Sunset Soup, Lentil Gnocchi, Apple Custard Pie and more!

Yeah I know -- I was bad last week -- no posting.  Sorry.  I catered an 'after-private-yoga-lesson' dinner party on Monday.  Tuesday something else got in the way. Wednesday I had an attack of my vertigo which I'm still getting over...  Just not a great week.  Anyway, I've got several great dishes this week to make it up to you.

… now this week, the fonts and line spacings are all screwed up!  Maybe next week things will be back to "normal"...

Sunset Soup

All these beautiful golds and yellows and oranges in one bowl!   No standing over a hot soup pot for hours to make this delicious, earthy soup.  The oven or grill does 99% of the cooking.

1-1/2 lb Golden Beets

1/2 lb Carrots

1 lb Butternut Squash

1 tspTurmeric

1 Orange, juiced

1 Lemon, juiced

Black Pepper to taste

1 Tbsp fresh grated Ginger

splash of  EVOO

Plain Yogurt – I used Siggi's brand Skyr

3 cups Water

Preheat oven to 400F.

Peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds. Chop into large chunks. Peel and chop the carrots, beets and onion (if using). Place vegetables on a lined baking sheet and drizzle with EVOO. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast the vegetables for 30-45 mins or until they are slightly caramelized. Cool the veg, then place in a blender. Add 2 cups of water and blend until smooth.  Remove to a stovetop pot or tureen.

Add the citrus juices, turmeric and grated ginger and stir to combine.

Serve chilled or hot, with crusty bread on the side. Garnish with a dollop of yogurt. Sit back and enjoy the sunset!!

Lentil Gnocchi

That's “knee-okie”.  Not "gah-notchee"! This is a great way to serve lentils to those who don't care for them, or who are tired of the usual lentil recipes.  This can be a main or side dish depending on how many gnocchi you serve per person.

1 cup lentil purée

4 ounces (about ½ cup) soft goat cheese

1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning blend

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

optional -- Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup AP Flour

To make the lentil puree, combine 1/2 cup of dried lentils with 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25-35 minutes, until lentils are very soft.

Add one cup of cooked lentils to your food processor along with the goat cheese, Italian Seasoning and salt. Whirrrr until the mixture is smooth.  Voilà  -- you have lentil puree!

Pour the lentil puree into a bowl and fold in 3/4 cup of flour. Don't overmix. Add additional flour if needed, a tablespoon at a time, until dough is tacky, but manageable.

Roll handfuls of dough between your oiled palms to create long, thin 'snakes' 1/2” to 3/4” in diameter. Cut into 3/4” to 1” lengths.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a rapid boil. Add the gnocchi, a few handfuls at a time. Cook until the gnocchi float to the surface for 10-15 seconds. Lift floating dumplings from the boiling water with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels.  If you want, you can dust the gnocchi with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese at this point.

To finish the gnocchi, sauté them (in batches if necessary) in a mixture of olive oil and butter, over medium heat until just beginning to brown.

Serve on a bed of cooked leaf spinach with wedges of lemon, as I did; tossed with pesto, or with a splash of marinara as a coulis.  

Apple Custard Pie

We got a bunch of little, fairly tasteless, apples, but didn't want to just dump them.  This was a great (and grate) solution.   This recipe started with one that Sally's friend Kathy Hogan gave her several years back.  I took the basic recipe and tweaked it my way (it's what I do).  I added the cinnamon and grated apples to the custard, and switched the baking time from a two-stage affair to one temp and time.

2 Tbsp AP Flour

1/8 tsp Salt

3/4 cup Sugar

1 Egg, beaten

1 cup Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Cinnamon

Apples -- moon sliced to make decorative topping, plus 2 cups coarse-grated 

1 10” unbaked Deep Dish Pie Shell

Preheat oven to 400F

Mix flour, salt, sugar. Add egg, sour cream/yogurt, vanilla. Mix until smooth.  Fold in the grated apples.

Pour into pie shell.  Top with apple slices. Bake for 30-40 minutes.  

Cool a bit before slicing and serving.

Eggplant Pasta Salad

This one is sort of an amalgamation of several recipes.  I just didn't think a cold pasta salad with a tomato-based dressing would be very good, so I made my own from dibs and dabs in the fridge.

3/4 lb dry Corkscrew Pasta 

2 small or 1 large Eggplant, cubed

1 Red Bell Pepper, large diced

1/2 Sweet Onion, diced

1 large Yellow Beefsteak Tomato, diced

1/4 cup Cashew Sour Cream (see here)
1/8 cup Basil Pesto

Cook the pasta to package directions.  While that's happening... Drizzle the eggplant with EVOO, dust with your favorite seasoning, and grill/broil until just browning but still firm.  Cool.  Saute the red bell pepper and onion until al dente.  Cool.  

In a large bowl toss together the pasta, sautéed veggies and diced tomato.  

In a small bowl mix together the Cashew Cream and pesto and thin with almond creamer if necessary.  Pour the dressing over the other ingredients and fold to combine.  Chill before serving.

Indian Fried Okra

I used to hate Okra.  My first experiences with it were the southern-style boiled okra we were served as the slimy vegetable of choice when I went to Lake City Forest Ranger School back in 1967-68.  The other vegetable was boiled into submission greens of some sort with bits of over-salted pork floating in the pan.

Skip ahead a few decades and I found that I liked breaded deep fried okra 'nuggets' (they aren't slimey).   We first tasted this dish at the Chai Pani Indian restaurant in Ashville, NC a few years ago.  My first few attempts to duplicate the dish were foiled because the restaurant was not telling me the 'secret ingredient -- Amchur Powder.  This is a tart spice made from dried green mango that can be purchased at any Indian market.  This is the way okra wants to be eaten!!!

1 lb fresh Okra

Pinch of salt, to taste

1-2 Tbsp Amchur Powder

Top the okra and cut in half lengthwise.  I a bowl, toss the veg with the salt and amchur powder.

Get your griddle pan almost smoking hot, and swirl around a good slug of oil.  Lay the okra on the pan, cut side down, and fry until they start to blacken (crispy = good).  

Turn them over and cook again, but don't let them burn. Drain on paper towels before serving.  

Yuuuum!

Pear Walnut & Feta Sandwich

My first thought when Sally proposed a fruit and cheese sandwich was - what?  Then I put this together and tasted it, and WOW!  A really different way to get a fruit course in your life.  You could also serve this as a dessert.

Toasted bread topped with crumbled feta.  Slices of sweet apple -- I used a new-to-us variety called a Rave.  Boy do we rave!  This apple has natural hints of cinnamon in each juice bite. Every bit as good as a Honeycrisp (which would be my second choice of apple here.  Add some walnut or pecan pieces for a bit of veggie protein, and you're good to go!

Anyone else noticed how, over the past 10 or more years, that Red Delicious and Yellow Delicious apples aren't anymore?  Aren't delicious that is.  All the flavor and juice has been bred out and we're left with a bland woody taste and texture.