It’s the Monday before Christmas. You’ve baked your fruitcake, braved the mall, passed all the shipping deadlines and if you’re anything like me, are more than ready to settle down for a long winter’s nap. Then your neighbor drops off a “small gift”, or your Aunt Phyllis comes and tell you she’s bringing her boyfriend’s son to Christmas dinner, or your company IT guy marches into your office with a tub of popcorn. You need a gift, homemade is always nice, and you want it to be easy. No crazy specialty ingredients, no weeks of maturing and no multi-step elaborate processes. You need pecan brittle.
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Tags: candy·Christmas·gifts·Gluten Free·holiday·sweets·vegan
The advent of fall is subtle here in Los Angeles. We don’t get the fire of autumn leaves, serving as a beacon, or the sudden damp and chill, requiring rainboots and peacoats. We tend to put our heads down during the fires and Santa Ana winds of September and October, keep going through day after day of sunny skies and 80 degree temperatures, until sometime in November we look up and notice that the air smells of leaf mold and woodsmoke, the nights have grown cold, the sycamore leaves have changed from golden green to golden brown, and the light seems to be filtered through a faint haze. Fall has arrived, not with bright banners and pounding drums, but quietly and unmistakeably.
Fall also brings with it a cornucopia of autumnal produce — my beloved brussels sprouts, apples, persimmons, pears, sweet potatoes, and of course, squash. Nothing quite screams autumn like winter squash – first the pumpkins for Halloween, then pumpkin pie and suddenly the creamy orange flesh is everywhere you turn.
Squash are often banished to side dish status, but they can be the centerpiece of a meal. Acorn squash, in particular, makes an appealing main course — it’s perfectly sized for built-in portion control, is less sweet than butternut or kabocha squash, lending itself well to savory preparations, and it’s pretty to boot. This acorn squash, which is halved, then baked and stuffed with a mixture of squash and quinoa, is a particularly elegant preparation — hearty, savory and beautiful enough to grace a dinner table. It’s a great option if you are planning a Thanksgiving dinner with vegetarians at the table — it can be made well in advance except for a late reheating, and is substantial and lovely enough that the vegetarians don’t feel like they’ve been relegated to the status of second class citizens.
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Tags: Gluten Free·hazelnuts·quinoa·Thanksgiving·Vegetables·Vegetarian
Brussels sprouts have since become one of my favorite vegetables, with their nutty flavor. tendercrisp texture and whimsical form (my childhood of playing with dollhouses predisposes me to love miniature things). When fall comes around and I start to see those little guys in the market, they come into regular rotation — usually thrown into a hot oven with some olive oil and salt to brown up, but sometimes in salads, in sautes and in that scallop dish from years ago. Now that I am a brussels sprout fanatic though, I find I need to convert the unbelievers (like my dad), and olive oil and salt, divine though they may be, just don’t cut it.
Brussels sprouts have since become one of my favorite vegetables, with their nutty flavor. tendercrisp texture and whimsical form (my childhood of playing with dollhouses predisposes me to love miniature things). When fall comes around and I start to see those little guys in the market, they come into regular rotation — usually thrown into a hot oven with some olive oil and salt to brown up, but sometimes in salads, in sautes and in that scallop dish from years ago. Now that I am a brussels sprout fanatic though, I find I need to convert the unbelievers (like my dad), and olive oil and salt, divine though they may be, just don’t cut it.
Enter bacon. While I am still doubtful about the ubiquity of bacon (does it really make EVERYTHING better?) it does have a natural affinity with brussels sprouts — the smokiness and the salt really highlight the nuttiness of the sprout. Add some cream for sweetness and a touch of lemon juice to brighten the whole dish, and you have a brussels sprouts dish that even the vegetable phobic could love. Of course, cream and bacon do not a light dish make, but with the holidays coming up, this is a perfect dish to grace the Thanksgiving table as an alternative to all that disgustingly healthy turkey. (I’ve also made it with a tablespoon of butter in place of the bacon and it’s still pretty fabulous, in case you’re a vegetarian or don’t eat pork.)
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Tags: Gluten Free·holiday·Thanksgiving·Vegetables·Vegetarian
