Chickpea and Butternut Squash Salad

So last night I made some amazing food. Yep, it was delicious. And healthy. And delicious. My sweet friend, Rachel, came over for dinner, and she was willing to be a genia pig for my kitchen experiments. I based this off of a salad that I had while on vacation in Florida. The beverage that is in the pitcher was also a new recipe I tried, and it was super delicious, but I want to mess with it a little more before I post a recipe for it.

Chickpea and Butternut Squash Salad

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and diced

1 can chickpeas, drained

red onion, to taste, thinly sliced

6-8 grape tomatoes

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Mixed Greens

Toss the butternut squash and the chickpeas with some olive oil and sea salt. Place on a foil covered baking sheet and bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butternut squash is tender. While that is baking, heat some coconut oil in a small fry pan with a touch of honey and saute until onion is soft. If you prefer the stronger onion taste, you can forgo the sauteing and just put raw onion in. 

When the squash mixture is done, place the tomatoes in the oven while you prepare the salad. Toss the squash mixture with the onion and a little sea salt and cayenne pepper. On the plate put a bed of mixed greens and top with a generous amount of squash mixture. Top with warm tomatoes and drizzle with basil-cilantro dressing.

Basil-Cilantro Dressing

Olive Oil

1 lemon, juiced

1 bunch cilantro

1 handful fresh basil

Fill container about halfway with olive oil. Finely chop basil and add to olive oil. Cut off the top portion of the cilantro bunch and finely chop. Add to the olive oil. Add juice of 1 lemon. Shake and add more lemon juice to taste. Let this sit for at least 6 hours before you use it to let the flavors combine. Shake well before use.

Blueberry Bonanza

The farmer's market had beautiful, fresh blueberries. They went home with me, and they became two very lovely blueberry tarts. I had a request for the recipe for the first one I made, so I thought I would just include both of them here.

Blueberry Tarts

Shortbread Crust (for 2 tarts):

1 cup butter softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

To make the crust:

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the flour and mix until combined. The crust will be crumbly. Press into two fluted tart pans and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool before filling.

Mascarpone Filling:

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (I didn't measure)

1 package (8 oz.) mascarpone cheese, softened

scant 1/2 cup sugar (I think this could actually decrease or be left out entirely)

cinnamon

freshly ground nutmeg

For the Mascarpone filling:

Beat the whipping cream with the sugar and spices until soft peaks form. Add in the mascarpone and beat just until combined. Spoon into crust and top with blueberries. Drizzle the top with honey and allow to chill for a couple of hours in the fridge. 

A friend of mine recently found out that she needs to cut dairy out of her diet, and so I made a tart that she could enjoy because the first one I made the filling was almost entirely dairy. 

Lemon Filling:

1/4 - 1/2 cup honey (I didn't measure)

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. tapioca flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups water

2 lemons, juiced

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

4 egg yolks, beaten

To make lemon filling: 

In a medium saucepan combine honey, flour, tapioca flour, salt, water and lemon juice. You could also zest the two lemons and add the zest. Whisk together and cook over medium heat until it boils and starts to thicken. Add in the butter and stir until it melts. Pour a small amount into the egg yolks, whisking continually, and then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan and cook over medium-low heat until it thickens. Pour into the crust and place in the fridge to cool. Top with blueberries.

veggie quinoa soup

Well, it's the second day of Spring here in Missouri, and this is what it looks like in my backyard:

I know, it's kind of depressing. Missouri, I moved south so I wouldn't have more Winter. Lame.

So this day called for some soup. It's packed with good for you veggies, and a touch of quinoa for some protein and goodness. I just kind of threw this together, so no real recipe, and I'm sadly lacking in pictures, but here goes.

I started with a small onion in a big pot with some olive oil. I added a giant sweet potato all diced up (and I do mean giant. If you can't find a giant sweet potato, I suggest using two smaller ones).

To this I added 3 carrots and 4 stalks of celery that I sliced. I put in one container of veggie broth (4 cups?). Then I threw in a head of broccoli florets. I added some cayenne, turmeric, curry powder, cumin, ground ginger (I was going to use fresh, but sadly mine had gone bad), cinnamon, crushed red pepper flakes, dried basil, and chili powder.

I added a large can of diced tomatoes and about half of a small can of tomato paste. Then I filled the diced tomato can with water and added that. Then I put in 1 cup of quinoa.

I let this boil and then simmer for a while, letting the quinoa cook and the veggies get softer. After letting this cook for a while, I tore up a bunch of kale and added it in. Let it cook a little longer and voila! Dinner!

I would serve this with biscuits or cornbread, but sadly I am out of milk, so I had to settle for some saltines instead. Enjoy!

Oh, and I was featured over at my friend Hannah Cole's blog because back in September I did the cupcakes for her wedding with a little help from my cupcake Elves: me mum and the lovely Stephanie Grace over at Gracie's Bakes.