Acorn Squash and Pear Soup

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
2 medium acorn squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
4 medium firm pears, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 carton (48 ounces) chicken broth

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased shallow roasting pan. Roast at 375° for 1-1/4 hours or until squash is tender, stirring occasionally.

Cool slightly. In a food processor, process squash mixture with broth in batches until smooth. Transfer to a Dutch oven; heat through, stirring occasionally.

Comments:
I halved this one as well because we're just two people here. We can only eat so much. Anyway, the worst part of this recipe is the squash. Holy hell, those are a pain in the ass to peel and chop up! Once that hurdle is cleared it's easy sailing. The house smelled heavenly as the mixture roasted. I took it out a little shy of the 1 1/4 time as it was beginning to get kind of crispy on the edges. It's got a sweet overtone from the pears but overall it's really good. I did add a few good grinds of black pepper to my bowl and I cooked up some crusty rolls for dipping.

Slim Chicken Parm with Spaghetti (Squash)

From Everyday With Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
8 ounces whole wheat penne pasta
4 5 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 28 ounce can chopped tomatoes
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:
1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes; drain.
2. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned, about 8 minutes; transfer to a plate.
3. In the same skillet, cook the garlic over medium heat until golden, about 1 minute. Add the wine, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Return the chicken and any juices to the skillet, turning to coat. Top each piece of chicken with some of the mozzarella and 1 teaspoon parmesan, cover and cook until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes; transfer to a platter.
4. Add the pasta and parsley to the skillet, toss and season with salt. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and serve alongside the chicken.

Comments:
I've made this one before, but this time I swapped out the pasta for some spaghetti squash. This was my first time cooking a spaghetti squash and I was amazed at how easy it is. Cut it (ok, so this wasn't easy - I called in the big guns (ie Adam)), put it on a baking sheet, bake in the oven at 350 for an hour, scrape the guts into a bowl, and voila. Fake spaghetti. It's just a little bit sweet so it goes well with the acidic tomato-based sauce. Overall, a success. I'm excited about all the other possibilities for spaghetti squash.

Penne with Bacon, Butternut Squash, and Spinach

From Everyday with Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
1 pound penne rigate pasta
6 slices bacon
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
3 cups baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta for 7 minutes (the pasta will only be partially cooked). Drain, reserving 2 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking water.

2. Meanwhile, in an extra-large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then crumble the bacon once it is cool enough to handle. Discard all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the pan.

3. Add the olive oil and squash to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 7 minutes. Add the pasta and 2 cups of the reserved pasta cooking water. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until the pasta and squash are cooked, about 5 minutes, adding additional pasta cooking water if needed.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach, garlic and parsley. Season generously with salt and pepper; sprinkle with the cheese and crumbled bacon.

Comments:
I halved everything in this recipe except for the squash so it ended up almost unbearably squash-y. Adam's comment? It would be good without the squash. *sigh* I take responsibility for that one. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to only use half the squash... Duh.

Turkey Goulash

From The Biggest Loser Cookbook



Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 pound ground turkey
1 15oz can kidney beans
1 medium yellow squash, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp extra-spicy seasoning mix
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:
Lightly mist a medium nonstick pot with olive oil spray. Set over medium heat. Place the onions and garlic in the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-7 minutes, or until the onion is tender. Transfer the onion mixture to a bowl and set aside.

Set the pot over medium-high heat until it is hot enough for a spritz of water to sizzle on it. With an oven mitt, briefly remove the pan from the heat to mist lightly with olive oil spray. Add the turkey to the pot. Cook, breaking into chunks with a wooden spoon, for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the beans with liquid, squash, tomatoes, chili powder, seasoning mix, salt, cayenne, and reserved onion mixture. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Comments:
My only problem with this cookbook as a whole is their weird directions. And their obsession with "lightly misting" olive oil spray. Gargh!

Anyway, I made this my way. That is, in a way that makes sense. I put some olive oil in the pan, heated it, added the onions, garlic, and turkey. Cooked it until the turkey was done, added everything else (except the "spicy seasoning mix." What the heck is that?) and cooked it for 40 minutes. Turned out fine. Perhaps I added a few more calories using actual oil rather than a spray. Eh. It'll happen.

I thought this was very good. A nice spicy burn in the background from the chili powder and cayenne. Adam hated it. He has this thing against beans and it ruined the whole thing for him. He pretty much picked out the squash, ate some turkey, and then declared the dish "too bean infested." He then snacked on potato chips. I thought that might happen. Oh well. More leftovers for me!

Vegetable Chili

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
onions
green pepper
garlic
water
vegetable oil
carrots
potatoes
chicken broth
chili powder
sugar
cumin
oregano
zucchini
squash
crushed tomatoes
ketchup
kidney beans
garbanzo beans
black beans
black-eyed peas

Comments:
Despite the lengthy list of ingredients, this chili is actually pretty easy to make once you get all the veggies chopped and cans opened. It's relatively quick and tastes great. I'm thinking next time I make this I might try and convert it to a crockpot recipe. We'll see how that goes.