Nov 3, 2009 by Erika
harvest in the kitchen: a week of recipes, part 2
Last week I posted recipes for potato-leek-fennel soup, carrot and beet salad, and roasted pears.
This week’s recipes:
- roasted garlic and squash soup
- squash stuffed with wild rice
- spicy collards done 2 different ways
Roasted Garlic and Squash Soup
This is a rich, smooth soup that combines the sweetness of roasted squash with the spicy sharpness of roasted garlic. I serve it with a dollop of cranberry sauce in each bowl.
Ingredients:
winter squash – 4 small, 3 medium or 2 large (delicata is my favorite)
10 cups veggie or chicken stock
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 heads of garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
1 large yellow or white onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 bay leaves, salt and pepper
optional herbs: 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme or 3-4 fresh sage leaves (or 1-2 teaspoons dried)
optional – add a spoonful of whole cranberries (cooked with a little brown sugar) or your favorite cranberry sauce to each bowl of soup
Roasting the squash and garlic:
preheat the oven to 375 degrees
poke some holes into a whole squash with a sharp knife and roast, either on a baking sheet or directly on the oven rack; the squash is done when is done when it’s easily pierced with a knife; depending on the size and density of the squash, this can take from 45-90 minutes
put the garlic in a baking dish and toss with a little olive oil; roast with the squash, about 35-45 minutes – until it’s soft and easy to squeeze from the skin; set aside
when the squash is cooked, cut it open and let cool until you can handle it; then clean out the seeds and scoop the flesh off the skin
Cooking the soup:
in a large stock pot, saute the onion, carrots, celery and bay leaves in the rest of the olive oil on a medium-low heat,until the veggies are soft and the onions translucent.
add the squash to the pot, then squeeze the garlic it out of its skins and into the pot. (if you’re using thyme or sage, add it now.)
add the stock, season with salt, pepper, turn up the heat and cover until it comes to a gentle boil.
turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add salt, if needed.
when you’re happy with the seasoning and the veggies are very tender, puree the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor. I add a generous amount of black pepper to the pureed soup.
if it’s too thick add a little water or stock and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes. If it’s not thick enough, simmer without the lid, stirring occasionally, until it reduces.
serve it hot, with cranberries. It also freezes well and tastes even better the next day.
I made this the other day for guests, as a side with black cod, but generally it’s a main course. It goes well with leafy greens like kale sauteed in anchovies, garlic and red chili, or with the spicy collards recipe that follows. I often cook the rice with chicken stock, which adds richness and depth, and I always make enough to last for a couple of days of lunches or dinners.
Ingredients:
small to medium winter squash – generally 1/2 squash per person
wild rice blend – about 1/3 cup per person depending on how many you’re serving. (I generally use Lundberg’s, which I get in bulk at my food co-op, but you can create your own mix of wild rice, brown, basmati and red rices if your local shop has a bulk foods section)
2 parts stock or water to one part rice – use stock if you can for richer flavored rice (1 cup rice = 2 cups liquid)
1 cup dried cranberries or cherries (for 2 cups of rice)
1 cup toasted pine nuts (for 2 cups of rice)
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped (for 2 cups rice)
3 stalks celery, diced (for 2 cups rice)
1 large carrot, diced (for 2 cups rice)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons butter
4 tablespoons worcester sauce (more or less to taste)
5 sprigs fresh thyme (2 teaspoons dried)
salt and pepper
Preparation:
preheat the oven to 375 degrees
cut squash in half and clean out the seeds
fill a roasting pan with an inch of water and place the squash, cut side up on the pan; loosely cover with foil and put in the oven
put the rice, thyme and a teaspoon or two of salt into a stock pot or rice cooker; cover with stock or water and cook (if using a stock pot, bring to a boil, covered, and then turn the heat down to simmer until the rice is cooked)
as the rice cooks: saute the onions on a low heat until they’re translucent; after the onions cook for about 10 minutes, add the carrots, bay leaves, garlic and salt; as the carrots soften, add the celery and thyme (use a pan that’s large enough stir in the cooked rice)
when the rice is cooked: mix the cranberries/cherries and pine nuts to the vegetables and turn up the heat to medium and saute for 5 minutes; add the rest of the olive oil and butter to the pan, and then stir in the cooked rice, mixing it well; add the worcester sauce, salt and pepper, tasting and adjusting the seasoning (I use a healthy amount of worcester, as it is absorbed by the rice)
when everything is mixed in well, turn the heat to simmer and cover the pan
when the squash is cooked, put the halves on individual plates and fill them with the rice
Ingredients:
1 lb collard greens, stripped from stems and chopped (serves 4 people)
3 cloves finely chopped garlic (or use a garlic press)
1-2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon cayenne (more or less, depending on how spicy you want it)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Steamed:
A quick, energy efficient option for these collards is to steam them while the rice is cooking (collards are the only green that does well when cooked for a long time). I make grains in a rice cooker with a steamer insert; you can also use a steamer insert on top of a stock pot. When the greens are done they’ll be soft and dark.
Mix the garlic, ginger, cayenne and cumin with the olive oil; as the garlic softens, add the ginger just to heat it up a bit. Then add the steamed greens, spices, salt and pepper and toss together; turn the heat off the pan and let it sit (covered) for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Simmered:
On a medium heat, saute the garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes; as it softens, add the spices and ginger, and then few tablespoons of water or stock.
After the water heats up, stir in the collards and add salt; cover the pot with a tightly-fitting lid and turn the heat down to low; simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring every so often; there should always be a little liquid in the bottom of the pan – add more water if it starts to dry out.
When the collards are soft and dark, add pepper and salt as needed; remove from the pot with a slotted spoon, leaving the liquid in the pan.
A winter squash resource: recipetips.com has a great article with descriptions and photos of winter squash varieties and how to prepare them. It even demonstrates this logical use for kitchen mallets, which I’d never considered before!
