serving, you need the custard to set completely or it will be too runny and the pie won't hold its shape.  Then you can put in the fridge if its not to be eaten right away.  Keeps well in fridge for about 3 days.

Goes well with a glass of ice cold milk or almond milk:) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kkh

 Minty Cuke and Avocado Summer Soup

Feelin' a little guilty since I haven't blogged for a while, but I have been well, um, barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen a lot this summer!  And loving it!  I continue to love to use local, seasonal, basic and sometimes interesting ingredients to make yummy, nutritious, fun meals for my husband, friends, and family.  I figured I would post at least one recipe this season before my due date which is next Sunday....  

The beautiful diaper cake my talented, crafty mother made that goes along with our nursery theme "cabin in the woods"

Our future son's first books and corresponding stuffed animal:)

I found myself with a plethora of fresh cucumbers yesterday ( and summer squash, cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, and lettuce!) after my husband brought home a nice box of fresh produce from the local CSA to which his company subscribes,  Fry Family Farm.

I thought, YUM.  Then I thought, hmmm, thats a lot of cucumber tomato sandwiches....or.....a perfect start for something refreshing, cool, tangy, and a perfect accompaniment for the dish I had planned for tonight, Thai Garden Soba's With Mango, Eggplant, and Lime Cilantro Tofu (recipe to come later..., maybe tomorrow depending on how nice it is outside:) 

I thought about what other ingredients I had, then quickly threw them together in the Vitamix so I could get the soup chillin' like a villain in the fridge for a few hours before dinner time.

Mint and Cucumber, go together well in a Garden-like version of a Mojito, but since I won't be able to drink cocktails for a while, I decided they would go together just as well in a cooling summer side dish!

  

 RECIPE

Gluten Free

Ingredients:

2 large, firm (not floppy) cucmbers, peeled

2 large or 3 smaller ripe (but not overripe or brown) Organic Haas Avocados, peeled, pitted.

1-2 green onions, roots removed, green and white parts included, torn into pieces

Handful of fresh, crushed mint leaves 

3/4 cup of fat-free, plain yogurt

2-3 cloves of peeled garlic, smashed

dash or two (depending on how spicy you want it!) ground red pepper  

1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground sea salt

 1/2 cup of cold water

a few ice cubes

the juice from one small lemon

Directions:

Put all ingredients, in order, in a good strong blender or Vitamix, blend until very liquified, if too thick (more like a smoothie than soup) add a little more water (adjust seasonings as necessary) and blend a little longer.

The longer this stays in the fridge, the better the flavors will blend and the more apparent they will be on your palate when you take your first refreshing slurp...I recommend at least 4 hours and no more than 24 hours in the fridge.  

Re-blend immediately before pouring into chilled bowls. 

 

 
Can garnish with a few mint sprigs!  

Which I didn't do for the picture because we were hungry and in a hurry to eat....

Why is this soup soooo good for you?  

• It is rehydrating from the cucumber, water and salt content.  
• It contains healthy fats from the Avocado that help lower the risk of heart disease and decrease inflammation in conditions such as arthritis. 
• The red pepper is known in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine to also help reduce inflammation.
• The lean protein, calcium, and pro-biotic benefits of the yogurt help with muscle support, heart health, and digestive health.
• Cucumbers and avocado also provide a healthy dose of your daily fiber. 
• The fiber, protein, fat, and water make this a hearty, filling soup so you feel like you're actually getting a satisfying, satiating side dish (or main dish with a side of fresh bread or fruit salad) and not just drinking liquid sugar, like some soups. 

If you still have cucumbers left over, call up some friends and do the following:

 

 

 

 

 

Healthy Holiday Snacks for the Hungry Runner....Cheesy Paprika Pepita Party Mix and Tangelo Tomatillo Salsa

Cheesy Paprika Pepita Party Mix

And

Tangelo Tomatillo Salsa

Hello, happy holidays, I'm going to keep this one short and sweet since we all have tons of things to do like buy Christmas and/or Kwanza and/or Festivus and/or New Year's dinner and/or party groceries, clean the house before the arrival of guests, rinse off the dusty china, wrap presents, mail cards, get that work deadline in, prepare delicious food to nourish said guests at said dinner/party.....and go for a run in YakTraks in crunchy, slippery, icy roads and trails! 

These silly "shoe chains" as a friend so aptly described them, have saved my sanity over the past 2 weeks ever since we had a beautiful snow storm that at first coated our trails in a magical, Narnia like mystique that made for winter trail running bliss, but now have caused my "runs" to be more like post-holing, ice-axing, butt-sliding, snow-cone making expeditions.  (Ok, I exaggerate a wee bit, but these things really are amazing, haven't slipped, once, yet....) 

 I don't know if its the extra work of running/jogging slowly/trying not to fall to my death/shifting into 4-wheel drive, etc,  in the hardened ice and snow, or my evolutionary, hibernating response to the short, cold days, but I have been a little hungrier during the day.  Snow and clouds and frost make me want to eat more.  Also, its nice to snack on something while doing one of above said errands/chores, and its also nice to have healthy munchies to put out for visiting guests that are pleasing to the winter palate but do not make one feel, as my good friend said once after a series of holiday meals with her family " a bloated seal"....

Who knew!? Vitamin E is found in all of the following forms: in Pepitas: alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, alpha-tocomonoenol, and gamma-tocomonoenol.    There is some research that suggests that since Vitamin is available in these multiple forms in Pumpkin Seeds, the bioavailability (the percentage we actually absorb from eating them) may be greater than foods with just one or two forms.  Vitamin E is a strong antioxidant (be careful not to take too much in the form of supplements since it is a fat soluable vitamin).  Pumpkin seeds are also high in Manganese, the "feel good" tryptophan, magnesium, and zinc.

After coming home from work on Monday I was craving something salty and spicy and crunchy, and I was saddened to see that we had no popcorn, not even the whole kernel, cook on the stove type.  We had probably abolished the white, fluffy stuff in my crazed-carb-clean-out blitz when we moved and I got rid of all bread, white rice, crackers, popcorn....sigh, hindsight is 20/20...   but, I did have a ton of fresh dried Pepitas, or pumkin seeds, nuts, and some cheese powder, salt, and spices, and olive oil...and I was getting a very yummy idea!  Here it is.  It was super easy to make and my eyes were definitely bigger than my tummy so I have plenty of leftovers for when family comes to visit next week to munch on while we are playing silly Apples to Apples or watching the Christmas Story Marathon.:)

Cheesy Paprika Pepita Party Mix

(warning: this recipe is absurdly easy and fast, so if you have hours and hours of idle time on your hands and want to create something much more involved and intricate and time-consuming, this recipe may not be for you) 

Ingredients:

Two Iterations:

Bold =  more savory, European herb flavor

Italics= more Indian/Tropical flavor

1 cup of dried raw pumpkin-seeds (pepitas)

1/8 cup of pine nuts or choped macadamia nuts

1/8 cup of raw, shelled pistachios or coursely chopped dried pineapple or mango

2 tsp of either  garlic infused Olive Oil* or melted Coconut Oil  *If you don't have garlic infused Olive Oil, just press a few cloves of garlic into a small bowl, pour the 2 tsp of oil over, and let sit while you're making the spice mixture then strain the oil over the pepitas after they are toasted)

1/4 tsp of regular white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar

Spice Mix:

1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste or if you just did a long training run, ride, or ski)

2 tsp of cheddar cheese powder* (if you have a box of Kraft or generic mac and cheese, you can use cheese powder from one of the packets that come in the box, but the real stuff is better) *can get in a local spice shop or bulk section at your grocery store.

1 tsp of sweet smoked paprika or hot smoked paprika

pinch of fresh or ground marjoram

pinch of fresh or ground chives or coriander

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp of sugar

Directions:

1. Spread pepitas in a single layer on a toaster-oven tray and toast for 3-5 minutes, until you hear a few of the seeds popping.  Check after starts popping to make sure no seeds are scorched.  Alternatively, spread in even layer on a dry saute pan over medium heat and, toast for about 3-5 minutes, gently stirring the whole time.

2. Pour (be careful not to burn your self!) toasted pepitas while still warm into medium sized serving bowl, immediately pour the oil over and toss to coat.  Then pour the vinegar over and toss to coat.

3. Mix salt and all spices together in a small bowl until evenly combined, then sprinkle evenly over pepitas and toss to coat thoroughly.  

4. Add nuts ( and dried fruit, if applicable) and toss to coat even more.

Serve, munching until your heart's content.  Goes very well (either version, savory or tropical) with Barley-Wine from your local brewery:)  Make sure you are in for the night, this is strong stuff (the beer is strong, too;)

If, like me, you love the chocolate/spice combination, and a steamy cup of cocoa sounds more appealing than a frosty adult beverage, this party mix goes well with hot chocolate, too!

 Tangelo Tomatillo Salsa

This appetizer/dip was another invention that came from the mother of necessity (doesn't sound the same when you say it that way....hmmmm....).  I was making Butternut Mole Enchiladas with Vegetarian Refried Black Beans and Queso Fresco ( be on the lookout for that post, soon to come!) and needed something green and tangy to complement the deep, earthy flavors of the mole enchiladas.  I wanted to make Tomatillo Salsa but only had two tomatillos leftover from when I had made black bean oatmeal burgers a few days ago and definitely was not going back out to the store, so I spun my head around my kitchen, spying for something, anything that I could use to substitute or use to make my salsa, and I spied a pile of tangelos I had bought for healthy snacking last week...that I had forgotten about since they were buried beneath avocados and limes and lemons and pears in my fruit bowl.  Here follows the new, improved salsa which I literally made on the fly.  

My good friend was over for dinner that night and she made me promise I would put this simple, yummy green salsa recipe on my blog.  It goes well with SO many different things...tacos, veggie burgers, real burgers, black beans, grilled Mahi Mahi, butternut mole enchiladas....Its a nice, cool condiment to put on or next to a warm, steaming main dish.

Ingredients:

2 medium to large Tomatillos, paper skins removed and fruit rinsed.

2/3 cup of cilantro leaves, rinsed (no need to chop, your food processor will do that!)

2-4 cloves garlic (more or less per your preference)

1-2 jalapenos, stemmed, de-seeded, and coursely chopped

2 medium or 4 small tangelos, peeled (if seeds, remove first) 

1 tsp ground cumin

juice of one lime

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Toast whole tomatillos on dry skillet over medium high heat, moving around pan every few minutes with a spoon, until browned in several spots, remove from heat.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients to food processor, when tomatillos have cooled enough to touch, add to food processor.  Pulse several times until chunky but still "salsafied":)

Tomatillos serve up a good punch of flavor, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Lycopene, Potassium, Flavonoids and Folate

3. Put in serving bowl, put in fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes, then serve as a hearty, healthy, low calorie dip with chips, crudites, or use as a garnish as described above.

 

 

 

 

The day after the big storm, we skied from our house up to the trails in the National Forest, first to set out on these untouched trails of pristine, fresh powder