Terra Americana

It is just past noon and I am dreaming about dinner.  While everyone else at the farm stand this weekend was picking out pumpkins to carve, I had a dozen recipes I wanted to experiment with.  This recipe was inspired by 101 Cookbooks.  I find Heidi Swanson's work ethereal and sublime. Here is a healthy, hearty, harvest of flavor. 

• 1/2 a small pumpkin, cut in cubes, feel free to substitute with butternut or hubbard squash
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
• 2 medium red onions peeled and quartered
• 3 cups cooked Quinoa
• 1 cup diced fresh beets
• 1 cup green beans
  
• 1 cup spinach leaves
  
• 1/3 cup Raw Pepitas- Pumpkin Seeds
• 1/3 cup Lemon Ginger Dressing

 Lay pumpkin out in a roasting pan. Add onion and beans.   Drizzle warmed coconut oil over the cubes.  Sprinkle salt over and then toss in the pan. Roast for 45 minutes in a 375 f preheated oven. Remove pan from the oven every 15 minutes and toss the squash and onions so that they are caramelized and cooked throughout.

While the pumpkin is roasting toss 1/2 the dressing with the Quinoa on a serving platter, that has been lined with spinach.  When the vegetables are finished add them to the grain and gently toss.   Sprinkle beets and pepitas over the salad and finish with a drizzle of the remaining dressing.

What you've shared:

Emma Alison Evans I made it last night, with a slight variation :) I roasted sweet potatoes and roasted the beets, too, with the pumpkin! Pete says it is his new favorite dish and my roomate was raving about the recipe as well! We made pan-seared tilapia (cooked in coconut oil) to go along with it and it was a DELICIOUS, hearty fall dinner! thank you so much for sharing your culinary creativity :)

More ideas to Savour Squash

• Butternut Squash Pizza

• Squash Cake

• Squash Pudding

• Scrumptious Squash Rolls

Fall is here and I am yearning for some cold weather comfort. It is a cloudy and crisp morning and I am enjoying another cup of coffee while I talk myself into getting on my bike and heading into work.  Planning an afternoon delight is far more appealing.  Chocolate is my friend and pumpkin is my current flame.  A marriage of the two will surely console my cravings.

For the Chocolate

• 1 package of our gluten free Double Chocolate Brownie Mix or your own favorite
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter (or vegetable oil for more heart-healthy brownies)
• 1 egg

Mix well and add the chocolate chips. Pour 3/4 of the batter into a greased 9x13  pan.

For the Pumpkin

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup Arrowroot Flour
• 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp Russian Mulling Spice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1/3 cup Pumpkin Seeds - Pepitas, optional
  

In a large bowl beat the oil, egg and pumpkin puree. Add the flours, mulling spice, baking powder and salt and beat just until combined.

Pour the pumpkin mixture over the brownie batter.  Top with pumpkin seeds. Using a small knife, create a swirling effect.  Top with spoon fulls of the leftover brownie.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 350f.  Brownies will be done when the sides start to pull away from the sides of the pan or until a cake tester inserted 1 inch from the side of the pan comes out clean.

More Fall treats:

• Perfect Pumpkin Potion, a recipe for a harvest of Spice Box cheer

• Harvest Cake

• Apple Spice Cookies; a recipe for comfort when the air turns chilly

• Pumpkin Frost Cookies

Photo Credit: Julie Cecchini