Butternut Tenderloin for Thanksgiving

It's something of a challenge to come up with a festive meal for Thanksgiving when you are limited to soft foods. My oral surgery of last week came with instructions to take in only liquids the first few days and then soft, mushy foods to finish out the week. A friend hoped that my mashed potato milkshake was delicious but I actually had a nice meal that included mashed potatoes and jellied cranberry sauce. The star of the plate was from a recipe that one of my sisters sent me...Butternut Squash Tenderloin. Now we all know that squash don't have loins, so why that moniker? It's because the neck of the squash, if cooked and peeled, has the shape of a tenderloin and if you season it, brown it and roast it so that the outside has a nice seasoned and browned crust, it can be sliced like a tenderloin of meat.

It was really delicious and filling, but there was no getting away from the fact that it was butternut squash. If you enjoy squash like I do, that's a good thing. It went well with the sides on the plate and was a lovely deep golden color. Sweetie had some too and liked it (although he had steak and salad with it). Tomorrow the rest of the squash will morph into butternut squash soup.

We also had a delightful dessert...tipsy parson...but I'll post about that later.

To make the 'tenderloin', choose a butternut squash with a long neck part. Mine was almost all neck, with very little in the small rounded bottom part but seeds. Since that neck part is dense, it took a little longer for the initial baking. I put the whole squash in the fridge overnight Wednesday night and finished the dish about forty-five minutes before dinner time on Thursday. The skin was easy to remove, the seasonings were easy, too, and it browned fairly quickly in my cast iron skillet. I roasted it for 30 minutes, which heated it through just right and allowed the crust/skin with the seasonings to brown a bit more.

Here is the neck peeled and ready to season, with the top inch and lower seedy part in the background.

The originator of the recipe served their squash with peas on the side and what looked like a mushroom gravy. I just dressed my slices with some plain yogurt and that worked well. Would have done the mushroom thing, but I made mushroom gravy last night for some pasts, so didn't want it again.

Do give this recipe a try if you enjoy butternut squash. You'll be glad you did.

Butternut Squash Tenderloin
by 100% Esselstyn Nutrition Forum

A whole butternut squash (preferably with a long neck), weights vary
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon ground sage
1 tablespoon onion powder (I omitted this as I had none)
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, ground (I used less)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (I used cayenne pepper for some pep)

Preheat over to 200 degrees c/180 degrees c fan (or 400 degrees F/350 degrees F convection)

Place the whole squash, skin and all, on a baking sheet. Roast until the squash is 95% cooked (approximately 45-60 minutes, depending on size). (I used foil under my squash on the baking sheet.)

Check the squash is cooked by inserting a skewer about three inches from the stem. When it can penetrate in and out through the width easily, it is done.

Remove from the oven and let it cool for 30-45 minutes, to finish carry over cooking. (Doing this the day before saves time.)

With a sharp knife, cut off the top and tail of the squash, including the bottom section wher the seeds are. you want to leave the long neck (tenderloin) whole for roasting.

Stand the squash on one end and carefully peel/cut away the skin.

Place the peeled squash in a large bowl or baking sheet, then evenly apply the seasonings to the entire squash.

Heat a large, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. Add water carefully and add the squash and pan fry, turning to ensure that all sides are browned.

In the same pan (or transfer to a baking sheet) roast for an additional 20 minutes. Serve with green veggies for contrast.

Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple minutes before planting, slicing and enjoying.

Lentils and Eggs

When I was visiting Los Angeles in the summer (yes, it's still summer but it's beginning to feel like fall and school has started again, so summer seems like it's in the past) we went for brunch to a place called Playa Provisions in Playa Vista (I think). They had an eclectic menu but not a lot of items that were non-dairy. One dish that sounded good was lentils with tomatoes and egg and kale. It was outstanding! A touch of vinegar when served added just the right note against the beany flavor of the lentils and the richness of the soft boiled egg. I came home and decided to see if I could replicate the dish, or at least come close.

After searching the Internet I found a recipe by Bon Appetit that was close so I made a few tweaks and served it for dinner a few nights ago. It was delicious and filling and Sweetie enjoyed it, too. One of the key elements is a soffritto of onion, carrot, celery and garlic (the Bon Appetit recipe had fennel and not celery but I don't like fennel flavor) which is cooked almost into a paste. This plus the tomato sauce really flavor the lentils in a great way!

This is a vegetarian dish but could be vegan if you skip the egg. The Bon Appetit recipe called for serving it with bread that had been fried in olive oil, but I just toasted some seeded sourdough and put on some non-dairy margarine for me and butter for Sweetie. I also sprinkled on a bit of Parmesan cheese on his serving and he said that made it even better.

You could probably serve this the day it is cooked, but I like to 'age' dishes with onions, so I put it in the fridge in the pot it was cooked in for a couple of days. That made reheating it easy. The already cooked spinach was reheated in the microwave and spooned on top of the lentil mixture before I added the egg. I actually forgot to add the red wine vinegar, but plan to do it next time (there were leftovers) since the sharpness is a great foil for the relatively bland legumes. The bread is nice for sopping up any juices. I served it in a shallow, wide soup bowl and that works really well because there are some juices.

Lentils and Tomato Stew with Egg and Spinach
serves 4

1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups lentils (preferably French green), picked over and rinsed
water
1 cup baby spinach, rinsed
4 large eggs
4 sliced crusty bread
red wine vinegar and grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Pulse onion, celery, carrots and garlic in a food processor until soffritto is finely chopped.

In a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil and add the soffritto, stirring to coat the vegetables with the oil. Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-12 minutes, until soft.

Stir in the tomato sauce and cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown and very soft, about 10-12 minutes. Add a splash of water if it is browning too quickly. You want to caramelize the vegetables.

Add the lentils and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are almost tender, 30-35 minutes. Uncover and simmer for another 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.

Skim about a cup of the liquid at the top of the pot and place it in a microwave safe dish. Add the spinach and cover with foil. Let sit to wilt the spinach. Refrigerate this spinach mixture.

Taste the lentil mixture and adjust for salt, if needed.

Refrigerate the pot of lentils at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours. You can also just make the rest of the recipe from this point without refrigerating the stew, but the flavor is better with a rest.

On serving day, reheat the lentil stew over low heat, stirring as needed to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the eggs and cook at a simmer for 9 minutes. Removed from the pot and run under cold water until just cool enough to handle. Carefully remove shell while keeping egg whole. Place on a cutting board.

Reheat the spinach mixture while the eggs are boiling. Toast and butter the crusty bread.

Put about a quarter of the lentils in a bowl. Top with a quarter of the spinach mixture. Slice the hot eggs in half lengthwise and place, yolk side up on top of the veggies in the bowl. Add a splash of vinegar and sprinkle with Parmesan, as desired. Serve with the toasted bread. Serve at once.