Since I am no longer working out in the world, I have taken on a lot more responsibility in our home for cooking, especially dinners. This week, our friend is here from the Bay area visiting, giving me the perfect excuse to make elaborate tasty meals each night.
I planned my meals for this week over a week ago, shopped to buy the perfect ingredients and then jumped in.
On Tuesday, I decided to make a meal that would bring together ingredients I love with other ingredients I have previously disliked- this nights specific challenge: lentils. I know, you are probably thinking "WHAT!? You don't like lentils!?" I have tried and tried many times to love them, and finally decided that what I needed to do was be the one to cook them in a recipe that sounded good to me so I could learn to love them like everyone else in the world, especially since they are such a healthy legume to take in. That is when I found a recipe for spicy squash salad with lentils and goat cheese.
The photos are what really drew me in- beautiful soft roasted squash mixed with creamy cheese and studded with lentils- it felt like something I could get into. Of course, being me, I changed it up a bit.
For one, I used a Kabocha squash instead of the butternut or sugar pumpkin it called for, knowing it would be just as wonderful because it still has a sweet taste.
After peeling, seeding and cubing it and tossing it with the oil and spices, it went into the over for a while to roast.
Next up was the lentils- I used green lentils instead of black because that is what I had on hand, and Grant says they are a bit more mild in their "dirt" taste (as I call it) than the black would be. First I soaked them....
.... then I cooked them until they were tender.
Her recipe called for greens that she didn't use, but I decided to amp up this salad by adding not just the arugula but a mix that also contained spinach. Goat cheese is pretty expensive, so I substituted feta.
The final result was better than I could have hoped for- drizzled with balsamic vinegar (instead of red wine vinegar) and olive oil, it was absolute squashy lentil perfection.
I had the leftover for lunch today, and it was just as awesome.
Last night, I ventured into a new squashy delight with roasted acorn squash and poblano quesadillas.
Now I can roast squash no problem, and absolutely love to- acorn squash looks like beautiful ridged flower petals on the baking sheet to me. I sliced up the squash, seeded it and roasted it on an oiled baking sheet.
While it was in the oven, I had a fun new adventure in roasting a poblano pepper. I have never roasted a pepper before, but by the pictures on the Smitten Kitchen blog, it looked as if she just held it over the flame, so I gave it a try.
I have to say, this was crazy fun!!! Peppers make a popping sounds as you roast them, the skin cracking and softening to be peeled afterward.
I didn't do a very good job peeling them afterward, I probably could have roasted them a little longer to make it easier, but they came out good just the same.
All the yummy roasted stuff got cut up, or sliced in the poblano's case, and tossed in a pan to cook with the onion, garlic and serrano pepper until it was hot and soft and ready to be used to make the quesadillas.
I used thin slices of muenster cheese along with the squash spread inside my tortillas. I wanted to use the Pacqui pumpkin tortillas, but the Coop was out of them when I shopped, so instead used regular flour tortillas. The quesadillas came out beautifully! Served with refried black beans, salsa and sour cream- they were so good I forgot to take a photo of them before I scarfed them down. Next time I make them I will use those pumpkin tortillas if I can get them and will try to remember the final photo.
This all leads me to today- I had the desire to finally make the cast iron pan pineapple upside down cake my husband loves, so I went on a search for a good recipe. I googled it and found a bunch of recipes I couldn't hang with- one called for shortening. No way. I don't do shortening. Another called for "yellow cake mix". I am sorry, it's not really cooking if it came from a box. Finally, I found one in the search list and was pleasantly surprised to find out- it was from Smitten Kitchen!
This recipe made me especially happy, calling for all the ingredients I have and the main special ingredient I love in a pineapple upside down cake- rum!
This really is the perfect cake.
Perhaps one of the best parts of this cake is the cast iron pan. I am not sure it would turn out as well if it was made in any other type of pan. This cake is also lots of fun to make, starting with the caramel topping. The recipe called for light brown sugar, but I used dark because I love it for this cake. That mixed with butter stirred constantly over a medium heat. I tossed a bit of rum in at that point just because I am rum-happy which caused a bunch of sizzling, very nice! After my caramel was done, I added the pineapple and homemade maraschino cherries Grant's mom made to cover it.
It was so beautiful, I almost didn't want to cover it in batter, but alas, it wouldn't be much of a cake if I didn't. On to making the batter!
More sugar, butter, eggs, pineapple juice, flour, vanilla and rum- all beaten together.
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| Butter, sugar and eggs, oh my! |
I discovered in the process that Alchemy was unhappy with the sound of the beater until I brought her over to the kitchen to see what it was. Then she became my baking helper.
Finally the batter was ready! In went the cake and we played a bunch while attempting to patiently await it. I decided it would be fun to play with the rum during the wait as well, taking my photo for the new 30 day photo challenge- today's challenge was Reflection.
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| Day 3 challenge photo: Reflection |
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| I love LOVE Kraken rum! |
When the cake came out of the oven, I was speechless. I have never seen such a beautiful cake, ever.
I
excitedly sprinkled it with a good amount of rum, and wa-la! It was
done. The hard part since has been not tearing into it before Grant got
home, then sprinkling the crumbs around Alchemy to blame her for it.
She would have looked totally angelic and innocent anyways- helping baking is a tiring job.
Three fabulous things, all from Smitten Kitchen. I am super excited to see what I end up making next week.
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