Roasted Pumpkin Salad

From 101 Cookbooks, by Heidi Swanson.

If you are looking for something to serve on Thanksgiving Day search no further!  This recipe will definitely be repeated in my kitchen.  The roasted squash and onions smelled so good and the nutty flavor of the rice sang an ode to fall and harvest time.  It passed the husband test with flying colors, the toddlers, well that's a standard all of it's own.  But I will just say that there were no leftovers and next time I'll probably double the recipe.

3 cups of pumpkin (or other winter squash), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
12 tiny red onions or shallots, peeled (OR 3 medium red onions peeled and quartered)
2 cups cooked wild rice*
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375.
Toss the pumpkin in a generous splash of olive oil along with a couple pinches of salt, and turn out onto a baking sheet. At the same time, toss the onions with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and turn out onto a separate baking sheet. Roast both for about 45 minutes, or until squash is brown and caramelized. The same goes for the onions, they should be deeply colored, caramelized, and soft throughout by the time they are done roasting. You'll need to flip both the squash and onion pieces once or twice along the way - so it's not just one side that is browning.
In the meantime, make the dressing. With a hand blender or food processor puree the sunflower seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and honey until creamy. You may need to add a few tablespoons of warm water to thin the dressing a bit. Stir in the cilantro, saving just a bit to garnish the final plate later. Taste and adjust seasonings (or flavors) to your liking - I usually need to add a touch more salt with this dressing.
In a large bowl, toss the wild rice with a large dollop of the dressing. Add the onions, gently toss just once or twice. Turn the rice and onions out onto a platter and top with the roasted squash (I'll very gently toss with my hands here to disperse the pumpkin a bit). Finish with another drizzle of dressing and any remaining chopped cilantro.
Serves 4.
* To cook wild rice: Rinse 1 1/2 cups wild rice. In a medium sauce pan bring the rice and 4 1/2 cups salted water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook for 40 minutes or until rice is tender and splitting open, stirring occasionally. You'll have enough for this recipe and some leftover.

Apricot Granola Bars

From Veggie Life, Winter '02-'03

Granola bars need little bits of a lot of different items, but they are all so healthy it blocks out the brown sugar...right?  Maybe someone out there can suggest a better substitute so the healthy feel is unadulterated, agave perhaps?  Oh ya, and the butter...well, just see disclaimer page.

1 c old-fashioned oats
1/3 c wheat germ
1/3 c whole almonds, unblanched
2 T pumpkin seed kernels
2 T sesame seeds
1/4 c honey
1 T walnut or peanut oil
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c melted butter
1/4 c raisins
1/4 c chopped dried apricots
Cooking spray or oil

Preheat oven To 225 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds.  Add 1 T of the honey and the oil.  Toss to mix well.  Spread mixture on a nonstick baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring often, until toasty.

Raise oven heat to 350 degrees. In same mixing bowl, combine remaining honey, brown sugar, melted butter, raisins, and apricots.  Stir in toasted mixture and mix well.

Line a 9-inch square baking dish with foil and lightly spray or oil.  pour in granola mixture and smooth with a spatula. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely in pan. When cool, tip out granola, remove foil, and cut into bars. Store in a container with a tight-fitting lid.

Pasta with Arugula

 From The Lazy Vegetarian

I got some arugula in my weekly vegetable delivery and wasn't sure what to do with it.  I found this easy recipe and added a yellow squash and red pepper since I needed to use them as well.  Quite good!

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (I often used jarred, pre-minced garlic)
8 oz. small, fat pasta* (1/2 of most packages)
1 bag or package arugula**
1/2 cup (or to taste) sliced pitted black olives
2 medium (or one extra-large) tomato, cut into bite-sized pieces
Fresh ground pepper
1/4 - 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (or soy equivalent, like Veggie Grated Parmesan from Galaxy Foods)

Cook the pasta per package directions in a large pot. When it is almost done, heat the oil in a small skillet and cook the garlic for a couple of minutes. After draining pasta, return it to the pot, and add the rest of the ingredients, except cheese. Drizzle the oil on top and mix together. Mix cheese in or sprinkle on top of each serving. Serves 2-3.

Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

By Caitlin Wilson Rivera.

I haven't officially tried this yet but I have a pie in my freezer and I have sampled all of the parts, so I have a pretty good feeling that this recipe is going to be a keeper.  Thus I throw caution to the wind and post this gem that I plan to enjoy tonight after my boys are in bed and the evening is mine.

Crust:
1 1/2 c raw almonds
1/4 c honey or agave nectar

Filling:
1 1/2 sliced banana
walnuts
1 c raw cashews
2 bananas (very ripe)
pinch of salt
1 t vanilla
1/2 c cocoa
1/2 c agave nectar

To make the crust, in a food processor grind the raw almonds into a fine powder.  After it looks almost like flour add the agave nectar or honey and process until well combined. Empty the contents into a pie plate and flatten with your fingers to make the crust. The crust will not go all the way up to the top, but it should be close.

Lay banana slices out on the crust just so it covers the bottom.  Sprinkle with walnuts

To make the filling, in a food processor grind cashews into a flour.  Then add bananas, salt, vanilla, cocoa, and agave, and process until mixed well.  Pour contents into pie plate over top of bananas and walnuts.  Spread filling out evenly.  Cover and freeze until solid.  Remove pie from freezer and let thaw 10 minutes before serving.

Nut Butter-Cinnamon-Raisin Granola

From The Low-Cholesterol Oat Plan by Barbara Earnest and Sarah Schlesinger.

This granola is soooo yummy, it's like eating cookies for breakfast. I always add in a chopped apple and use almonds rather than peanuts, but I really don't think you can go wrong with this one.  Every time I make a batch of this stuff I have to divide it equally into two separate containers so my husband and I are sure to get even shares.

2/3 c unhydrogenated peanut butter or almond butter
2/3 c honey
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract
3 c old-fashioned rolled oats
1 c oat bran
1 c raisins
1 c unsalted peanuts

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon in a saucepan over low heat and stir until they are all liquified. Stir in vanilla.

Combine all remaining ingredients and stir in the peanut/honey mixture, coating evenly.

Spread granola onto a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes.  (Then the recipe says to leave the pan in the turned-off oven for 1 1/2 hours.  I never do this because I like mine soft.  If you prefer crunchy granola then follow this step.)

Keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

Skinny Tomato Sauce

1 med onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
 2 T water
1 (32 oz) can crushed tomatoes w/ Italian herbs, or add 1 T Italian seasoning
1 T olive oil
 2 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 bay leaf

In saucepan combine onion, garlic and water.  Bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 10 minutes or until onion is tender and translucent, stir and add water as needed.  Add remaining ingredients.  Increase to medium high and bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes.  Discard bay leaf.

Asian Coleslaw

By Bobbi Ritcheske.

This makes a HUGE salad, so hopefully you love cabbage like I do or you have invited your extended family over for dinner. I substituted a cucumber in for one of the bell peppers. The dressing really is very good and I stuffed pita bread with the whole concoction.  All together it made a filling meal, and was pleasing to the eye as well. 

Salad:

5 c thinly sliced green cabbage
2 c thinly sliced red cabbage
2 c thinly sliced Napa cabbage
2 large red or yellow bell peppers, julienne
2 carrots, julienne
6-8 green onions, sliced
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:

6 T rice wine vinegar
6 T olive oil
5 T creamy peanut butter
3 T soy sauce
3 T brown sugar
2 T minced fresh ginger root
1 1/2 T minced garlic

Prepare the dressing by whisking together the rice vinegar, oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic.

In a large bowl combine the vegetables and cilantro.  Add dressing, toss and serve.  Season with salt and pepper and/or sesame seeds to taste.