Make this casserole! I said do it now!

Butternut Squash, how I love thee.... Let me eat you all the ways.

Casserole. What a great word, I feel happy just saying it. Cass-e-role! Like I'm on-a-role, with Casseroles. What's a shame about casseroles is they are often associated with lots of butter, whole milk and cheese. I know there are healthy casseroles out there, so I'm making it my goal to find some. I love making a dish on Sunday night then having leftovers for lunch the following day, which is when a good casserole comes in handy.
I found this genius recipe in the Moosewood Cookbook aka what I'm snuggling with when Healthy Boyfriend is away. Pretty much everything appealed to me about this recipe. Seasonal ingredients, using yogurt and feta (instead of whole milk or cheddar like many casseroles) and quick preparation time. The squash, onions, garlic, pepper, and eggs were all local which means the dish was pretty darn friendly to the environment. Good for our bodies too!

I made this Saturday night, Healthy Boyfriend and I played Mankala and sung songs while he strummed his guitar. That's us, party animals. Once we finally finished dinner, he made sure to mention how much he enjoyed this casserole. Being someone who usually does not enjoy casseroles he was thrilled by how this one turned out. I thanked him for the compliment, but I had figured out how much he loved it as he went back for fourths.
This casserole is fantastic in its simplicity. What shines through are the natural flavors of the vegetables. The yogurt and egg hold it together and add a creaminess, but mostly you taste squash, onion, and peppers which is delightful. As I've mentioned red peppers and I are not on the best of terms, usually I flat out avoid cooking with them, but I gobbled them up in this dish. There was just enough to give a nice heat, but the red peppers didn't overpower the dish. As far as the topping, I didn't have nuts or sunflower seeds so I just roughly chopped plain sesame sticks which worked great. Really anything crunchy will do, just use what you have laying around.
I will definitely be playing with variations on this basic dish, so stay tuned. And make this casserole, it's just too good to miss.

Arabian Squash Cheese Casserole

Sautéing your vegetables

Throw everything in a bowl, mix, then cook! 

The Goods: 4-5 Servings
2 medium-large butternut or acorn squash
1 heaping cup onions, chopped
1 heaping cup red and green peppers, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup greek yogurt or buttermilk
1 cup plain feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tsp salt, more to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Hot sauce (optional)

Topping:
1/2 cup Sesame sticks or Sunflower seeds or Nuts, chopped

The Deal:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut both squash down the middle lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place face down on a oiled cookie sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes or until soft. Remove and let cook until handle-able. Scoop out flesh and mash.

Cooking Tip: I did most of my prep work while the squash was cooking.

2. Saute onions and garlic in butter and salt in a large saute pan on medium heat. When onions are translucent, about 3-5 minutes, add peppers. Saute peppers until just under done, about 5-7 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl beat eggs with the yogurt or buttermilk. Crumble in the feta and mix well. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until evenly combined. Add additional salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

4. Spread into a buttered cassarole dish and sprinkle crunchy topping of your choice evenly over the top. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, just until the edges begin to bubble. Serve warm!

Healthier boxed Mac and Cheese!

Dinner for 2. Boom. 

Well this isn't a recipe as much as a neat trick. A friend with 2 kids under the age of 5 (read someone with almost no time or energy to cook, but still wants to feed their kids healthy food) found this idea in a parenting magazine and I'm stealing it.

I think it is safe to say that we all rely on boxed mac and cheese from time to time. Or weekly in some cases. Now I wouldn't say any boxed mac and cheese is "healthy", but Annie's definitely makes the healthiest cheap organic mac and cheese I have found. It has the lowest sodium content and the least amount of ingredients, which means the least amount of added chemicals. More importantly they have bunny shapes, I mean I'm human of COURSE I want my macaroni to be in a cute little bunny shape.

Notice my green beans in the background. Don't forget a good green! 

So next time you make boxed mac and cheese instead of using butter and milk use:
4 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
1 (4 oz jar) of Earth's Best sweet potatoes baby food

Combine the yogurt, sweet potatoes and cheese packet in a bowl and stir until smooth. Cook macaroni as directed, then stir in your healthier mixture and enjoy!

The yogurt adds protein and the pureed sweet potato has Vitamin A, Iron, and Calcium. Plus I think it this way tastes better than with milk and butter and it's better for you.
Anyone I've been pretty excited since I learned this little trick, hope you like it too!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

all homemade, thats a southern meal!

Im from the South yall. Like any good southerner I am also a ranch addict. Hot damn, I love me some ranch. Fittingly enough I don't enjoy ranch on salads, I want it on sweet potato fries, pizza and oh yeah regular fries. Such a fat kid.

My boyfriend does not like my ranch addiction, especially because I like Kraft ranch. I have tried Annies healthy ranch and its just not the same. I get organic ketchup, avoid high fructose syrup at all costs, but DAMMIT, Kraft ranch is simply the best(aka full of terrible chemicals and bad junk for my body).

One night while reading my lovely Barefoot Contessa, I noticed a recipe for homemade ranch. I cannot eat of a lot the recipes Barefoot makes, because they are often focused more on flavor than nutrition, but I trust her when it comes to ranch.

all the ingredients, before blended

Making your own dressings is easy, once you know a few you like, and makes you look very fancy at parties. Homemade dressing takes a salad from an "ok", to a "that salad was my favorite thing, you are genuis" Soon I want to make my caesar dressing and ginger dressing from some family friends. Im telling you people, dressings, they are not just for supermarkets anymore.

There are a few different bases people use for ranch. Some used all mayonnaise, others yogurt and mayo, some sour cream, buttermilk, everyone had a slightly different version. I really enjoyed this version, using mayo, yogurt and buttermilk. I would stick to greek yogurt instead of regular, greek yogurt is creamier. Also I used a light mayo and think it tasted great. I did not make it with regular mayo, so I wouldn't know and plan to keep it that way.

Letting this dressing sit for an hour is crucial. I tasted it right after I made it, and then an hour later, and was delighted. Those flavors must have worked so hard developing in my fridge, they were so much more delicious after an hour.

Not sure how long it will last, I assume at least a week, but I will let yall know when it goes bad. I have 3 cups of ranch, and it will take even ME a while to get through it.

This recipe is not healthy per say....Its healthier than getting ranch from the store, but its not a balsamic vinaigrette. This is good to make if your having a party and it will all get eaten.

As I mentioned above this recipe is straight out of Barefoot Contessa's new book, "How Easy is that?"
And yeah, it was like....easy.

Homemade Ranch

ranch in a jar, adorable!

The Goods: Makes 3 cups
3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, lightly packed
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard(I used whole grain dijon mustard, b/c its what I had)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup good mayo(I used Hellmans light)
1/2 greek style yogurt, plain
1/2 cup buttermilk shaken

The Deal:
1. Place the scallions, basil, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl of a food processor with a steel blade. Puree for 15-20 seconds or until the mixture is smooth.

2. Add mayo, yogurt and buttermilk and blend until smooth. Transfer to a container, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to let the flavors develop.

Use on your favorite salads, or if you are like me, dip your pizza in. DONT be like me, pizza AND ranch, who am I? A healthier salad dressing to come, I promise!