Saint Squash

Another imported recipe. By the will of fates I ended up with a bunch of swiss chard and a squash, in need for quick-and-easy. The original recipes are modified according to what was at hand, and thus the report is on the modifications, with links to originals:

Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash

- 1 medium size squash, cut into 1" cubes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large garlic cloves
- thyme

The works:
- peel and cube squash (by far the hardest step, unless I just haven't nailed the peeling technique yet)
- place in a large bowl, add everything else, toss to coat
- place on a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 400F stirring occasionally, until desired tenderness. The time varies from oven to oven, but something around 20-25 minutes.


Colcannon
Whatever that means, it's tasty.

- 4 cups potatoes cut into 1" cubes
- 4 cups swiss chard
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3 shallots (what are they called, arrows, shoots?)
- thyme, salt, pepper

The works:
- boil potatoes until they can be pierced with a fork, but not falling apart, drain
- heat oil on medium heat in a large pot, add garlic, soy sauce and swiss chard and cook until chard wilts
- add drained potatoes and mash them
- add everything else and mix well

Resulting dish, with an à côté of the above-mentioned roasted squash, canned pinto beans in tomato sauce and sour cream (I'm not vegan, I'm allowed ;p):

Also there was an entrée of roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar, but I ate it prior to remembering to take pictures, but here's the recipe:

- bunch of asparagus, with stems broken in half (use the upper part)
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar

The works:
- place asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet
- sprinkle with olive oil to coat more or less evenly
- roast at 400F for about 20 minutes tossing occasionally (the stems should be lightly browned)
- put on a plate and put a dash of balsamic vinegar on it

Where Wild Things Are Cooked

Today's recipe is a share, a result of a little research for something else than hummus to do with chickpeas; the finding is too good and easy to keep to myself, despite being slightly overcooked:

My only addition was the lemon juice sprinkled on the chickpeas right before eating.

I had to improvise with spices, since I didn't have sambar powder and cumin seeds. Therefore my version had
- ground cumin
- chili powder
- cajun spice
- salt and pepper
Ok, it probably tastes nothing like the original, but nonetheless good. Go come up with your own mix!

The other recipe today is an improvised mushroom sauce to top the rice and veggies.

The mushrooms here are honey agaric, hand picked and home dried (disclaimer: if you never picked mushrooms, don't try going to a nearby forest and harvesting - you can get poisoned and die, or get high, or bears will eat you, etc., so stay safe!) This recipe will probably work with any other mushroom just as well, although using dry mushrooms has an indisputable bonus - they need to be pre-soaked, which means you are producing 4 cups of excellent mushroom broth as a by-product. I used 3 cups to cook the rice in, and the remaining cup for the sauce (albeit the sauce could have taken 3 cups at least, the version below).

Wild Mushroom Sauce:
- 2 cups dry mushrooms, rehydrated (soaked for a couple of hours)
- 1 medium onion, sliced into 1/2" pieces
- 3 cups broth or water
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium carrot
- 5-6 cloves, thyme, salt, pepper, khmeli-suneli (good luck finding that mix, but oh so worth it!)
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- preheat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat
- saute onions and mushrooms until the former is soft and translucent
- transfer onions and mushrooms out of the pan, and make a roux: heat another 1 or 2 tbsp of olive oil, add flour until thick paste forms, cook while stirring frequently for a minute or two)
- add broth, by 1/2 cup portions, mixing and making sure there is no clumps of flour
- add mushrooms, onions, carrot, garlic and spices, cook uncovered until the sauce reduced to the desired thickness, about 15 minutes. If it's too thick, add water as needed.