Butternut Squash Pizza with Crispy Sage

RSBC Status: I've run 26 miles, biked 8 miles. Only .2 more miles of running to go!

This week's food challenge was fresh sage, two ways. I found this recipe and knew immediately I wanted to make it. I love to make pizza, and I had a butternut that had been sitting on my counter for months. I was going to put chopped sage into the pizza dough, but I got on auto-pilot while pouring ingredients into my bread machine and totally forgot the sage, so I compensated by adding the chopped sage with the pizza sauce. I bit the bullet and bought some fresh sage from the grocery store. It does seem so pricey for so few ounces, but I must admit fresh sage smells so good, and it added a nice extra dimension of flavor.

Confession: I always set off the smoke detector when I make pizza. I love to use my baking stone, but to get my pizzas to slide nicely off the peel onto the stone, I have to sprinkle it quite liberally with cornmeal. Then during the transfer, the cornmeal falls onto the bottom of my oven and burns. But it's worth the hassle of taking the smoke detector down temporarily. And tonight, I got the crust crispier than ever! I must say I felt so gourmet serving this to my family for dinner.

For my boys, this seemed to be one-bite pizza. They both had one bite, they both seemed to sincerely like it, but neither ate any more of it. I guess it can't compare to their favorite pineapple pizza (which is what they filled up on that night). Carlos said it could use more butternut flavor. I think I didn't quite slice my squash thick enough. I was afraid 1/4" would be too thick, but I forgot about the shrinkage that would occur in the oven.

Butternut Squash Pizza with Crispy Sage

1 small butternut squash (about a pound, but you will likely have leftover squash)
olive oil

kosher salt
2 cloves garlic
pizza sauce of choice (I used my favorite tomato sauce from Joy of Cooking)
pizza dough (my go to recipe for this is also from JoC)
1-2 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 t. thyme
15 sage leaves
canola oil for frying
lemon wedges (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Slice the top of the squash about 1/2-inch under the stem to create a flat edge. Repeat with the other end. Cut crosswise through the squash just above the bulb — cutting the squash into two pieces makes the peeling process easier. Note: I made only one pizza, so I only peeled the longer portion (the non bulb portion) of the butternut squash. Stand the squash upright and, being careful not to slice off your fingers, run your knife down the sides of the squash removing the peel along the way. Repeat with bulb portion if desired. After peeling the bulb portion, cut it in half, scoop out seeds and discard. Cut the peeled squash crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. 

2. Place the slices of squash on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, season with kosher salt to taste, toss to coat, redistribute onto sheet in one layer and place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until fork tender. Remove from oven and increase heat to 500ºF. 

3. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the garlic and add it to about 1/4 cup of olive oil. After rolling out a pizza round and placing it on a prepared baking sheet, brush dough with the garlic olive oil. Spread a thin layer of sauce over the garlic oil. Sprinkle with 1 T. chopped sage (about 4 leaves) and half the mozzarella. Top with baked squash slices, then sprinkle the thyme and the rest of the cheese. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, fry the remaining sage leaves one at a time in a small sauté pan filled with a layer of hot oil (but not smoking). The sage leaves should take no longer than 5 seconds to crisp up, then remove them to drain on a plate lined with paper towel.

5. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the crispy sage. Serve slices with lemon wedges to squeeze on top as desired.

Roasted cabbage with pears

Made this tonight to go along with leftovers that needed to be eaten up. I think this could stand alone as a main dish pretty well though. It's all that George ate for dinner. Mainly he ate the pear, but I made him take bites of cabbage each time before he got more pear. I thought the cabbage was just as good, a nice savory complement to the sweet pear.

Roasted cabbage with pears (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, October 2012)

1 small head cabbage

3-4 pears

olive oil

salt and pepper

lemon juice

handful of walnuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 400F. Core cabbage and cut into wedges; core and quarter pears. Place on a baking sheet and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 40 to 45 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Transfer to a serving platter. Top with a squeeze of lemon juice and a generous sprinkle of walnuts. 

Serves 4-6 as a side, probably 2 if main dish.

Thai Red Curry

Happy 4th of July! This recipe isn't exactly American like apple pie, but it's how I as an American make Thai food.

(I updated the photo, this was a few weeks ago when I made curry with eggplant that George picked out from the grocery store.)

Thai Red Curry

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
2-3 Tbs Thai red curry paste (depending on how spicy you like it. You can get this and the coconut milk from an Asian market, although sometimes I can find coconut milk cheaper at Macey's)

juice of 1 lime (or a tablespoon or two of fish sauce, also available at Asian market)

1 chicken breast, chopped into 1 inch cubes and cooked (optional)

1 sweet potato (optional)

chopped cilantro (for garnish, optional)

Bring coconut milk to boil in medium saucepan (if you do use chicken in this, you can do like I do and boil the chicken in the coconut milk). Add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. You can add cooked cubed chicken if you like, and I also like to add chunks of cooked sweet potato to the sauce as well. Serve curry sauce over rice and steamed or stir-fried veggies (I use typical stir fry veggies, but I especially like to add baby corn, water chestnuts, sometimes bamboo shoots). My kids don't really like the spice of the curry sauce, so they usually just eat the rice and veggies (and maybe some sweet potato and chicken that I reserved before putting them in the sauce).

Quinoa Chili

Quinoa Chili photo and recipe from here.

here's a photo of the chili I made, doesn't look quite as appetizing, but still yummy!

This recipe is part of our regular rotations now. It's one of the few meatless meals I've found that Carlos enjoys. I know I've taken a picture of it, but I can't find it, and this one looks better, anyway. Might not be too helpful for you Mom, since Dad can't have peppers and onions, but maybe you could try it without those and adapt it to be less spicy (although it's not that spicy to begin with).

2 cans black beans, rinsed & drained (or whatever beans you like)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoon salt
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed in warm water & drained
1 cup frozen corn
2 cans tomato sauce, low salt (about 2 cups)
1 cup water

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, and sauté until tender. Add salt, garlic, pepper and spices; sauté for 5-10 minutes. Add rinsed quinoa and stir in. Add corn, tomato sauce, and water to onion/quinoa mixture. Simmer together 20 minutes. Add beans to the pot and simmer another 15 minutes. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, sliced avocados or whatever else you like to put on chili. Makes 6-8 (1 Cup) Servings.