I’m having a field day with fall food lately, as if you couldn’t tell. It’s absolutely my favorite food season. All the deep oranges and greens – the food looks almost too gorgeous to eat!

This stuffed squash is substantial yet not heavy, thanks to the light and crunchy quinoa. This tiny grain provides complete protein – serve some sautéed kale or Swiss chard on the side, and you’ve got the perfect meal for a cool autumn evening.

If you have fig balsamic vinegar, try drizzling a very small amount on top – it’s delicious. Or consider adding pomegranate seeds at the end of the cooking time, in place of the currants. I haven’t tried that, but if you do, please report back!

Stuffed Kabocha Squash with Quinoa and Chickpeas

4 kabocha squash, halved horizontally*, seeded
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts
2 cups red quinoa, rinsed thoroughly if not using the no-rinse variety
½ cup dry sherry
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock (use a gluten-free stock if you are gluten-sensitive)
½ teaspoon salt (reduce amount if your stock is very salty)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus additional for garnish
1 ½ cups chickpeas (canned are fine here)
2 tablespoons currants

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Rub the cut edges of the squash with a teaspoon of olive oil and place on a baking sheet (or two, as necessary), cut side down. Cover tightly with foil and roast until very tender, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the leeks and sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the quinoa and cook, stirring, for two or three minutes. Add the sherry and cook for another minute. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until water is absorbed and quinoa is just tender. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Turn the squash halves over and fill the cavities generously with the quinoa mixture. Return to the oven, cover lightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Garnish with additional chopped parsley and serve.

* Helpful hint: slice a bit off the rounded bottom of each squash half to create a small flat surface (about 1 inch in diameter) and it will sit in the pan without wobbling.

Serves 8.

Sometimes the best recipes come out of a cooking disaster. Case in point: I made the Pumpkin Cake with Hazelnut Ganache from the Millenium cookbook, and it was literally a flop. For some crazy reason I decided to add fresh figs to the cake, and it didn’t rise. Sadly, it was more like a flat pancake. But the hazelnut ganache filling was about the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted. And because the recipe called for twice as much ganache as was needed, I had a lot left.

I had guests coming for dinner, so I needed a quick solution to my dessert crisis. So I jumped online and found a foolproof vegan chocolate cake recipe courtesy of Moosewood.  I spread the ganache in between two layers of the chocolate cake, and voila – I had the most decadent vegan cake in the universe. My guests loved it, and my friends at the office were blown away when I served them the leftovers the next day – no one could believe it was vegan.

One word of warning – the Moosewood cake is a bit difficult to cut into two layers.  I ended up using a flexible plastic cutting board to cut through the middle and lift the layers onto the plate.  An easier option would be to bake two of the chocolate cakes and use those as your layers. The recipe below if for one cake, so double it if you want to go that route. If you do, there’s no need to double the amount of ganache – this recipe makes a nice thick layer.

I have to admit, this cake certainly doesn’t qualify as health food. While it contains no butter, it’s incredibly rich and fairly high in fat due to the chocolate and hazelnuts. So this is a “special occasion” cake, to be sure. But it’s so worth the splurge.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with  Chocolate-Hazelnut Ganache
(adapted from The Millenium Cookbook and Moosewood)

For the ganache:

1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1 cup soy milk or almond milk
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted (be sure to use a high quality semisweet chocolate here, such as Dagoba or Scharffen Berger)

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour (I used half whole wheat pastry flour)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup organic canola oil
1 cup cold  water or coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

To make the ganache, grind the hazelnuts in a food processor. Add the soy/almond milk and process to thoroughly combine with the nuts. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate and process until fully blended. Place in a bowl and refrigerate for 4 hours or more. Before using the filling, let sit at room temperature for one hour.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients for the cake. In a smaller bowl, mix the oil, water or coffee and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir with a whisk until smooth. Quickly stir in the vinegar.

Oil and flour a 9-inch spring form pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper (use the removable bottom of the pan as a template to cut your circle.) Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely. Remove the sides of the pan and cut the cake into two layers (see note above.) Transfer the bottom layer to a cake plate or stand, and spread the ganache on top. If the ganache is too stiff to spread, put the bowl in a hot water bath briefly. Top with the second layer of cake. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and garnish with raspberries.

Serves 10-12

We had about eight red cabbages growing in our garden, and I’ve made the same thing with every one so far: braised red cabbage with apples.  I just can’t get enough of it.  Sometimes I use red wine as the braising liquid but this time I used beer and it was even better. In Germany they’d serve this with sausages, but the closest I’ve come is some vegetarian smoked apple sausage (Field Roast – the only brand I like, and the least processed.)

Some optional additions you might like include 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds (add when you add the cabbage), 1 or 2 tablespoons brown sugar (add with the apples), or 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (add at the end.)

By the way, I have two more cabbages still in the ground. Let me know if you have any recipe suggestions that don’t involve apples and alcohol!

Braised Red Cabbage with Apples and Beer

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium red cabbage, very thinly sliced (about 6-7 cups)

2 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 medium-large yellow onion, thinly sliced into half moons

1 12-ounce bottle beer (I used an Oktoberfest–style, but any amber will do. Use gluten-free beer if you prefer)

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Pinch allspice

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot and sauté the onion until very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the apples and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add cabbage and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer until cabbage is very tender, about 50 minutes to one hour. Remove bay leaf, adjust seasoning to taste, and serve warm.

Serves 4

Oct 15, 2010

Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

I’m thrilled to be contributing my Vegan Shepherd’s Pie recipe to Eating Rules‘ “October: Unprocessed“. Blogger and healthy eating advocate Andrew Wilder has asked people to take a pledge to eat no processed foods during the month of October, and hundreds of people have jumped on board. For my October: Unprocessed guest post, I wanted to feature comfort food, and Shepherd’s Pie fits the bill. This is a recipe I perfected over years, made with mushrooms, seitan, lots of vegetables and walnuts with a rich wine-infused gravy, topped by mashed potatoes. What more could you want in a comfort food?

You can see my Shepherd’s Pie above, but for the recipe just click on over to Eating Rules. And while you’re there, sign the pledge and go Unprocessed for the rest of the month – or every month. I’ve found it really interesting to start thinking in detail about how the food you’re eating is made. When you break down every ingredient and where it comes from, you’ll be surprised by what you find. And it will make you enjoy eating natural, wholesome foods even more.

Oct 11, 2010

Homemade applesauce

Whenever I make homemade applesauce, I wonder why I don’t do it more often. It’s so easy, and so much better than anything you can buy. Here I’ve used cider and a bit of maple syrup for a touch of sweetness – but if you are using sweet apples, you might want to leave out the maple syrup.

A food mill is the perfect tool for making applesauce (and tomato sauce in the summer!) But if you don’t have one, just peel the apples before cooking, then mash them to your desired consistency. You won’t get the nice rosy color without the peels, but it will still be delicious.

Applesauce

5 pounds apples, cored and cut into chunks (unpeeled if using a food mill)
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
3 or 4 long slices of lemon zest
Pinch salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Put apples, cider, maple syrup, cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon zest and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until apples break down, about 15 or 20 minutes. Remove cinnamon and cloves. Put through a food mill fitted with a medium disk. Add ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Serve warm or cold.

Serves 8-10

This week’s roundup of the very best heart-healthy recipes from my fellow bloggers focuses on fresh figs.  Get ‘em while they’re in season!

This Fig Salad with Walnuts and Mint from Cook and Be Merry is simple and gorgeous.

Fresh Fig and Port Sorbet?  This recipe from Eating Out Loud has me drooling. I’m pulling out the ice cream maker!

This yummy Fresh Fig and Banana Milkshake from Pinch My Salt takes just a couple minutes to make. I’d just recommend substituting lower fat milk – or even almond milk – for the whole milk.

Fun Fig Fact, from the aforementioned Cook and Be Merry:

Although commonly referred to as a fruit, the fig fruit is actually the flower of the tree, known as inflorescence, in which the flowers and seeds grow together to form a single mass. The flower is not visible, as it blooms inside the fruit. The small orifice (ostiole) visible on the end of the fruit is a narrow passage,  which allows a specialized wasp, the fig wasp, to enter the fruit and pollinate the flower, after which the fruit grows seeds inside.