Falling for Pumpkins (and Squashes)

When I moved to USA I was shocked when the fall season arrived. Everything was pumpkin. Pumpkin everywhere. I couldn't understand the pumpkin obsession. I hated pumpkins and squashes. In my country we have a few types of the vegetable and some very traditional recipes using it, but to be honest I never had them. The few times that I had squash at home I hated it.

I've been thinking about all the things that I (used to) hate about food. Gladly I've been changing it gradually. When I was a kid my mom tried to feed me sometimes with healthy food, and I used to hated it with all my body. I don't blame her. When she was a kid she didn't have access to sweet treats, frozen meals or fast food - everything was too expansive or it wasn't created yet. 

Growing up in the 90's made me a kid that loved instant ramen, hot dogs, French fries, all kinds of fast food, cookies from packages and potato chips. Plus all the soda I could have. My mom knew how to cook and even tough she didn't like this chore sometimes she was very creative about it. But most of the times she was pretty basic. Until we had internet. I have memories of her printing recipes to do for Sunday lunch. Back in the time healthiness wasn't a concern for the world - no tips of how to hide vegetables into delicious recipes. Times have changed! 

Last year I decided to buy a pumpkin and do something with it. I went to Union Square Farmer's Market and bought a Kabocha. I almost lost some fingers trying to open it. And it was SO big! I did a soup full of bacon - you can't go wrong with plenty of bacon, right? Also I added a very generous amount of liquid smoke. I really like the smokey taste.

Unfortunately I had to throw a lot of squash away since it was on my fridge so for long and I wasn't so sure about the taste of it. But now the good part: I am more conscious about my shopping habits and I didn't;t buy a big squash. This year I started with the Delicata squash. I bought, had no idea of what to do with it until a good friend gave me this very easy t do idea: roast it until very tender and do a spinach and blue cheese cream to put on top. I had some leftovers smoked sausages from another meal and added them on it as well. Check the final result here and follow me on Instagram!

I really liked the flavor of this squash so I decided to buy it again. And today I felt it was the day. Nothing much again. Just roasted with olive oil and salt and pureed. See the dish here.

But the reason I am doing this post is because I wanted to share my #zerowaste tip for the squash. I think roasted pumpkin seeds are not a surprise. I never did at home and today I took my chances. I did my homework and found this recipe. A-MA-ZING!

Here are some pictures of the recipe process. Guys, you should TOTALLY do this at home!

Delicata squash roasted seeds: yummyness!

1: Soak the seeds in water and rub them a bit to remove squash.

2: Separate clean seeds in another bowl.

3: Place seeds in a large pan with cold water. Bring it to simmer for a few minutes. Rinse and repeat if necessary (until all the squash if off the seed).

4: Place seeds in a tray with parchmeant paper and spray a little olive oil and salt.

5: Roast in the oven at 325F (160˚ celsius) for about 10 minutes or until golden.

6: Enjoy the seeds! 

Fish Kibbeh

Believe it or not but kibbeh is something very common in Brazil. I think it's because back in the day people from Lebanon went to my country and we loved their food. Actually we have a lot of Middle Eastern food restaurant across my country, one of the most famous fast food chains is inspired by its kind of food. So you figure.

This week my husband and I decided to do a cleaning on our fridge. I am always writing and posting about it here because I think it's a necessary thing to do before going to the supermarket and fill your cabinets and refrigerator. This way you ended up wasting a lot less and consuming what you bought before. Also I think this is great for my creativity - it's a simple exercise: I have to work with whatever is left and deliver an awesome meal for my family.

Yesterday I saw some fish and seafood and decided to do a hot stew with coconut milk and black. Check it out here. I had half tilapia fillet left for my lunch today and since I saw Rita Lobo's fish kibbeh on her Instagram, I decided to do my version of it.

I had some quinoa on the fridge, so instead of bulgur I went for it. I know it's not the same thing at all, but you know necessity is the mother of creativity and this was my case. I had onions, garlic, mint, parsley and lemon juice. I just mixed everything together and wait for the result.

First I chopped a bit of white onion and garlic. Do you have a bowl at home that you use to whisk things and now is looking very old? Note to myself: do not buy white bowls anymore (they are not even pretty!).

Next I just had to cut the fish to put it on the mini food processor. If you think that I am going to use my big one you are mistaken. I think my mini device could process a whole fillet if it was the case.

Fish, parsley, mint, one garlic clove, salt, olive oil and pepper. 

Then I mixed the "fish paste" with the chopped onion and garlic, add the quinoa (already cooked) and transferred everything to a glass container (with olive oil on it). The oven must be preheated at 350F (180˚C). Splash a bit of olive oil on top and cover with foil. Let it cook for about 15 minutes. Then I turned the broil mode for about 4 minutes.

I had some white rice left and some arugula, shredded carrots and tahini sauce as well. For the rice I add some fried garlic and for the salad I mixed everything and topped with walnuts. Done. 

Salad, fish kibbeh and garlic white rice.

In the meantime I was also doing some meal prep for dinner - I roasted half an eggplant with onion and garlic on the oven - since it was already on. Today we will have baba ganoush as side for dinner. As I said: no food will be wasted in this house!

Four summer salads

Since I moved here to USA I've become a season person. I started to pay more attention to the seasonal changes, and not only the weather, but the mood, activities and food, of course.

Most of the time is cold in NYC, or not so hot. But on summertime things are different. I also noticed that my body has some different needs now: during the cold weathers it wants something hot - like braises, soups, roasts... But on summer it goes light, like the fish, for example. And salads. I've been very creative about this now since I can't have the same salad everyday. In my country by salad most of the times we mean lettuce, tomato and onion. Here in America I noticed that instead of onion people usually puts cucumber, and I am not even going to start to give my speech about this vegetable, since you can read my thoughts about it here. (and yes, you should eat your vegetables, and try to eat it more than once, in different preparations)

Now I want to share my ideas and inspire you to create your own salads, and share with the world if something that you create is really good! Here it is:

Spring mix salad

So, I think I'll not be very creative on the names, but my first salad is just the doomed spring mix. I read articles about this and it seems like almost nobody likes them. But let's thing about the spring mix being a way of avoiding some good leaves to go straight to the trash. Let's try to look to this bright size. I know that it can't hold up dressing, that's why you should serve it on the side and let people decide the amount of dressing that goes on the plate. I am not a fancy restaurant, so I will defend the spring mix. 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups pf Spring mix leaves
• 1 cup of shredded carrots
• ½ chopped fennel
• Fennel frond (to taste)
• ⅓ cup feta cheese
• ¼ cup walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

Put everything together on a big bowl and mix it.

Simple, huh? For the dressing I like to go with the classic combination: lime + olive oil+ salt + pepper. Sometimes I add 1 minced clove of garlic as well.

Cauliflower couscous

This was a request from my husband. If think he had this at work and wanted to have again at home. I have to admit that I was a little bit afraid of doing it, but everything went well. First because I am not a big cauliflower fan. But as my vegetables post says: "try in different ways" I was very optimist about this. Kind of, because once I tried the cauliflower rice and hated it. But maybe it was my own fault, since I cooked it and also I wasn't REALLY that open to this flavor. So I decided to give it a second chance. And I am glad I did.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cauliflower 
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ sweet onion
• ½ sliced zucchini
• 10 grape tomatoes
• 10 basil leaves
• Salt (to taste)
• Chili flakes (to taste)
•  Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat the oven at 350 F (180˚C). Place zucchini on the olive oil and then transfer it to a pan sheet with parchment paper. Leave space on half of the pan for the tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes in half and pour it in a mix of salt, chili flakes and olive oil. Then transfer to the sheet pan with the inside turned up. Place the pan sheet in the oven for 20 minutes - turn the zucchini side on the half. In a food processor place the cauliflower florets and chop it (you can use either the razors or the shredded blade for it).

Fresh and delicious!

Strawberry vinaigrette

I saw this recipe on a Brazilian TV cooking show once and since then I was intrigued by its flavor. In my country we usually have a classic vinaigrette sauce, specially for barbecue, made with green bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar plus some herbs and spices. Nothing fancy, but very, very popular. But this is a much fancier version. Also is a low FODmap diet friendly, since I did some changes on the original recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup strawberries 
• 1 tomato
• ¼ fennel
• ½ cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Fennel frond (to taste)
• ½ teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash the strawberries and the tomato. Starting by the strawberries, take off the green part and slice it in half, them cut in strips and then in cubes. Take off the tomato seeds and cut it in cubes. Cut the fennel in cubes as well. In a bowl mix everything together and start adding the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and the salt. Take it to the fridge and put the fennel fronds on top of it before serve for a fresh taste.

Quinoa Mexican Inspired

I absolutely love Mexican food. Last time I was there I only had pizza and soda. First because I was a vegetarian and so afraid of trying new things, even the veggie friendly ones. But still, I love it. In Brazil I only had the TexMex version of it, but here in NYC I've got a bite on some authentic dishes, or something really close to it. Sometimes I try to bring a bit of these flavors home. I think the Mexican cuisine is so fresh and perfect for the summer. Since it's a country full of coast (did you know that it's possible to reach the coasts at the same day? I mean, if you have a lot of money, of course!) we can understand why their food is fresh, but they have their heavy side as well. 

Since I am doing salads here, my inspiration was something light. Let's go to the recipe!

INGREDIENTS

• ½ lbs clean shrimp

• ½ cup of quinoa
• 1 corn on the cob
• 1 radish 
• 1 roma tomato
• ½ red onion
• 1 lime
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 2 garlic gloves

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the quinoa on a pan with 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on medium heat until it gets soft. Meanwhile, cover the corn on the cob on plastic wrap and take it to the microwave for 4 minutes on high power. Let it rest and let it cool down. Slice the radish with a mandolin, then cut it into thin strips (or use the julienne blade). Cut the tomatoes in half, take off the seeds and chop it into cubes. Also do cubes with the red onion. Put the shrimp on a bowl and let it sit on a mix of garlic, ½ lime juice, salt and pepper for 5 minutes. Stir fry the shrimp with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, olive oil and lime juice. Add the shrimp and devour everything! 

Do your own stock - with scraps

A lot of people who cooks already knows that stock adds a layer of flavor to the dish. There are a few kinds of stock and each of them is used for specific combinations: vegetables, mushroom, meat, chicken, turkey, fish...

From trash to treasure.

Generally, stocks contain four essential parts: 

• Flavoring ingredient: meats
• Liquid: mostly water, but you can also use remouillage (a kind of stock made of bones that have already been used once to make a stock - it's clearer and weaker)
• Aromatics: herbs, black pepper
•  Mirepoix: the famous combination of carrots, celery and onion

But my focus here is to explore the stock made using food that otherwise would be wasted. I am talking about ends, tops, peels, stems, leaves, bones. Carrots, broccoli, onions, celery, mushrooms, cauliflowers, garlic, potatoes, spring onion, cilantro, parsley... These (and more) are all the ingredients that I used for my stock. Also I had some turkey bones frozen from last Thanksgiving. 

My stock was a little bit dark. If you want something clear, this is not appropriate. But generally, for what I cook, this stock is really good. I used a Ziplock bag a left it in the freezer, and as I was cooking I store all my peels, stems, tops and ending on this bag. One day, when it was full, I made the stock. Put everything together on a stock pan, water until everything is covered, some black peppercorns and let it cook for about 1 hour. Then I divided into containers to be frozen and others to be used right away. 

Turkey stock made with vegetables scraps.

The real deal here is that you can keep this bag frozen for six months. So you have all this time to collect food that otherwise would go to the trash. Why not repurpose everything and make something that will actually save some money? Plus it's homemade, so you know all the ingredients and everything that is going to your dish. In other words: healthy food.

Resting in my freezer right now. Waiting to become a treasure for future recipes.

Right now I have some frozen on my freezer. This recipe gave me 4 containers - about 2 liters of stock. So I have a lot of it for sure! And I already have a bag on freezer with chicken bones and vegetables scraps being filled up for the next batch. 

Hello bag full of flavor!

Also, I would like to add that some of these days I bought a rib steak, with the bone. Then I used the bone to do a broth using only water. I wanted to do this way because I could use for my dog food and I was a bit lazy at the time to add carrots and celery - but this is something you could do. Since dogs can not have pepper and onion, I would skip this ingredients, but the rest is safe for them (but ask your veterinarian before giving anything to him/her, ok?).

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Breadcrumbs from leftovers

This last weekend I have attend Zero Waste Food, a conference about how we produce a lot of food and don't consume it, so we need to reimagine and repurpose all these thing that is been wasted.  

I am not a fan of waste in general. In fact I started this blog because this is one of my missions: to inspire people to cook more with minimum waste. You can not imagine the amount of food that goes to trash at homes around the world. We buy, we don't plan and the it goes to landfills. We think that once it goes to the trash, is not our problem anymore. Guess what, it is. Not only because when you throw food away you are expending your money (it's like you're literally throwing your money on the trash can), but it's not sustainable. 

So, yesterday I decided to clean my fridge. Of course I had to throw somethings out, unfortunately. I am not perfect and I wish I was so had everything planned for that food that went to the garbage. But I was also proud of myself. Because I did not threw a lot of things as I used to do. Some of it was already "recycled food" - when I write this I mean: food that was already transformed into another meal and consumed. It was the leftovers and they were really bad, not ok for consume. But on my freezer I found a some bread. I was planning to do croutons for soup, but guess who: spring is here and soup is not on my plans any time soon. But I could do breadcrumbs. The ready to use that I have on my pantry is almost gone and I planned to put this item on my groceries shopping list for next week. Well, now I don't need this item anymore.

Everything start with frozen breads - put them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350F (180º C)

So today as I used the oven for our breakfast I took this opportunity to start my breadcrumbs. Just throw it on a pan, with parchment paper and let is defrost and also toast a bit. The bread must be really dry, and I wanted it to be a little bit toasted as well. I let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then waited for it to cool down outside the oven and threw it on the food processor with a bit of salt and spring onion. I didn't want to put a lot of flavor here because in the future and I want season it according to my recipe - I can do gremolata, pesto, chicken Milanese (or fish or steak), some gratin... A lot of options, and I can season it as I wish.

Put it on the food processor and let this appliance do its work!

The magic (and satisfaction) of homemade breadcrumbs.

I am so satisfied with the result!