After a request from a fellow BC9-er for a butternut squash recipe (Thanks, Courtney!) I was inspired to create a vegan-friendly risotto, too. Surely there has to be a way to savor the creamy goodness without heavy cream and excess amounts of cheese, I thought.

Here’s what I came up with. The short grain brown rice takes a little more time and liquid than white Arborio rice, but the end result is definitely worth the effort. If you just can’t bear the thought of a cheese-less risotto, go ahead and add some parmesan at the end (confession: I did). You’ll still respect yourself in the morning, I promise.

Brown Rice Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash

1 1-1/2 lb. butternut squash
preferred seasoning for squash
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup white wine
2 quarts mushroom (or whatever stock you prefer) plus 1 quart water
1 cup short grain brown rice
olive oil
½ c parmesan (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

For the squash:
Cut the squash into inch-sized cubes and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. After they come out, you can add seasoning of your choice. I used Caribbean Jerk seasoning with thyme, sugar, and red pepper, but you could use chile powder, brown sugar, or nutmeg—or just leave them plain.

For the risotto:
Sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent. While the onion is cooking, add the stock and water to a stockpot and bring to a low simmer. Add pepper and minced garlic and cook for another minute. Add the rice and allow it to toast for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine to the skillet and stir, allow the rice to soak it up a bit. Then begin adding the stock to the rice, 1-2 cups at a time. Make sure to stir regularly to help give the risotto its creamy consistency. When most of the stock is absorbed, add 1-2 more cups, repeating until you’ve used all the stock and the rice is tender.

Season with salt and pepper, stir in parmesan cheese, if desired, plate risotto and top with roasted squash.

Carrying on with the theme of using fall and Thanksgiving flavors in different ways, I wanted to really step out of the box on this one.

And boy did I, on a number of levels. First, I’d never had Brussels sprouts before. Ever. I wouldn’t say it is because I was afraid of them or had some traumatic experience as a child that left me hating all things green, in fact, I like greens quite a bit (I am from the South, after all). My family simply never cooked them. Before a little Googling, I had no idea what to even do with them.

Second, I knew that my husband really hates Brussels sprouts. Making something he’d even consider trying was going to require some creative thinking for sure.

I decided the best possible way to approach the situation was to combine something that lands far beyond “strong dislike” with something that ranks at “highly enjoy” on the food preference continuum.

I needed to find a way to package the Brussels sprouts that brought out the best of their qualities, while minimizing the less desirable ones. With potstickers often having a cabbage filling, and Brussels sprouts being mini cabbages themselves, realized I just might be on to something.

Finely shredding the sprouts really adds a nice, delicate texture and balance to the crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside potstickers to come in for the win on this one, and the flavor of the sauce and the sprouts is sensational.

Next time you’re up for a mini food adventure, I highly recommend giving these a try.

Brussels Sprouts Potstickers

¼ pound Brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed (enough for about 3 cups of Brussels sprout “slaw”)

½ large onion

6 strips of bacon, cut into small slices

12 oz package of dumpling wrappers

1 egg white

salt and pepper

canola oil

water

Dipping Sauce:

1 tbsp. Sriracha chili sauce

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp. sugar

Shred the Brussels sprouts and onion as finely as possible (I used a mandolin and highly recommend it) and combine in a bowl.

Fry the bacon pieces in a skillet until crispy and brown, remove from the skillet and set aside to drain.

Using the leftover bacon drippings, turn the skillet to medium heat and add Brussels sprouts, onions and salt and pepper. Cook the sprouts and onions until they turn bright green and slightly soften—do not overcook or the filling will become mushy as it will still steam again inside the potstickers.

Put the sprouts and onions in a bowl and toss with bacon pieces. Spoon about a tablespoon of the filling onto the center of the dumpling wrapper, brush the edges with egg white and seal. Make sure the edges are sealed tightly and cover with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

When you are ready to cook, heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan with a lid until it is hot but not smoking. Add the potstickers – in one layer, with plenty of room in between, and allow them to fry for about 1 minute. Then carefully (with lid in hand) add ¼ cup of water and cover to steam for about three minutes (the oil will splatter and pop, so be careful!) Uncover the potstickers and allow to cook for about another minute, until any remaining liquid has evaporated. You can flip them to brown both sides at this point, if desired. Repeat with the next batch of potstickers.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Makes about 50.

I love finding new ways to use squash, and after a request to incorporate penne pasta, here’s what I came up with.

By the way, if you’re looking for something to do with all the seeds from your squash, check out Eliza Domestica’s recipe for roasted winter squash seeds here.

Here’s the fruit of my efforts from last week’s market selection:

Penne with Roasted Acorn Squash, Vidalia Onions and Chile Rubbed Pork Chops

1 lb whole-wheat penne pasta

1 large Vidalia onion

1 acorn squash

3 1-inch-thick pork chops

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

¼ c parmesan cheese

For the pork chops:

2 tsp ancho chile powder

1 tsp chipotle chile powder

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp brown sugar

½ tsp salt

Combine spice mixture and rub on pork chops. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour up to overnight.

Cut the acorn squash in half and then into slices, lengthwise, and cut the onion into wedges.

Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet.

Roast the squash and onion at 375 for 20 minutes. The pork chops can go in the oven at the same time, but roast them for 20-35 minutes, or until they’re no longer pink in the center.

Allow the pork chops to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing to retain juices.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to directions.

After the squash and onions have cooked and slightly cooled, remove the skin from the squash and dice. Toss squash and onions with pasta. You can either dice the pork chops and toss with the pasta, squash and onions, or place on top.

Top each dish with some of the parmesan cheese.

Serves 3-4.

To get the ball rolling, I made one of my favorite (and healthier) snacks for this week’s Fantasy Football Fuel: sweet potato fries. Since these are baked in the oven, they aren’t quite as crispy as traditional fries, but I’ve found some ways to make them really delicious. I highly encourage you to give them a try—I promise they’re irresistible.

For this recipe you’l need:

Sweet Potatoes

Olive Oil to Coat Fries

Caribbean Jerk Seasoning

A Touch of Honey (think a tablespoon or less)

Garlic Powder

Salt

Here’s the easiest way to cut the sweet potatoes into fry-size.

First, cut off the top and bottom.

Next, cut the potato in half, lengthwise.

Then cut each half into strips, about 3/4 inch wide.

Cut each strip in half.

Put the fries in a bowl with seasoning, oil and honey and toss to coat.

Here’s a secret: use a cooling rack on top of a rimmed cookie sheet to allow air to circulate between the fries.

Place the fries on the rack, allowing for as much room to breathe between fries as possible.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until they begin to shrivel up a bit.  Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

The cooler temperatures this week definitely inspired this post.  I wanted to find a way to incorporate a lot of the wonderful fall flavors in-season produce has to offer, and while browsing Epicurious, I stumbled upon this gem of a dish: Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Leeks and Corn.

This definitely fit the bill.  The squash is roasted to bring out its rich, nutty flavor, and the rice worked well to bring all of the vegetables together.

Not only would this make a wonderful side dish, it would also be great solo, especially if you subbed the wild rice for quinoa.

I got the idea for these adorable deviled eggs from the Second City Soiree blog. Although I’m not entirely sure “football” and “adorable” go hand in hand, these were really good. Because I’m more of a fan of spicy, I swapped the chives for Serrano peppers, with the white veins cut out. (By the way, removing the membrane and seeds reduces the heat for any pepper.) I also used a more traditional deviled egg recipe than the one Southern Living uses. I used salt, pepper, paprika, Dijon mustard, Tabasco and mayonnaise, but I’m not quite sure I had all of the ratios correct, so I’ll leave you to use your favorite recipe.

Next time you’re looking to class up a football watching party, I highly recommend giving these a try. It’s an easy way to add a little fun to a traditional snack.

Remember the eggplant from the farmer’s market? I told you they’d be back again. They were the centerpiece of our Friday celebration—eggplant parmesan. I used Bobby Flay’s recipe, which you can find here.

I’ll be honest—I don’t like eggplant. At all. But this recipe was amazing! There are several steps to the recipe, but it is well worth it. This will definitely become a regular menu item. The sauce recipe would be great just to have on hand. I’ll probably add a more red pepper flakes, and maybe some chipotle powder next time, just because I like a spicier, smokier sauce.

So, whenever you’ve had one of those weeks—or even just one of those days—and need something to turn it around, I definitely suggest this recipe.

Fresh eggplant, ready to go!

Seasoned and ready to fry.

Finishing up the assembly.

The final product. Happy Friday!

Last night, while shopping at the market, I was inspired by the wonderful fresh squash and eggplant at one of the stands. While plans are in the works for the eggplant (look for them in an upcoming post) Here’s one of my favorite ways to prepare squash.

Calabacitas con Queso

This can be served as a side dish, leaving out the chicken.

• 2 large chicken breasts,
• 2 large yellow squash
• 3 large zucchini
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 4 oz can diced green chilies
• 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
• 2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese
• ½ cup cream
• olive oil
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper
• 1 ½ tsp cumin

Cook the onions in the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat until translucent. Add the garlic and cubed chicken breast and cook until the chicken is no longer pink. Add in the squash, chilies, cumin, salt and pepper and cook until squash reduces in size and is tender. When squash is fork-tender, add in the cheese and cream and stir. The dish will be slightly runny—you can allow it to sit in the skillet uncovered for a few minutes to slightly thicken, if desired.

Gorgeous produce at Phoenix Public Market.

Farm fresh!

The final product. Yum!

I ordered risotto on our very first date from this amazing little restaurant in Austin called Vespaio. (P.S. If you are ever looking for a place on South Congress to eat, please go there! It will change your life!!!) He had never tried it before, but thought it looked good.

The next time we ate at Vespaio (marking another milestone in our relationship), he finally ordered risotto for himself and was hooked. In fact, he got up in the middle of the night to eat the leftovers before I could get to them! Later, for Valentine’s Day, I surprised him with homemade risotto when he flew in to see me.

And, just a few months ago, we made risotto together for our friends at our engagement party. I guess you could say we’re a risotto-loving duo at this point.

Really, risotto is probably the one meal we’ve shared at the majority of the happiest times of our life together so far. Every time I make it (or we cook it together) it reminds us of all the good times we’ve had and how many we have to look forward to.

Here’s my “good life” risotto:

I use balsamic chicken and asparagus in mine, but feel free to substitute other ingredients.

• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1 medium-large Vidalia onion, diced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1/4 -1/2 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper

• 1 lb asparagus
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

For the risotto:

Cook the onion in olive oil on medium heat in a deep skillet until translucent. While the onion is cooking, add the chicken stock to a stockpot and bring to a low heat. Add the rice to the onion and toast for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine to the skillet and stir, allow the rice to soak it up a bit. Then begin adding the stock to the rice, 1-2 cups at a time. Make sure to stir regularly to help give the risotto its creamy consistency. When most of the stock is absorbed, add 1-2 more cups, repeating until you’ve used all the stock and the rice is tender. Turn the heat to low and add in salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and cream. Stir vigorously to combine.

For the chicken:

Marinade the chicken breasts in the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a zip-top bag for 2 hours, up to over night. Bake chicken at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

For the asparagus:

Toss asparagus, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, salt and pepper on a baking dish until spears are coated. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, or until tender but not overcooked.

Plate risotto and top with sliced chicken and asparagus. Voila! Happiness on a plate!

At Taverna the evening of our engagement, probably just finishing up some risotto. : )

Early stages of the risotto

Just added some more broth...

In comes the cream and cheese!

Roasted asparagus... yum!

Last Monday, I cooked a brisket with this exact plan in mind.  Brisket is pretty common in Texas, it’s really delicious and actually can be easy to cook when you learn the proper technique.  You can barbecue it or even cook it in the oven.  Because it’s such a large cut of meat, it lasts forever!  Plus chopped beef sandwiches or even just pieces of cold, sliced brisket are amazing snacks or lunches.

To round out my meal, I also made a pot of pinto beans and some cole slaw.  In the words of Ron Popeil, this is definitely a “set it and forget it” kind of meal– the brisket bakes for several hours on low heat, the beans simmer on the stove for quite a while, and the cole slaw can even marinate overnight in the fridge.

Oven Brisket:

I used about a 4 lb. brisket, but you can get larger or smaller ones and adjust the recipe accordingly.

• 1- 4 lb. brisket
• 1 bottle barbecue sauce plus about a half-jar of water– enough to cover the meat.  My favorite it the Salt Lick’s Lauren’s Recipe, a spicier, habanero version of their original…  you can find it at Whole Foods
• salt and pepper, to taste

Trim the fat from the brisket, leaving a thin layer facing up to help keep the meat moist.  Season both sides of brisket with salt and pepper and cover with the sauce and water.  Cover with foil and bake at 325 for at least 4 hours.

Pinto Beans:

For two people I recommend about a half pound of dry beans.  Don’t forget to sort them before cooking… this was my big job when I was younger– taking the beans out of the bag and double-checking for rocks or beans that don’t look so great.

• 1/2 lb. dry pinto beans
• 1/8 cup chile powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• water to cover the beans

Sort beans into a colander and rinse under cold water.  Cover beans with water in a heavy stock pot.  Add chile powder and pepper.  IMPORTANT: Do not add salt to the beans until they’re done cooking.  Otherwise it will break them down and make them mushy.  Boil the beans on medium-high heat for an hour or so or until they’re soft.  Stir in salt.

Cole Slaw:

Using the Fresh Express packaged shredded cabbage is a HUGE time saver in this recipe.  Otherwise you can buy heads of white and red cabbage and use half of each.

• 1 package shredded cabbage or 1/2 of a red and white head of cabbage, shredded
• 1 bell pepper, finely sliced
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil (about 2 turns of the bowl)
• 2 tsp (or a very large pinch) of sugar
• salt and pepper

Combine the cabbage, bell pepper and red onion in a large bowl.  Toss with vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate up to overnight to allow the vinegar to slightly pickle the cabbage and combine the flavors.

Yum!