Fan Favorite Oldie But Goodie

The photos don't do this dish justice...at all. Trust me when I say that this recipe will become one of your favorites, just like it's a favorite of others stopping by this blog.

I first posted about this casserole in the spring of 2009. A lot of life has happened since then, but the recipe has been a continually searched one over the years. I first made it even longer ago than 2009, maybe even before my kids were born. It's from a delightful and unusual cookbook called the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. Unusual because the recipes were written by hand and the illustrations were done by hand...no photographs, no type to speak of, just warm and welcoming recipes with lots of them vegetarian, many of them celebrating cultures other than U.S.A. cultures, and ones that became favorites, like this one. Delightful because you will likely keep finding another recipe you want to try as you make your way through the book. It was first published in 1977. If you don't find it at Powell's Books (a Portland, Oregon bookstore that has a lot of used books of all kinds), then check Amazon or your local library, used book store, etc. It's a great cookbook to have on your shelf.

This recipe, Spinach-Rice Casserole, has brown rice with it's nutty flavor, spinach, cheddar cheese, eggs and milk, and some seasonings. Don't skip the sunflower seeds on top...they not only taste great and add texture, but their fragrance mingles with the other ingredients to make your kitchen smell cozy and welcoming. Perhaps the best part is that you will likely have leftovers...and they are even better than the first night. I just returned from four days in Phoenix, visiting family, and Sweetie ate leftover Spinach-Rice Casserole the first two nights I was gone. I think he would have eaten it the next two nights, but it was all gone.

Cook the brown rice first because brown rice takes a little longer than white rice. While it's cooking you chop the onion and mince the garlic and grate the cheese. I use frozen spinach that is already chopped...it just needs thawing and then squeezing the thawed spinach to get out the excess liquid. Eggs get whisked, milk added, and parsley chopped. Then you sauté the onion and garlic, add almost all of the rest of the ingredients and stir them together, add the rice and combine everything so that it can be turned out into a buttered casserole dish. After a sprinkle of both sunflower seeds and paprika, the casserole gets covered, baked, uncovered, baked some more, than cooled just enough that it doesn't burn your mouth. Feast on a soft and gloriously flavored casserole with a bit of crunch from the sunflowers. You'll be glad you took the time to bake this dish. So will friends and/or family because this make a good sized casserole (about 9 x 13-inches) that can feed quite a few lucky folks.

Spinach-Rice Casserole, based on a recipe from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, 1977

2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt (More, to taste)
3 tablespoons butter (I used 2 tablespoons olive oil)
2 lbs. raw, chopped spinach or, as I did, use 1 package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
4 cups cooked brown rice
4 beaten eggs 
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons tamari (optional)
a few dashes each - nutmeg, cayenne
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
paprika

Saute' onions and garlic with the salt in butter (or oil). When onions are soft, add spinach. Cook 2 minutes. (Alternately, thaw and drain a 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach. Add to onion mixture, but don't cook any further.)
Combine the onion mixture with the brown rice, eggs, milk, cheese, parsley, tamari, nutmeg, cayenne. Spread into buttered casserole and sprinkle sunflower seeds and then paprika on top.
Bake, covered, 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

Serves 4 - 6

Butternut Squash For Fall - Zucchini For Summer

By now we have usually taken in our front porch wicker furniture because of rain, but this year we continue to have weather more like June than October...including some fog, which I love. No rain.

This recipe reflects the two seasons in a way. I'm just beginning my use of winter squash...in this case butternut and have almost finished using the zucchini from my garden because we are not getting very much any more and mostly little ones at that. This recipe has both, plus some mushrooms and two kinds of rice, plus pecans and orange juice and zest. What ties it together is olive oil and balsamic vinegar, plus a bit of maple syrup on the roast veggies.

I saw a recipe on my phone for something similar to this a week or so ago, but couldn't find it when it was time to make this dish, so I sort of put things together that sounded right in proportions that seemed right and it worked out pretty well. Sweetie raved and had two servings.

 Although I often peel, de-seed and cut up fresh butternut squash, today I used a container from the grocery store that had already prepared chunks in it. I did cut a few of the larger chunks in half, but other wise just threw them into the mixing bag. The zucchini were small so I used two, cutting off the ends and cutting them in half, then slicing them. The mushrooms were already cleaned and sliced. You can use any kind of mushroom you like...these are plain white ones but cremini or one of the fancy ones would be delicious, too.

Do use a fresh orange for this. The zest and fresh juice are a background note, but make a big difference and that won't happen without the fresh oils in the zest and the unmistakable taste of fresh OJ.

I used a rice cooker for the rice but just prepare it in your favorite way. You can skip the wild rice if you want this to be less costly and it will still take great, but the wild rice really adds to the taste. This would make a great stuffing for duck if the butternut squash were chopped in smaller cubes. The flavors would be excellent with duck...or turkey. We had it with grilled chicken thighs and it was lovely.

Need to prep ahead? You can roast the veggie mixture in advance, keep in fridge, then warm in the microwave before mixing into the rice mixture. Both kinds of rice can be made ahead and rewarmed with about a teaspoon of water in the microwave with waxed paper over the container to keep the moisture in. Do mix up the 'dressing' at the time you are going to serve because fresh orange juice will taste fresher that way...and it matters. Pecans can be toasted ahead and kept in a airtight container.

Two Kinds of Rice with Butternut Squash and Maple
Serves 4-6

3-4 cups butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and cut into cubes of about an inch
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dry thyme
1/8 teaspoon (or more if you like it spicier) cayenne pepper, ground
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
2 small or 1 medium-large zucchini, ends trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced in1/4-inch thick slices
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup toasted pecans, broken in large pieces
1 tablespoon parsley, minced

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Place the butternut squash, olive oil, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, thyme, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, and orange zest into a large plastic bag (I use a clean produce bag) and shake vigorously to coat the squash in the other ingredients. Line a sheet pan with heavy duty foil and spray with spray oil (I used spray olive oil). Pour the squash mixture onto the prepared sheet pan. Let as much of the mixture as you can drip from the bag. Use the outside of the bag to pat the squash into a single layer, with the cubes separated from each other. Roast in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Add the sliced mushrooms and sliced zucchini to the sheet pan and use tongs or a wooden spatula to carefully mix them into the squash mixture while also turning the squash to another side. Try not to tear the foil since the coating mixture is sticky and could burn if it leaks underneath. Make sure that the mushrooms and zucchini are laying on a flat side on the surface of the sheet pan foil, then return the pan to the oven and roast another 10-15 minutes, or until butternut squash is tender.

While the squash is roasting, in a small bowl mix together the chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

In a large bowl place the two kinds of rice, warmed, the roasted veggies and any sauce, and the fresh orange juice dressing. Gently stir to combine. Add the toasted pecans and the minced parsley and gently stir to combine. Serve at once for warm dish, or serve at room temperature later.

Mushrooms and Rice and Bacon, Oh My

Not sure why, but yesterday I wanted mushrooms with my dinner. We had about 6 oz. of whole crimini mushrooms in the fridge so I just needed to decide what to make. Sweetie didn't have any preferences when I asked him, so I went with a rice dish. There wasn't a recipe for this and I didn't measure some of the ingredients, so I'll write up a recipe as best I can to keep it for the next time and to share it with you.This is a wonderful side dish with nutty flavors and delightful savory notes. If you like mushrooms, you'll love this dish!

The first thing I did was to chop some yellow onion and saute it in olive oil. Then I added the sliced mushrooms and cooked those together with some dried thyme and a little water. It smelled wonderful!

After that I decided that I wanted both bacon and pecans with the rice mixture, but first I started some brown rice mixed with chicken broth in the rice cooker and some wild rice and water in a pot on the stove.

While the rice cooked, I rendered the bacon enough so that it would crumble when it was cooled, poured off almost all of the bacon grease, then toasted the pecans in the pan I cooked the bacon in.

For timing, the wild rice was the key since it takes a little longer to cook than the brown rice. Once the wild rice was done I drained it and added it and the cooked brown rice to the mushroom mixture, along with the crumbled bacon and toasted, chopped pecans. After a quick stir and a minute on low heat to make sure everything was warm, I served it up. It was really delicious. The rice had a little chew, the nuts added crunch, the bacon and caramelized onions perked up the flavor and it all went really, really well with the mushrooms. This is a dish worth making again, and soon.

Mushroom Rice with Bacon and Pecans
Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
6 oz. small crimini mushrooms, cleaned, dried and sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup brown rice, rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup wild rice, rinsed
2 cups water
1-2 strips bacon
1/2 cup pecans

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-hot heat. Saute' the onions in the hot oil for 1/2 minute, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring often, until onions become dark golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the thyme and the water, stir, cover and let cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When time is up, turn off the heat and set aside.

While mushrooms are cooking, put the brown rice into a medium heavy bottomed pot or rice cooker and add the broth. Cover and cook over medium to low heat (mixture should simmer) until rice is cooked and tender. Set aside.

While mushrooms and brown rice are cooking, put the wild rice into a medium heavy bottomed pot or rice cooker and add the water. Cover and cook over medium to low heat (mixture should simmer) until rice is cooked and tender. Drain. Set aside.

The brown rice will take 20 - 30 minutes and the wild rice closer to 45 minutes.

While rice is cooking, in a small frying pan, cook the bacon until it is crisp enough to crumble when cool. Let cool on a paper towel, then crumble. Discard the extra bacon grease in the pan, but don't wipe it. OK to have a little bit of grease left in the pan.

In the pan the bacon was cooked in toast the pecans for 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring and turning them over as needed to keep them from burning. Set aside to cool, then chop the nuts.

Once all the rice is cooked, reheat the mushroom mixture over medium heat for about a minute, then add the two kinds of rice, the crumbled bacon and the chopped pecans. Stir well to combine, heat another minute over medium-low heat, covered, then serve while hot.

A Potluck Dish I Love

In just a little over a week I'll be off to my Mom's on the East Coast to help celebrate a significant birthday of hers. It's very exciting because all of my siblings will be there as well as some of the spouses and kids and grandkids. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all, and to seeing Mom's sisters and their extended families. I think the last time we had so many of us together was ten years ago for another birthday. Since we are scattered all over the country, it might be years before we gather again.

One of the things planned is a potluck picnic by the Potomac river on Sunday. I'll be making a wild rice/brown rice and baby carrots casserole with herbs to bring. I made it many years ago for one of the Derby Day pot lucks and tried it out for dinner last week. It went really quickly at the Derby Day potluck and Charlie gave it his stamp of approval, too, last week. It’s easy to fix, delicious, and vegan if made with vegetable broth, but mostly I’m making it because I like to eat it.

I'm starting with a rice mixture sold in a box because it is designed to have the different rices cooked together. I'll skip the seasoning packet (with usually has way too much sodium) and instead add some onion and celery, Italian parsley and thyme, a touch of orange juice, plus a bit of salt and lots of pepper. I looked at some recipes online, but didn't find anything where the rice and carrots cook at the same time. I know when I made it years ago I cooked the wild rice separately and then mixed it in once the other rice was cooked, but the packaged mixture didn't need that. It's pretty simple actually: Onions sautéed in a little olive oil, rice mixture stirred in, carrots cut into chunks stirred in, herbs and orange juice stirred in, S&P over all, then the broth. I brought it all to a boil, reduced the heat to simmer, then covered it and let it cook until the rice was cooked. By that time the carrots were perfectly cooked, too with just a bit of bite still to them. I like it warm, but it would probably taste fine cold. It was even delicious a day later, maybe even better. Dishes with cooked onions often taste better then next day.

May is usually filled with lots of occasions for gathering together of family and friends, so you may want to bookmark this for a quick dish to bring or serve at your party.

Wild and Brown Rice with Carrots and Herbs

1/2 medium to large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil or grapeseed oil
1 package wild and brown rice mix (discard the seasoning packet)
1 1/2 cups baby carrots or larger carrots cut into approximately 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
the juice of 1/2 a medium orange
salt and pepper to taste
1 can broth, either chicken or vegetable

In a wide, flat skillet or pan with a lid, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the wild and brown rice, the carrots, the parsley, the thyme and the orange juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the mixture the broth.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, then cover and let cook until rice is cooked and most of liquid is evaporated, about 25 - 30 minutes. If desired you can remove the lid, increase the heat, and let more of the liquid evaporate for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the rice mixture from scorching.

Serve warm or at room temperature. If made with chicken broth, keep chilled once mixture has cooled.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Salmon for Lunch

Our local market had wild salmon at a very good price this week. I do love salmon and enjoyed some for dinner, but the piece was too large for one meal, so I found a way to use up the leftovers at lunchtime yesterday.

This is one of those recipes that don't really have precise amounts, especially since I was using up leftover rice, too. Amounts given are close to what I used. I decided to reheat the rice and add the parsley, tomato, and lemon juice so that all were not only warm, but mixed, when added to the wrap. I re-heated the salmon first, then the rice mixture, then added them to the warm tortilla that had the cheese already melted on it. I probably should have left out the smidgen of sour cream but it really added to the finished wrap's rich flavor.

Tortilla Wrap with Salmon, Rice, Tomato, and Jack Cheese
Serves 1

1 large flour tortilla
about 2-3 tablespoons shredded Monterey Jack cheese
leftover grilled salmon...about 1/2 cup flaked
1/2 cup brown rice, already cooked
1/4 cup diced fresh tomato
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sour cream (optional)

In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, warm the tortilla for 1 minute. Add the shredded cheese in a thick ribbon down the middle of the tortilla. Cover with a lid and turn off the heat.

In a small bowl, re-heat the salmon in the microwave. I usually use half power to reheat things and this is important with the salmon since you don't want to overcook it. Depending on your microwave, try about 1 minute at half power.

Remove the heated fish to a small plate and use the same bowl to heat the rice, tomato, parsley and lemon juice. Once warmed through, stir the mixture.

Remove the lid from over the cheesy tortilla, turn the heat to medium, and add the salmon, placing it over the cheese and a bit to each side, leaving sections on both sides of the tortilla uncovered. Repeat with the rice mixture. Add little dollops of the sour cream over the center of the rice strip if using. Replace the lid and let the whole concoction heat for 1/2 minute. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and fold in the uncovered sections of the tortilla. Remove to a plate and serve, garnished with a wedge of lemon, if desired.

Crustless Savory Veggie Delight

I'm not a party animal. Maybe its because I was super shy as a youngster, maybe its because I've always been on the heavy side, maybe its because I've never enjoyed crowds...who know why. Even so, sometimes I choose to go to a party. Recently I went to a birthday party for a lovely woman who love to do long bike rides. Guests were a fine combination of neighbors who live near where I work and J's friends from the City, including biking friends. The latter were particularly fun to talk with.

Since I knew that a lot of the guests would be health conscious I decided to bring a crust less quiche loaded with veggies. As is often the case at big parties I only spoke to one person who tried some but he gave the dish a hearty thumbs up.

Brown rice gives substance and a nice nutty flavor. I love spinach in almost anything and since I also used red pepper dice and fresh corn kernels the quiche had a nice confetti appearance with red, green, yellow and the caramelized onions golden brown. It goes together fairly quickly, too and can be served warm or cool. Maybe you'd like to try it for your next party?


Veggie Brown Rice Crust less Pie

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive or safflower oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (a mix of colors if possible)
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed (I like to use frozen chopped, but you can steam fresh spinach and chop it but you'll need a fair amount of fresh spinach to make 1 cup cooked)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme OR 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
1 cup cooked AND COOLED brown rice (you can use cooked white but you lose that wonderful nutty flavor)
1 3/4 cups milk
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Butter a 10 inch pie plate with butter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs. Tilt to coat the pie plate with the crumbs. Discard the excess crumbs.

In a skillet, over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil, then add the chopped onions and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, to lightly brown the vegetables. Turn down the heat if they start to blacken. To the browned onions and peppers, add the spinach and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the mixture is heated through. Stir in the corn, nutmeg and thyme. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the cooled rice and the cooled veggie mixture. Spread in the prepared pie plate. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, eggs, sour cream or yogurt, paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Pour this milk mixture over the veggie-rice mixture in the pie plate. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

When oven is at 350 degrees F, bake the pie for about 35 minutes, or until top is lightly browned and the middle is almost set. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Cut into serving portions and serve or refrigerate and serve later at room temperature.

Creating Christmas Memories

By dinner time on Christmas I'm usually happy to do something very simple, but this year we were fortunate in that Grandma L was going to be with us and so was our daughter!

This Christmas for our dinner she suggested that we make a dish that we had talked about making together sometime. It is inspired by an entree she used to enjoy at Belltown Bistro when she lived in the Belltown area of Seattle.

Tender pork cubes are marinated and skewered with dried apricots. A glaze is applied during cooking that creates a lacquered appearance. Sweetie did the honors of grilling the kebabs, but wasn't too successful in making the pork look lacquered...I guess there is a restaurant secret...but the dish was delicious, fancy and fun to make together.

We served it over a wild and brown rice melange than included dried cranberries and orange zest and juice. Grandma L brought her famous fresh green beens with bacon and they were the perfect side dish for this meal. We served a Porter Creek Pinot (thanks Kate W!) which was an excellent wine for the meal. Toasts were shared and we made merry! Holiday memories in the making.

Apple Lacquered Pork Kebabs with Apricot
1 pork tenderloin, cut in about 1 inch cubes

1 cup apple juice

1 teaspoon prepared Dijon type mustard

¼ teaspoon ground sage

2 tablespoons apricot jam

salt and pepper to taste

Apple-Apricot Lacquer

1 cup apple juice

¼ cup apricot jam

8 – 10 oz moist dried apricots
Wooden or metal skewers

In a wide, shallow pan over medium-high heat, reduce the apple juice by half, stirring occasionally with a whisk. It will thicken slightly and measure about ½ cup.

In non-reactive bowl place reduced apple juice, mustard, sage, apricot jam and whisk to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Place the pork cubes in the apple juice mixture and turn to coat all pieces. Cover and marinate in a cool place (like the refrigerator) for 3-4 hours, stirring a few times to coat the pieces with the marinade.

Prepare the Apple Apricot Lacquer: In a wide, shallow pan combine the apple juice and the apricot jam with a whisk. Whisk over high heat until thick and syrupy, about 5 – 8 minutes. Set aside.

Soak wooden skewers for 20 minutes in warm water if using. Drain pork and discard the marinade. Thread two dried apricots on skewer, followed by a pork cube, two more dried apricots, another pork cube and repeat until there are 4 -5 pork cubes on the skewer.

Set aside and repeat with more skewers until all pork cubes have been threaded on skewers. Keep cool until barbeque is ready for cooking.

Heat barbeque, either pre-heating a gas grill or light charcoal and let burn until a light ash coats them.

Grill the skewers, brushing with the Apple Apricot Lacquer before putting on the grill and every few minutes as you grill them. The dried fruit may char a bit. Meat is done when one cube, cut open, shows very faint pinkness.

Serve at once, passing any extra Lacquer with the skewers. This is very nice served on a bed of hot Brown and Wild Rice with Cranberries.

Can be garnished with fresh sage leaves.

Almost Turkey Time

If you don't live in the U.S.of A., the coming of fall probably doesn't mean that it is time to gather up the recipes for cooking a big turkey for a family, or extended family, or family and friends dinner toward the end of November.

If you do celebrate American Thanksgiving, you probably have a raft of family traditions associated with the feast.

It might be Aunt Mabel's green bean casserole with onion rings or Uncle George's special meatball appetizer or Grandma's super sweet, marshmallow covered sweet potato casserole. With the way that tastes change over time, this might be the year that you decide to try something new and different...well, at least for one dish.

If you are the brave soul that is willing to stand up against family pressure and make a casserole that has fresh green beans and no fried onions in sight, or something with sweet potatoes that is actually savory, perhaps with some sage butter, or even a different stuffing for the turkey, you might need some suggestions for new recipes to try. I'm selfish enough that I want you to make one of the recipes I've blogged about if thats teh case...besides they are good!

There will be round ups and lists to be found around the Internet. My group of Thanksgiving ready recipes will be limited to ones I've posted here in the Land of St. Honore' at Feeding My Enthusiasms. That might make it a short list, but that makes it easier for you to scan it, check out any that look interesting to you, then pop on over to the next blog (which might be one on my likely blogs list...if you are smart).

Here goes....drumroll please.....

Appetizers:

White Bean Dip, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-dip-made-with-canned-cannelli.html hits a lot of high notes - robust taste, not too filling, good-for-your-heart legume based, great with either crackers or crudites, easy to make and ...Yay!...can be made ahead and tastes even better if you do.

Caprese on a Skewer, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/11/catching-up-caprese-on-skewer.html is colorful, fun to make and fun to eat. Finding flavorful tomatoes might be a challenge, but you can use cherry tomatoes which are usually sold in pint baskets. They generally taste good. You can substitute flat leaf parsley (Italian parsley) leaves for the basil leaves. The flavor combo will be different, but the skewers are still pretty that way. You can Serve the skewers by sticking the end in a small pumpkin or you can corral a bunch of filled skewers in a tall glass, fanning them out.

Salads:

A tossed green salad is always welcome, but if you want a make-ahead salad, try this Composed Orange Salad, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/01/orange-you-glad-you-heard-about-this.html . You can arrange the lettuce and orange slices on salad plates, stack them up in the 'fridge, then dab on the mayo, add the cherry and sprinkle on the raisins and coconut shortly before guests sit down and put them a plate at each place. The orange is refreshing and light which is a good way to start a meal that is heavy on the starches.

Soup:

If the day is chilly as November often is, starting with a nice bowl of soup is warming and welcoming. Try a seasonal favorite like Two Squash Soup, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/11/soups-on-and-its-two-squash-soup.html rich with roasted butternut and pumpkin squashes, plus onions, sweet potato and apples. With a sour cream and diced red pepper garnish it's quite festive and flavorful.

Turkey:

The main event is usually a roast Turkey, golden and juicy. Turns out that I haven't blogged a turkey recipe, so I'm sending you to the experts. The Butterball turkey folks have a great helpline and website if you need a recipe or help. I usually cook mine in a brown-in-bag because it makes it difficult to over cook the bird, plus clean up is so easy.This one wasn't cooked in a brown-in bag and it is overcooked.

Sides:

What is a turkey without stuffing? No nearly as good! My Mom makes the best stuffing (you knew I'd say that, right?...well, it's true) and the Stuffing, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/11/stuffed.html recipe I posted last year is based on her bread and corn bread stuffing. You'll need a slightly drier stuffing if it is going inside the bird than if it goes in the casserole, so add a little extra broth to the casserole baked stuffing. You can make it your own by adding favorite dried fruit, different nuts, and so on. Make plenty because people usually want seconds of this stuffing!

Good turkey benefits by the accompaniment of cranberries. There's something about the sweet-tart fruitiness that brings out the best in the bird. Cranberries also ripen in the fall, making them a fall favorite since Colonial times. If you want to break away from cranberry relish, try Elle's Wild and Brown Rice with Cranberries, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/10/for-holiday-meals.html for a side dish instead. It has the nutty flavors of wild and brown rice, plus apple juice soaked cranberries and a dash of orange flavor for zest.

(You can still open a can of cranberry jelly for purists).

Swiss chard is a seasonal green that is all too often forgotten makes a wonderful side dish. It is refreshing and savory and light...just right with such a rich meal. Try it fixed as Swiss Chard and Spinach with Onions, Currants and Lemon Zest,
http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2007/12/sneaking-in-chard.html an interesting mix of greens, onions with the contrast of currants and the zip of lemon zest.

Bread:

Even though the usual Thanksgiving meal has plenty of carbs without it, everyone loves freshly baked rolls. Pile the bread basket with these Refrigerator Rolls, http://breadbakersdog.blogspot.com/2009/03/refrigerator-rolls-ready-when-you-are.html which can be partially made ahead. They are from my other blog, Bread Baker's Dog, devoted to bread baking. Pop them in the oven when the turkey comes out. They'll bake while it's resting and being carved and you will be a star when you pass the bread basket and people get a whiff of freshly baked bread.

If you are feeling artistic and want to really impress, make the Harvest Sheaf bread, also found on Bread Baker's Dog. It is easier to make than it looks. To serve, I just sliced across the sheaf.

Dessert:

The last morsel of turkey has been polished off and the coffee is brewing. Now comes my favorite part, dessert. Here are three desserts that use seasonal fruits. They make a nice addition to the dessert table, which can also include a traditional pie.

The first Double Apple Bundt Cake with or without Rum Glaze, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-not-tuesday-but-its-still-dorie.html features crisp, tart apples complemented with spice in an easy to serve bundt cake with a decorative rum glaze.

The next two are a bit unusual but delicious. Try Stuffed Figs and Plum Clafouti, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2007/09/fun-with-fall-figs.html with the added kick of bittersweet chocolate hiding in the figs.

Pomegranate Lemon Tart with or without Spiced Poached Pears, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-kinda-wonderful.html makes use of the season's pears and is very pretty with the sweet-tart pomegranate lemon pastel tart filling and the fan of bi-colored pear slices on top.

Still need some recipe ideas? Check out the index by clicking on the set table photo at the top right corner of this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving! East well and enjoy time with family and friends. XOXOXO Elle

Oldie But Goodie Casserole

It is very interesting that newspapers and magazines are flooded with tips on ways to get through these tough economic times. I guess no one in the media knew a year ago that there were plenty of people going through economic hard times...it took the loss of income by upper middle class folks when the stock market took a dive to alert them.

The good news is that I've been there, done that, and have the scars to prove it. The mid '70s were difficult ones for me. I was laid off at a retail store...not enough sales...sound familiar? I did temp work, odd jobs, street vendor sales at Christmas, sewed my own Christmas gifts by hand because the sewing machine was broken and there was no spare money to fix it. When I went to the grocery store I added up each item in my shopping cart and returned the least needed items to the shelves until I had the amount of groceries that I could pay for with the cash in my pocket. I was young and had no expectation that I should be living a cushy life yet, so it really wasn't bad, but you do learn how to be frugal while having fun.
In ancient times, right around 1978, since we were experiencing a similar shortage of cash as many folks today, we turned to recipes that were less expensive to cook. The cookbook Moosewood Cookbook by the lovely and artistic Mollie Katzen had just been published and going vegetarian was one way of eating more healthfully and frugally at the same time. Her illustrations were wonderful. Everything was done by hand, then turned into a book. How appropriate.

One of my favorite recipes from the book can be made even healthier these days by using low fat cheese and egg substitute, although that costs a little more than with plain eggs and regular cheese. You could cut the amount of cheese, too . Even though fresh spinach is delightful, there was a sale the other day on frozen spinach, so I used that for this recipe. It needed to be defrosted and drained, but was then perfect for this dish.

I cooked the brown rice about an hour before I put the casserole together. You can also use leftover rice. The brown rice has lots of nutrients and I like the chewiness it gives this dish.

You can use this as a side dish, a main dish if you have a big salad on the side, or even for brunch. If you added some crumbled bacon or turkey bacon or veggie bacon bits to it, it is super brunch food.

Hope that you are experiencing enough prosperity that you can make this dish just because it appeals to you!

Spinach-Rice Casserolebased on a recipe from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, 1977

2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt (More, to taste)
3 tablespoons butter (I used 2 tablespoons olive oil)
2 lbs. raw, chopped spinach
4 cups cooked brown rice
4 beaten eggs (I used the equivalent amount of egg substitute)
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons tamari (optional)
a few dashes each - nutmeg, cayenne
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
paprika

Saute' onions and garlic with the salt in butter (or oil). When onions are soft, add spinach. Cook 2 minutes. (Alternately, thaw and drain a 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach. Add to onion mixture, but don't cook any further.)
Combine the onion mixture with the brown rice, eggs, milk, cheese, parsley, tamari, nutmeg, cayenne. Spread into buttered casserole and sprinkle sunflower seeds, paprika on top.
Bake, covered, 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

Serves 4 - 6