Here's the menu for one of my favorite meals from this year: it's an excellent, colorful meal that is well balanced both in terms of nutrition and variety of flavors, and it features both some enjoyable special imports (cranberries, pecans, lemons), and many main ingredients locally appropriate for winter--who says you can't have an exciting winter meal without importing veggies? Rich, earthy mushrooms melt in your mouth, their creamy decadence cut by stolid brown rice, as your palate wearies you switch to the natural sweetness of butternut squash, enjoying the contrasting flavor bombs of sweet-tart berries and the crunchy umami of pecans, all subtly beglittered with ginger; both the cream and the sweet halves of the meal are deliciously offset by the bright, sharp lemony dressing of the kale salad. The discovery of the latter is thanks to my godmother. I would never have thought raw kale was good to eat, but now I am converted, and expect I'll make this salad often. Nothing feels so nutritious as raw kale, and with protein in the stroganoff, fiber and vitamins throughout the meal, and flavors that sing with only the lightest dash of salt, this meal will make you feel good for hours after your taste buds have gone into satiated slumber. If you want to bump up the protein further, you can just cook some lentils in with your rice.
Overall prep-wise it is in that lovely medium-range of time commitment, with chopping the squash and mushrooms being the main thing that takes time -- perfect for a social cooking experience.
MUSHROOM STROGANOFF
- finely chop about 6 cloves of garlic, and sautee along with 2 tsp caraway seeds in 4 Tb butter/earth balance/oil over medium heat for a minute (try not to burn).*
- Add 4 cups sliced mushrooms (a sturdy type is best: buttons, portabellas, etc), and stir around to coat in the garlic butter. Then add 2 cups white wine and a dash of salt and let simmer very gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, till the shrooms are extremely melty, the wine is mostly evaporated, and the overall volume is reduced by 1/3 to 1/2.
- Remove from heat, stir in 2/3rds cup of sour cream/vegan sour cream (I love the tofutti brand so much I even prefer it to dairy sour cream, which is really odd for a dairy lover like me to say).
- Serve over brown rice, sprinkled with paprika and chopped parsley.
* The caraway seeds (and the final toppings) are really optional, you can do a very simple heartstopping version without, but I like the extra they add. The butteryness of Earth Balance or an equivalent is ideal for the most classic flavor, but again, not essential.
GINGERED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH CRANBERRY AND PECAN
- Core and cube 1 butternut squash. Bake till tender (20-30 min in a 350 oven, tossed with a touch of oil); or you could boil it, but careful not to let it fall it apart. Transfer to serving bowl, toss with 2 Tbs melted butter/Earth Balance, 2 Tbs maple syrup, and 1 tsp ground ginger.
- Toast 1/3 c. chopped pecans (walnuts are a cheaper substitute).
- Place 1/4 c. dried cranberries (or cherries) in 2 Tbs. white wine, and heat in a small pan or microwave briefly, until the berries soften.
- Add last 2 ingredients, along with 2 Tbs chopped crystallized ginger, to the squash and toss.
* We made this early in the day and warmed for serving in a double-boiler. That works well.
TANGY KALE SALAD
- Mix 3 Tbs olive oil, juice of 1 lemon (1/4 c.), 2 cloves minced garlic, 1/4 c. grated pecorino cheese, 1/4 tsp. kosher salt, 1/8 tsp or dash red pepper flakes. You can blender this for a creamy dressing, or mince and grate everything very fine and just shake together for a slightly different take. We've done it both ways and both are marvelous.
- Take 2 bunches kale and tear into bite sized pieces. Toss with dressing, serve. Optionally, add some toasted walnuts on top.
Complete meal with brown rice and a medium-sweet white wine, like Gewurstraminer. Then break out the winter cookies!
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