Category: Dinner

Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash

It’s been almost a week since my last post, and I just couldn’t push off blogging any longer. I know a week doesn’t sound like much, but I know myself. If I go for a week, I’ll go for two, maybe three, and before you know it, It’ll be a month without blogging.

And I have reasons too. For one, I’ve been working on Purim recipes. More importantly, my internet connection has been out of whack lately. I’ll be just in the middle of pinning an amazing recipe onto my drooling board on Pinterest when my internet goes down on me. Up and down, and up and down. And you know what the embarrassing part it is? My husband is a computer technician. But you know how it goes. The shoemakers kids and their shoes. That’s me.

So now that I’ve braved my unreliable connection (my cable has gone down about 10 times since I started working on this post), let’s get to why you’re really all here. The food.

This is one of those recipes that I dreamed up one night…literally. Does anyone else develop recipes in their sleep, or am I the only crazy one? The worst part is, I usually forget them once I wake up, but this time, it stuck with me. Maybe that’s because it’s not that complicated, and there aren’t that many ingredients.  Jack’s Gourmet sweet Italian sausages are so full of flavor, you just don’t need to add much for the recipe to sing.

OK people, I’m gonna be honest here. We’re talking full disclosure. I haven’t blogged because I’m too busy on Pinterest. I’m obsessed. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go to http://www.pinterest.com/busyinbrooklyn and follow me!

 

Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash

2 small butternut squashes
2 Jacks Gourmet sweet italian sausages, finely diced
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
3 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Place butternut squashes on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees until it pierces easily with a fork, about 1 hour. Saute the sausage for a few minutes until it has browned and rendered some of its fat. Remove the sausage from the pan, but leave the drippings. Add the apples and saute until softened. Add maple syrup and continue to saute until golden and caramelized. Return the sausage to the pan and mix into the apples.

When the squash is ready, leave it to cool for several minutes. Cut it in half, lengthwise, and remove the pits. Scoop out most of the flesh, leaving about 1/2″ of squash all around. Add squash pulp, brown sugar, salt and pepper to the pan and mix to combine (dont overstir the squash, you want it to be lumpy). Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Return the squash to the oven and bake, uncovered, until browned around the edges, about 15 minutes.

1 year ago: organic oven baked sweet potatoes

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Cheesy Stuffed Mini Peppers


At one of our Chanukah parties recently (was Chanukah really that recent? It feels like ages ago!), my sister in-law decided to bring over some food for the low-carb dieters at the party. I was really intrigued by her idea of making stuffed shells without the pasta. Mini peppers stand in as a great replacement, adding color and sweetness to the dish. I decided to whip up my own variation by peppering up (pun intended!) a version of my mom’s famous lasagna recipe. Truth be told – I still made some stuffed shells for my pasta-loving kids, but I was more than satisfied with my lighter and lower-carb variation.

Cheesy Stuffed Mini Peppers

1 15 oz. container ricotta or reduced fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
1 10 oz. box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove water
1 bag sweet mini peppers
1 jar marinara sauce
1 8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl, mix cheeses, egg, spices and 1/2 of the spinach. Pour half of the marinara sauce into a 9×13 pan. Dot with remaining spinach. Cut the tops off the mini peppers and remove the veins and seeds. Fill with cheese mixture and place in the pan on top of the marinara sauce. Pour remaining 1/2 jar of sauce over the peppers and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, or until peppers begin to soften. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until the cheese is browned and crisped around the edges.

VARIATION: For traditional stuffed shells, use large shell pasta in place of the mini peppers.

1 year ago: spinach pasta

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Nut Crusted Shnitzel

One of the most important dieting tips I can give you is to eat well. Most of us can’t survive on bowls of salad. It gets boring, it’s rarely filling, and it will only lead you to dream about the foods you really want, which, inevitably ends in binging. So as not to feel deprived, I like to come up with recipes that make my favorite foods accessible. Panko-crusted shnitzel is one of my favorites, so I had to come up with a recipe to suit my dietary needs. I’m not suggesting that this recipe is healthy, its fried after all. However, for those who are strictly watching their carbs, this recipe is a good alternative to breading.

In general, if you like to eat gluten free, it’s always a good idea to look up Passover recipes. My mom makes this shnitzel for Pesach (although she dips it into potato starch first)  so I figured I’d give it a try. I used both ground and chopped walnuts to crust the chicken. The ground nuts turned out similar to a bread crumb coating, while the chopped nuts turned out a bit more crunchy. Overall, this turned out to be a great alternative to the traditional. Serve with a side of baked vegetable fries such as kohlrabi, turnips, celery root or rutabaga.

Nut-Crusted Shnitzel

chopped or ground walnuts (or both!)
1 egg
chicken cutlets, trimmed thin
salt and pepper, to taste
canola oil, fry frying

Method:

Clean chicken and trim of fat. Pat dry and add to a bowl. Prepare a second bowl with an egg, season with salt and pepper. Add nuts to a third bowl. Now that you’ve set up your “dredging station”, you’re ready to start. Heat up a frying pan with oil (you can test to see if it’s ready by putting a drop of the egg into the oil to see if it sizzles) Using tongs, dip chicken into egg, and then nuts. Add to the pan and fry on each side until golden. Remove to paper towels to absorb excess oil.

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Spaghetti Squash Bolognese


Bolognese is a meat-based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna, Italy. Traditional Bolognese includes a mirepoix of onions, celery and carrots but it can be adapted to suit your taste and dietary needs. In my house, we call Bolognese “smashed meatballs” because that’s what gets my kids to eat it :) I love to make this recipe because unlike meatballs and burgers, this meaty pasta sauce requires no ‘fillers” such as bread crumbs and does not contain any sugar. Serve it up on a bed of spaghetti squash, or, with its traditional accompaniment, tagliatelle pasta.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 container mushrooms, sliced
1.5 lbs. extra lean ground beef
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
salt and pepper, to taste
spaghetti squash (click on the link for how to prepare)

Method:
Saute onion and garlic till translucent. Add celery, carrots and mushrooms and continue to saute until golden. Remove from pot. Add ground beef and saute until no longer pink. Drain meat. Return meat and veggies back to the pot and add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 30 minutes-1 hour.

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Pan Seared Tuna Steak

Years ago, I ordered tuna steak at a restaurant for the first time. I had never eaten it before, so I had no idea what it was supposed to taste like. When the kitchen delivered a bone-dry piece of tuna, I thought that was the way it was meant to taste, and that was it for me. I had no interest in ever eating it again. Fast forward a few years and I was watching an episode of Chopped on the Food Network. They mentioned one of the competitors websites so I checked it out. I happened upon a video of the chef preparing a pan-seared tuna steak and it was the most beautiful piece of fish I had ever seen. The very next day I was off to the fishmonger. I heated up my skillet, and in 5 minutes flat I had the most juicy, mouth-watering piece of fish. I can’t say enough how simply delicious this is. No need for spices, sauces or fancy marinades – just a sprinkle of salt and pepper and you’ll be blown away!

Pan Seared Tuna Steak

1 tuna steak
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

Method:

Rinse tuna steak and pat dry on paper towel. Heat up a frying pan over medium-high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle tuna steak with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and add seasoned-side-down to the pan. You should hear it sizzle (if you don’t, your pan is not hot enough). Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper. Sear for 2 minutes and flip, searing the second side for 2 minutes as well. Using tongs, hold the fish on its side and sear all around. Remove from pan and slice into 1/4″ slices. If you like your tuna more well done, continue to cook until desired doneness.

Simple Cabbage Salad

1/2 head cabbage, sliced
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp safflower oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
black sesame seeds
scallions, for garnish

Method:

Slice cabbage into thin strips. Mix with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and sesame seeds. Garnish with scallions.

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