This month’s Recipe Redux challenge incorporates some form of legume into a holiday party or potluck fare. The recipe below went through menu iterations before I landed on the right filling and presentation, but when I found out what the theme for December was, I had a pretty good idea what direction I’d want to take it. A few months ago, I made this salad, which is itself a good option to take to a potluck, but I wanted to try it with butternut squash. From there I made a large galette, and then mini galettes, which proved far too cumbersome to be useful for bringing to a party. The mini tarts seemed like the perfect combination of rustic and whimsical, while still being practical enough to prepare and transport to a party. I used mini muffin tins to get the size created above, but I suspect larger sizes will work well, too, because this filling combination tasted great in whichever pastry shell I baked it. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: December 2011
Mini Tarts filled with Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onions, Goat Cheese, and Lentils
Filed under Baking, Healthy, Holiday, Snacks & Party Food, Vegetarian
Cornbread Stuffing with Chorizo & Sweet Italian Sausage
Last week was extremely busy at school, with little time to cook, even less time to take pictures, and next to no daylight in which to take good pictures. Now, with a little less on my plate, I got to spend the weekend testing out new recipes that I’m considering making for my family’s Christmas dinner and the meals leading up to it. (It also doesn’t help that the first time I wrote this post I closed out of the browser without saving). I tried this chorizo cornbread stuffing back in November, but I think it would work just as well for December holidays. The sweetness of the cornbread and the spiciness of the chorizo are a good combination on their own, regardless of whatever they accompany. Continue reading
Filed under Holiday
Cheesy Chicken Casserole with Kale
A tale of two pastas: one decadent and delicious, the other a healthier bake that still tastes impossibly fresh and cheesy. After David and I planned our Thanksgiving menu, we bent our heads together over the grocery lists and divvied up the ingredients we needed to buy by store: Whole Foods will have happy turkeys and chorizo sausage, let’s get them there and Trader Joe’s has the cheaper frozen corn and potatoes, it makes sense to get those there. But when we came home on Wednesday night with our bags of goodies, we found that we hadn’t exactly sorted out who should buy the staples and ended up with three pints of heavy cream. Whoops. Some got used up in a rather lackluster cauliflower gratin, more of it in a pre-Thanksgiving clam chowder David made, and a little topped off the pumpkin pie. But as the weekend drew to a close, we still had 2 almost-full pints sitting in the fridge. Continue reading
Filed under Healthy, Pasta, Quick & Easy
