Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas

Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas
From Smitten Kitchen and Fearless Homemaker 

Poor spaghetti squash, you are so misunderstood.  Countless people throughout time have brought one of these beauties home with images of low cal, low carb pasta miracles dancing in their heads.  They cook it, string it, dump marinara sauce on it, and proceed to be super bummed.  I vaguely remember my mom and I conducting one such experiment years ago and I've never had spaghetti squash since.

But every fall I become enthralled with trying all the great seasonal squashes, and this year I decided it was time to revive the spaghetti squash.  John was skeptical when I proposed squash as our dinner, but considering we'd feasted on chicken wings for lunch that day, it seemed like a healthful choice.

I learned from my mistakes and steered clear of all marinara-based recipes, or any recipe likening squash to pasta, for that matter.  I found this recipe on one of my go-to blogs, Smitten Kitchen.  A little Googling got me to Fearless Homemaker's adaptation with chickpeas which seemed hearty enough for dinner.  The result: fantastic!  It's warm, fragrant, and really celebrates fall produce.  Keep it in mind for a light dinner or side dish, and if you have leftovers it reheats quite well for lunch the next day.


Ingredients

• 1 (3.5-4 lb) spaghetti squash
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half, long ways (so you have two long pieces).
3. Scrape out seeds.
4. Brush cut sides of squash with olive oil.
5. Roast squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 50 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
7. Add garlic and chickpeas.  Saute, stirring often, until garlic is just golden.
8. Stir in cumin and next 5 ingredients (through salt) and saute 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat.
9. Remove squash from oven and use a fork to pull out spaghetti strands.  If you over cook it, they may be mushy, so if your squash is smaller consider lowering the cook time and checking the consistency.
10. Toss squash with spiced butter and chickpeas.
11. Garnish with parsley.

Serves 4 as a main course or 8 as a side dish.

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Turkey Chili

Turkey Chili
From Martha Stewart 

We debated long and hard over what to do for our awesome next door neighbors who just brought home a new baby.  As new homeowners with roughly zero experience with kids or people producing them, we realized we were woefully unaware of what new parents might need.  Then we thought, well, what does everyone need?  FOOD!  Of course that presented the question of what food.  We don't know them super well since we've only been in the house for 4 months, so we decided to hedge our bets with a mixture of meaty, vegetarian, sweet and spicy.

Today's chili covers the meaty and spicy end of the spectrum.  We kept half the batch for oursleves, and with every bite I prayed that they aren't vegetarians because the idea of this chili going to waste brings tears to my eyes.  You'd NEVER know it's turkey because it's so outrageously flavorful and hearty.
I should point out that this recipe makes enough chili to feed an army.  That's fine with us because we love the leftovers, but beware if you don't own a huge pot.  We DO own a huge pot, yet we are two for two on starting this recipe in our medium one and having to transfer it half way when things get crazy.  Planning isn't my strong suit...

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, cut into half inch strips
• 3 lb ground turkey, 7% fat
• 4 cups white onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup minced garlic cloves (we used jarred, pre-minced garlic, due to laziness)
• 2 jalapenos, chopped (we left the seeds in, which makes it slightly hotter - your call - frankly it wasn't very spicy, so feel free to play it up with hotter chilies)
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tsp cumin
• 2 cans (28 oz each) whole tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp molasses
• 4 tsp coarse salt
• 2 cans (15 oz each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• oyster crackers, for serving, optional
• chopped onion, for serving, optional
• shredded cheese, for serving, optional
• sour cream, for serving, optional

Preparation

1. Heat a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat.
2. Cook bacon until crisp and brown, about 6-8 minutes.
3. Raise heat to high, and add turkey.  Cook, stirring and breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 8-10 minutes.
4. Add onion, garlic, and jalapenos.  Cook until soft, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in chili powder, cocoa powder, and cumin.  Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
6. Add tomatoes with juices.  Break up whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
7. Add molasses, 1 cup of water, and salt.  Bring to a boil.
8. Reduce heat to low.  Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
9. Add beans.  Continue cooking, uncovered, about 30 minutes.
10. Serve with desired toppings.

Serves 8 (big, filling bowls).

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Chorizo Bean Dip

 

Chorizo Bean Dip
From Cooking Light 

 

We've got one last surprise entry from the book club extravaganza.  I call it a surprise because it was too busy getting its groove on in the oven to make the teaser picture I posted last week.  On top of that, the book club version was made following the Cooking Light recipe verbatim.  It was devoured at book club and we thought about posting it as is, but we had a hunch we could make it even better.

 

So we scrambled to find a reason to test out the improved recipe before I moved on from my series of book club posts.  Just as we were about to resign ourselves to a bean dip dinner for two on Friday night, opportunity came a knockin' in the form of a Bears game cook out.  The main change was swapping out Spanish chorizo for the raw, crumbled Mexican variety.  It makes for a much smoother texture and adds smokey chrorizo flavor to every bite.  Enjoy!

 

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 oz Mexican chorizo (it comes raw in a tube and you can squeeze it out and cook it kind of like ground beef)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Serrano peppers, or any fun hot pepper you want to try out, chopped (we removed about half the seeds, this depends on your chili and your preference for heat)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• 3/4 cup Mexican cheese blend (we used reduced fat)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add chorizo crumbles, breaking up with a wooden spoon.  Saute for about 5-7 minutes or until cooked, stiring occasionally.  Remove chorizo from pan, set aside.
3. Using the same pan over medium-high heat, add onion and jalapeno to chorizo drippings.  Saute 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add salt, cumin, red pepper and garlic.  Saute 1 minute, stirring constantly.
5. Stir in broth and beans and bring to a boil.  Cook 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.
6. Mash beans using a potato masher.  Stir in reserved chorizo.
7. Spread bean mixture in an 8x8 baking dish, coated with cooking spray.  Top beans with tomatoes and cheese.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melty and starting to brown.

Serves 6 (1/2 cup servings).

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