Smoked Gouda and Butternut Pasta

Sweet, roasted butternut squash coat this warm and comforting pasta while garlic and smoked gouda add a bit of richness. With so few ingredients, the stars of this dish really shine. Simple and bursting with flavor yet incredibly easy and hands off; great for a weeknight dinner. I love that this pasta is sophisticated enough for a proper dinner with company, but casual enough for a Monday meal after work. It’s one of my very favorite meals. *If smoked gouda isn’t your thing, any 4 oz of cheese will do.

Wow, it's been awhile! Summer is always a busy time: visiting with friends, doing work around the house and yard, playing with our wee man, and in general spending as much time as possible outside enjoying our gorgeous summer in Alaska. 

Now that the leaves have started to fall and the air is bitingly crisp, I feel excited to spend more time here on the blog as winter starts to slink in. I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the fall season than with a recipe I've been meaning to share for a long time.

One of my BFFs makes a butternut squash pasta with just those two ingredients and a splash of olive oil... it's to die for! I knew smoked gouda and roasted garlic would really marry beautifully with the sweet squash so I just had to experiment. This recipe will not let you down. Normally I don't cook with oil (due to Todd's rheumatoid arthritis), but don't skimp on the one tablespoon. There's no sauce in this dish, so you really need that little bit of olive oil to coat the squash and pasta. Happy cooking!

Smoked Gouda and Butternut Pasta

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

Sweet, roasted butternut squash coat this warm and comforting pasta while garlic and smoked gouda add a bit of richness. With so few ingredients, the stars of this dish really shine. Simple and bursting with flavor yet incredibly easy and hands off; great for a weeknight dinner. I love that this pasta is sophisticated enough for a proper dinner with company, but casual enough for a Monday meal after work. It’s one of my very favorite meals.

Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and deseeded and cut into ¾” cubes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 large garlic cloves, left in their peel
• 12 oz dry spaghetti
• ½ of one 8 oz. package of Miyoko's Creamery Smoked VeganMozz or vegan cheese of choice, shredded
• 1-2 tsp Johnny’s Seasoning Salt or regular table salt
• 2 tsp fresh lemon thyme, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Add the cubed squash to a large casserole dish and toss with oil. Roast for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes until the squash is fork tender. When there’s 20 minutes left, toss in the garlic then bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta.
2. Cook the pasta according to package, drain and return to pot. Peel the roasted garlic and smash it into a puree with a spoon in a small bowl. Stir the garlic, cheese, salt, and roasted squash into the pasta.
3. Serve hot and topped with fresh lemon thyme and fresh cracked black pepper.
   

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 00:50
Total time: 00:60
Yield: 4 servings

Miso Soba Noodle Soup with Shiitake, Tofu, & Butternut Squash

RESTAURANT WORTHY soup right here. Finally! I sucked it up and actually made a proper dinner. Todd and I also took a couple of loads over to the new rental. It was a late night.

The Thimble Home doesn't feel right anymore.; all our plants and my artwork has moved to the new place. I mean really, what's a home without plants and personal art anyway? We both can't wait to be out of the Thimble Home. It served it's purpose and would of been a pretty perfect temporary stay except for a handful of things:

1. Our very, very loud motorcycling neighbor and the fourwheeling kids down the road.
2. The fact that an absolutely horrid, stale smoke smell has impregnated the walls and somehow seeped into all my clothes. Seriously the grossest thing ever. 
3. Our landlord, whom I'm pretty sure wants us out so she can demolish the place and build a duplex. Thus, the total lack of keeping up with repairs. 
4. The absolutely insane layout of the home. It's basically a tiny, wandering hallway.
5. No bedroom. No dishwasher. No lawn.
6. Serious water problems. Floor literally crumbling. Part of roof ripped off. Washer broken. Etc.

Those are the biggest issues. And of course, it has a few redeeming qualities as well. Mainly that it's situated on a fairly lightly trafficked road and it has a bit of privacy.

Anyways, thanks for letting me rationalize our move with you! Point is, I haven't really cooked anything substantial in about a week and I was maybe going a tad crazy. There's only so many bagels and bananas one can consume!

This soup was the perfect remedy. Miso, shiitake, tofu, kale, soba, and butternut squash all married together to help Todd and I keep our immunity robust during this stressful (and dusty!) time of chaos.

Whole foods, clean eating, and completely delicious. An umami-filled, restaurant-worthy, and hearty soup!

Miso Soba Noodle Soup with Shiitake, Tofu, & Butternut Squash

• Oven:
• 10 oz. extra firm tofu, diced
• 5 oz. frozen diced butternut squash (about 1 1/2 cups)
• sesame oil
• liquid amino acids or soy sauce
• Broth:
• 8 cups water
• 1 large piece of dried Kombu (optional)
• 1 oz. dried Shiitake mushrooms (or 8 oz. fresh)
• 2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
• 2 large green onions, sliced
• 1/4 tsp. (to taste) fresh chili paste
• 1/2 cup miso paste
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• Sustenance: 
• 1 bunch of kale, de-stemmed and chopped small
• 10 oz. dried soba noodles

Notes: Fresh butternut squash may be used instead of frozen, but the cooking time may need to be adjusted accordingly. Be sure that boiling the noodles is the very last thing prepared. They shouldn't sit, for they will stick together. 

Preheat oven to 375 F. Press the tofu if necessary and towel dry. Dice and scatter on a rimmed baking sheet along with the diced squash. Drizzle with sesame oil and liquid amino acids. Brush to coat evenly and bake at 375 F for 35 minutes. Add to the soup when done baking. 

Meanwhile, combine all the broth ingredients (excluding the miso and lime juice) in a large soup pot and bring almost to a boil.

Then, kill the heat and stir in the miso and lime juice, ensuring there are no miso clumps. 

Now, wash and rip or chop the kale into small pieces. Place in a microwave safe bowl and cover with a microwave safe plate. Zap on high for about 3-4 minutes, until fragrant, bright green, and limp. Set aside.

Pull the whole mushrooms and kombu out of the broth with a slotted spoon and carefully slice all into bite size pieces. Add back to the broth along with the cooked kale and stir. Careful not to burn your fingers!

Bring a medium saucepan to a boil for the noodles. Once boiling, add the dried noodles and cook for about 4 minutes until al dente. Drain, return to pot and coat with sesame oil to prevent sticking. 

To serve, place desired amount of soba noodles into a bowl and laden the soup over. Serve hot. 

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German Word of The Day: Moving --> Verlegung (pronounced: verleeh-gun)

Good Deed of The Day: This is so sad. One life for another in this case does not seem to be the appropriate action. Sign this petition to save the killing of this family's beloved furry companion, Nika the Husky. 

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Creamy Butternut Chickpea Millet + Cool News

So, I have something pretty cool to share. It's my vegan story! The beautiful Kristy over at Keepin' It Kind is so wonderful to have provided me with the opportunity to share my journey to vegandom. Is that a word? Vegandom. I think it should be. Well, it is now. If you've ever wanted to know more about my little story, now you can! So head on over and check it out. Plus, there's a few pics of me with some pretty sweet pups.  Just about every night I have a pretty intense internal battle about whether to make dessert for dinner or an actual, proper dinner. Last night it was a particularly harrowing spar. However, dinner won. It usually does, but only because I know if I don't make any dinner then I'll have to eat falafel chips and hummus for lunch the next day...which I totally did yesterday. I'm not complaining about such a delicious lunch, but really, it's more of a snack. Then, I'm so hungry by the end of the work day that I come home and binge on a downright shocking amount of Endangered Species chocolate. They have these new ones that are creme filled you guys! And VEGAN! Actually, now that I think about it...maybe I should just do this everyday. 

Completely unrelated to food or being vegan, Todd and I watched Frozen last night. New favorite movie! Well, I dunno. Could I demote Monsters, Inc.? I'm entirely not sure. But, we laughed throughout the entire thing and also Josh Gad is my favorite person to ever walk the Earth so ya' know, pretty much best movie ever. Plus it's all about snow and winter and that's kind of my jam...living in Alaska and all, ya' dig?

Okay, back to this dish.

You know how everyone loves chickpeas and buttersquash? Yes. And you know how everyone's getting on all up on the millet bandwagon? Yes. Well now combine those three luscious ingredients! Bam! Fluffy millet soaks in a warm, herbed butternut squash sauce dotted with protein-packed chickpeas. All ready to go in about 30 minutes. Now that's a dinner worth forgoing dessert for. 

Creamy Butternut Chickpea Millet

Serves 6

• Millet:
• 1 1/2 cups millet, dry
• 3 cups water
• pinch of salt
• Aromatics:
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium carrot, diced small
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 whole dried bay leaf
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp. whole cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp. ground sage
• 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• grating of nutmeg
• Sustenance:
• 32 oz. butternut squash soup
• 2 15 oz. cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Notes: Quinoa, rice, or couscous can be used in place of the millet if you wish. If you don't have whole cumin seeds, feel free to use about 1/2 tsp. of ground cumin. I used Pacifica brand of butternut squash soup. 

In a medium saucepan, toast the dry millet over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Stirring occasionally. Then, add the water and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover partially and reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, then stir and remove from heat. Keep covered and let sit until ready for use, at least 10 minutes. 

While the millet is cooking, in a large soup pot heat the oil over medium then add the aromatic ingredients. Saute for about 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender and the onions are browned. 

Meanwhile, in a blender combine 3/4 cup of the butternut squash soup, 3/4 cup of the chickpeas, as well as the nutritional yeast and the vinegar. Blend on high until smooth. Add this mixture to the sauteed vegetables as well as the remainder of the soup and chickpeas. Stir well to combine, and remove the bay leaf. 

This dish can be served two ways. Either place a scoop of the cooked millet into a shallow soup bowl and a ladle of sauce around it or, combine the millet and sauce and serve that way. Serve hot. 

Come jam with me. Don't deny yourself...

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"He stares so politely I'm best behaving when he's walking with me, walking with me Oh, he likes taking photos in black and white They're upon his walls, on his walls"

German Word of The Day: Millet --> Hirse (pronounced: hillseh)

Good Deed of The Day: For real? Ugh. Sign this petition to tell UK labs to stop puppy and kitten experiments. Only takes 5 seconds, promise. 

Oh and also...

Dang that was a pretty involved post today. Lots of stuff going on, but guess what? It's pretty much Friday, peeps! 

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