Roasted Butternut Squash with sweet spices, lime and green chile

All things considered, butternut squash is pretty forgiving. You can do almost anything to the humble gourd and it'll stand up and take the flavors without blinking an eye. Over the years I've found thousands of ways to prepare butternut squash (baked, roasted, broiled, grilled, raw, braised...), but props must go once again to Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty for introducing me to yet another butternut squash flavor combination. Limes? Yogurt? Tahini? With squash? Lead on, Yotam.

The preparation of the butternut squash itself is pretty basic, thinly sliced and baked in the oven at high temperatures. What takes this dish into the realm of the unusual is the marinade of cardamom and allspice rubbed on the squash and then the interesting yogurt and tahini dressing the recipe calls for. Oh, and throw in some limes and chiles just for good measure.

But all dubious expectations aside, the dish not only looks pretty but eats pretty as well. Depending on your preferences for sauces, be cautious with the dressing. Although delicious, you don't want it to override the flavors of the lime and squash. That indeed would be a tragedy.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
2 limes
Sea salt
4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs)
2 tbsp cardamom pods (or ground cardamom)
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 1/2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp lime juice
1 green chile, thinly sliced
2/3 cup cilantro leaves

Method

Preheat oven to 400 F. Trim off the limes' tops and bases using a small sharp knife. Stand each lime on a chopping board and cut down the sides of the fruit, following its natural curves to remove the skin and white pith. Quarter the limes from top to bottom, and cut each quarter into thin slices, about 1/8 inch thick. Place them in a small bowl, sprinkle with a little salt, drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, stir and set aside. 

Next, cut the squash in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds and discard. Cut each half, top to bottom, into 1/4-inch thick slices and lay them out on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

If using the cardamom pods, place them in a mortar and pestle and work to get the seeds out of the pods. Discard the pods and work the seeds to a rough powder. Transfer to a small bowl, add the allspice and the remaining 3 tbsp of oi, stir well and brush this mixture over the butternut slices. Sprinkle over a little salt and place in the over for 15 minutes, or until tender when tested with the point of a knife.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Peel off the skin, or leave on if you prefer.

Meanwhile, whisk together the yogurt, tahini, lime juice, 2 tbsp of water, and a pinch of salt. The sauce should be thick but runny enough to pour, add more water if necessary.

To serve, arrange the cooled butternut slices on a serving platter and drizzle with yogurt sauce. Spoon over the lime slices and their juices and scatter the chile slices over the top. Garnish with the cilantro and serve.

Crisp Potato Cake (Galette de Pomme de Terre)

My household suffers from an abundance of potatoes. Thanks to the glorious veg box, we get a bag of "spuds" every week. Now, we try and get our starches in when we can, but we've simply gotten lamentably behind and now we have a pile of unused and unloved spuds piled high on our kitchen counter.

This called for immediate action.

Thus: the galette (courtesy of the NY Times). Which seems to be nothing more than France's answer to a plethora of potatoes. And in true French style: you slice them and arrange them prettily in a saucepan. Oh, and add heaps of butter.

Unsurprisingly then, this recipe was delicious and an amazingly easy way to use up potatoes quickly. And  how pretty! You get to invoke your hidden Michelin starred self and crow about the joys of neat spiralled spuds. And you get to pull out the old mandoline slicer and strive not to cut your fingers off with it. It's a win, win.

Ingredients

2 pounds (about 3 medium) potatoes, peeled and sliced very thinly
1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
Freshly ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt
Fresh thyme leaves for garnish (optional).

Method

1. Pat potatoes dry if very starchy or moist. In a sauté pan large enough to fit potato slices in just two layers, spread 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with nutmeg and pepper to taste. Starting in center, arrange potato slices in a closely overlapping, attractive spiral. When pan is filled, repeat to make a second layer.

2. Place pan over medium heat and cover. Slowly cook potatoes until well browned on underside, about 15 minutes, occasionally shaking pan gently to avoid sticking. Wipe inside of lid as needed to keep it dry.

3. Press potatoes down with a flat spatula and remove from heat. Place a larger platter over pan and flip it upside down, transferring potatoes to the platter. Check pan to make sure it is clean and has enough oil to keep potatoes from sticking.

4. Slide galette, raw side down, back into pan, and return to medium heat. Cover and cook until well browned, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a persillade by combining parsley and garlic in a small bowl. To serve, slide galette onto a serving platter, season to taste with salt, and garnish with persillade or thyme.

Yield: 4 servings.

Cranberry-Quince Chutney

Cranberry sauce. You can't have Thanksgiving without it. Although a (small) part of me holds a fond remembrance for the canned sauce (you know, the one that held the "can" shape), there is something true and good about making your own. And thankfully, unlike pumpkin, England embraces the cranberry (as they also feature cranberry sauce as part of their traditional Christmas meal) which makes it relatively easy to find in the markets around this time of year.

Along these lines though, I can't help but yield to the experimentalist when it comes to cranberry sauce. Every food website even marginally connected with the US right now features at least 10 recipes for varieties on the sauce. Thick, thin, spicy, sweet, you can find almost any ingredient or style you could imagine. After spending way too many hours on the internet scrolling through versions of the "world's best cranberry sauce", I ended up going with the recipe found in my ancient copy of the Thanksgiving 2009 issue of Food & Wine. This was perhaps the last physical copy of a recipe magazine I ever purchased, but it has proved its use for two years now and I can't fault it yet. Although I would never make a quince cranberry sauce in the US (good luck trying to find them in Arizona), England also seems to be busting out all over with the fruits currently, making tracking down ingredients a cinch. It did make an absolute vat-full of sauce however, so if you're NOT planning on feeding 30 people at your next Thanksgiving, you might want to think about halving the recipe.

Time: 1 hour

Makes: 6 cups

Ingredients
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 small onion, minced
2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 star anise pod
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
3 quinces (8 ounces each), peeled, cored, and finely diced
1 Granny Smith apple: peeled, cored, and finely diced
1 12-ounce bag fresh/frozen cranberries (or 340 grams)
1/2 cup golden raisins

Method
In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, allspice, and star anise and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the sugar, vinegar, and 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer. Add the quince, apple, cranberries, and raisins and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thick and jammy, about 25 minutes.

Discard the star anise. Serve the chutney warm or chilled.

Spicy Stir-Fried Japanese Eggplant and Cucumber

I admit it. Stir-fries can be boring. Oil. Vegetables. Some protein. Cook. My life as a college student was defined by this simple recipe. It was easy, fast, and relatively healthy. After about 1000 of these dinners, and after I had done all the permutations of veg + meat I could think of, I abandoned the stir-fry, thinking I had moved on to much grander, more sophisticated meals.

How silly. Stir fries can be amazing. You just have to think a little creatively. And you have to know how to manipulate your herbs and spices. But really, they can be just as complex and "grand" as anything else on offer.

This certainly goes for the eggplant and cucumber stir fry I discovered on the Recipes for Health column (obviously Martha Shulman made the same conclusion I did about these kinds of dishes). Now, cucumber may not be the most obvious vegetable for stir-fries, but it works beautifully. If cooked just long enough, it retains just a bit of a firm crunch, but soaks up flavors and spice beautifully. And eggplant? Well, anything that has it usually gets my thumbs-up. This was no different. After just a few minutes in the pan, it'll soften into that wonderful silky texture, absolutely more-ish.

This dish probably works best as a side; however, I turned mine into a main (and it probably could have benefited from some tofu or shrimp to bulk it out as such). Feel free to experiment with the flavors on this one; you can't go wrong with boosting the ginger or spice content.

Ingredients
2 long Japanese eggplants (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt
2 long English cucumbers (or the equivalent in weight of Japanese or Persian cucumbers)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (to taste)
3 tablespoons minced scallions or chives

Method
1. Trim off the ends of the eggplants. Cut in half lengthwise, then slice thin (about 1/4 inch). Lightly salt, and toss in a colander. Allow to sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. Squeeze out excess water, then dry between sheets of paper towel.

2. Meanwhile, trim off the ends of the cucumbers. Cut in half lengthwise, then slice on the diagonal into 1/4-inch thick slices.

3. Combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, salt and sesame oil in a small bowl. Place all of the ingredients near your wok or frying pan.

4. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch steel skillet over high heat until a drop of water evaporates within a second or two from the surface of the pan. Add the peanut or canola oil to the sides of the pan and tilt the pan to distribute. Add the eggplant. Stir-fry for three to four minutes until cooked through. Add the ginger and red pepper flakes, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the cucumbers and scallions or chives. Stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce mixture to the wok, and stir-fry one minute until the cucumber just begins to wilt. Remove from the heat and serve.

Yield: Serves four as a side dish.

Pan-Toasted Sweet Corn with Wilted Kale and Black Beans

I have no idea why this recipe is so tasty. No clue. I actually debated about making it, after looking at its ingredients. I thought, "Sure, it's healthy, but will it taste like anything?"

Oh. But it does.

Strangely enough, my mother used to make a version of this (based on a Rick Bayless recipe, may the Mexican gods forever shine upon him) with Mexican chorizo and my family used to gulp it down in buckets. No corn in that one, but the essential beans and kale stewed in a broth were the same. I had completely forgotten about the recipe (as Mexican chorizo is impossible to get here), but I recently made the discovery of the Whole Foods recipe section on its website, and it looked, well, like a good healthy side dish. But such a delicious one? Never in my dreams.

Seriously. You won't believe me until you make this. Make it. Try it. It's wonderful.

Serves 6

Ingredients 

Mmmm. Corn.

Kernels from 2 ears sweet corn (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 bag kale or swiss chard (if using chard, cut into medium pieces, separating the stems from the leaves)

1/3 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, plus more as needed

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red chile pepper

1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1/4 cup raw green pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1 green chile, sliced

Optional: Diced Spanish chorizo (1/2 cup's worth), Pasilla and/or Adobo Chiles

Method

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add corn kernels and cook, shaking the pan and stirring, until the kernels brown, about 5 minutes. Remove corn from the skillet and set aside.

Rinse the pan to remove any browned corn from the bottom. Return the skillet to medium heat and add broth, garlic and pepper flakes. Add chard stems (if using) and simmer until just tender, about 2 minutes. Add chard leaves (or kale) and stir until they begin to wilt and all fit in the skillet. Cover and cook until the kale/chard is very tender, about 5 minutes; add more broth a tablespoon at a time if it gets dry. Uncover the skillet and stir in beans, chorizo, chiles, vinegar and pumpkin seeds. Cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer the kale/chard mixture to a platter and sprinkle with the toasted corn.

Nutrition

Per serving: 150 calories (40 from fat), 4.5g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 140mg sodium, 22g total carbohydrate (6g dietary fiber, 2g sugar), 8g protein