Category: squash

Maple Glazed Roasted Squash with Kale (dairy-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan)

This reminds me of my mother’s baked acorn squash where she’d half them, remove the seeds, fill the cavity with butter and brown sugar and then bake them.  So buttery and delicious.  This is a fairly easy recipe once the squash are sliced.  Some grocery stores will now do this for you so ask (they can probably slice them more evenly than I did mine!).  Feel free to use one large or a variety of smaller ones depending on your taste.  In my case, as in the three squash mash from an earlier blog, I used my favorites – butternut, buttercup and acorn.  The sweetness of the maple sugar only adds to the velvety sweetness of the squash with a note of maple thrown in.  So simple and so good.  Be sure to reduce the heat half way through the cooking process to keep the maple glaze from burning.  Serves 6 depending on how much squash is used.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a steamer pan add:

  • 1-2 bunches kale, cleaned with larger stems removed

Steam until softened, 5-12 minutes depending on how much kale you have in the steamer.

Half the squash and remove the seeds from:

  • 1 small acorn
  • 1 small butternut
  • 1 small buttercup

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray.  Slice the squash into equal slices.  Arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Be sure that end pieces with mostly skin are skin side down.  Mix together in a small bowl:

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup olive or avocado oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste (I used only 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a 1/8 teaspoon pepper)

Pour the glaze mixture evenly over the squash.  Flip over the squash so that the end pieces with mostly skin are skin side up.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and flip so that pieces with flesh on both sides are now turned over.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until squash is soft, approximately 15-20 more minutes.  If you have thicker pieces that need more cooking, remove the cooked pieces and add the kale in the places where there’s no squash (I moved all the thicker squash slices to the edges and put the kale in the middle of the baking sheet).  If all the squash is removed, simply add  the kale to the baking sheet and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Arrange the kale on a serving dish with the squash slices on top.  

Butternut and Chard Tart (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free, vegan)

I enjoy savory pies just as much as sweet ones.  I wasn’t a believer in mixing squashes and cheese until I tried this tart.  So yummy and such a great side dish for Thanksgiving.  Feel free to substitute pumpkin or sweet potato, maybe even a different squash like acorn or hubbard.  Serves 6-8.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  You’ll need for the crust:

  • 1 1/2 cup all purpose gluten-free flour
  • 1/4 cup pepitas, toasted and chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste (1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon)
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3-4 tablespoons cold water

Since this is a gluten-free crust, the oil and water may change depending on the flour blend you use.  Mix the above with a food processor or a fork until crumbly.  Spread in a 9″ pie plate, pressing on sides and bottom.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  When cut this crust will act more like a graham cracker crust than a regular pie crust.

For the filling, you’ll need:

  • 3 cups diced squash
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 diced shallots
  • 2 medium diced garlic cloves (or one large)
  • 1/4 cup toasted and chopped pepitas
  • 4-5 cups of sliced rainbow chard
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar (1 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses could substitute for both the vinegar and agave nectar)
  • 1 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey would work)
  • Salt and pepper to taste (approximately 1/4 teaspoon of each)
  • 4 slices of non-dairy provolone or other creamy cheese
  • 1/3 cup aquafaba combined with 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch (if you can use eggs, you can substitute 2 large eggs here)

Roast the squash for approximately 1/2 hour until tender, turning once so that it doesn’t burn on the bottom.  Meanwhile in a large skillet combine the olive oil, diced shallots and garlic and saute for about a minute until tender.  Add chard, vinegar, agave, and seasonings, combine and cook for another 3-5 minutes until chard is tender (I cooked mine a little longer because I like the stems along with the leaves and it takes a little longer for them to get tender).  Add the pepitas, cheese and aquafaba (or eggs slightly beaten if you can use them).  Stir in the squash and pour into the pie shell.  Add another 4 slices of non-dairy cheese on top and bake for another 20-25 minutes until filling is set (the aquafaba may still be a little runny when you take it out of the oven but will set as it sits).  Serve warm.

Three Squash Mash (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, sugar-free, vegan)

My father loved winter squash — any variety, he raised them all and loved to eat all of them.  His least favorite was the most common, the butternut.  It was too wet for his taste so when we cooked one, we had to mix it with other winter squash to dry it out.  He always doused it with a good amount of gravy, so it had to be dry to begin with so the gravy would sink in (he also liked his potatoes very dry for the same reason).  There’s a wide variety of winter squash to choose from — blue hubbard, acorn, butternut, buttercup, kabocha, carnival, dumpling, delicata, etc — I used an acorn, buttercup, and delicata in my mash but you can use any combination you want.  I also use the very smallest I can find since, unless my older brother shows up, I have to eat it all by myself since my son and husband don’t like it.

Wash 3 winter squash and then stab them with a sharp knife to pierce the squash into the center so that the steam can escape while you cook them.  Put them in a baking dish with about 1 inch of water and put the dish into a 400 degree oven until the squash are soft. In my case, it took around an hour.  Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes (unless you like burned fingers) before you clean them.

Using some paper towels to collect the seeds and strings from the center and a bowl to collect the meat, cut each squash in half and scoop out the seeds and strings onto the paper towels.  Once you have them basically out (its okay if a few strings get into the mash), scoop the meat of the squash into a bowl large enough to hold the meat from all 3 squash.  Repeat for each squash.

Once you have the meat separated, mix in:

  • 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup avocado oil, or if you can use it, vegan margarine; the amount you’ll use depends on how much squash you have in your bowl (for my 3 very small squash, I used 2 tablespoons)
  • 1/2 to 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon to  1/4 cup agave, maple syrup, or honey (optional) — I actually think winter squash is sweet enough without adding any sweetener, especially if you use a delicata, carnival or dumpling in your mix

Stir briskly with a large spoon (or if you have a lot, use a hand mixer on a low setting) until the squash types and additions are well mixed.  If your squash is now too cool to serve, put the squash into a greased baking dish and return to oven to heat up, roughly 15-20 minutes if your oven is already hot.

Spoodles (sweet potato noodles) with vegetables (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free, vegan)

Here’s another recipe to help us use up all those fresh vegetables we have during these summer months.  And again, its one you can adapt to your vegetable overload.  The only thing you may want to get from the store are the spoodles or coodles (carrot noodles). Either work great in this recipe.  I like it plain but you could easily add a curry sauce or if you can use soy, a hoisin-based sauce.  Makes 4 serving.

Dice:

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, medium sized
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1 small yellow squash
  • 1/2 cup pea pods or 1 cup green peas, or 1 cup green beans

Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet and when the oil is hot, add the diced vegetables.  If you are planning to add a sauce, use less oil.  Saute over medium heat until onion is translucent.  Add the pea pods, peas or green beans and 1 pound of spoodles or coodles.  Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender, about 15 minutes for sweet potato and 20 minutes for carrot noodles.

Simple curry-sauce:

In a small sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil then add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of curry, depending on your taste and cook for approximately 30 seconds until you can smell the curry.  Add 2 tablespoons of all purpose gluten-free flour.  Whisk and cook for several minutes.  Whisk in 1/2 to 1 cup (the amount of milk depends on how thick you want your sauce) of your favorite milk (coconut milk works great here but rice, hemp, almond also work fine).

Tomato Vegetable “Stoup” (vegan, dairy- free, gluten-free)

This time of year with all the fresh vegetables, this is one of my go to dishes.  My husband and I love this soup/stew.  Its one that is easy to customize to your taste since its basically whatever vegetables you have on hand.  Instead of using canned diced tomatoes, I peeled and chopped some of my husband’s fresh off-the-vine tomatoes sitting on my counter top.  Best of all, its delicious whether you serve it hot or cold.  Add some croutons for crunch (made with gluten-free bread of course!).  In the winter, this soup is a great vehicle for cooked chicken. Feel free to play with it and make it your own by adding the vegetables your family likes the best.  But keep the carrots since they add that sweetness that takes care of the acidity in the tomatoes (the parsnips help with that as well).  Makes 8-12 servings.

Peel as needed and dice into like size pieces:

  • 1 medium onion (I used a red onion)
  • 6-8 stocks of celery
  • 1 medium purple top turnip (or a regular one if you like them but the purple top have a milder flavor)
  • 1 medium yellow squash
  • 1 medium zucchini squash
  • 2 small parsnips
  • 2 baby bok choy (you could use regular chopped cabbage instead of the bok choy and then add some kale or spinach for the greens of the bok choy)
  • 1/2 pound mushrooms (I like to mix them up so I used half baby bella and half porcini)
  • 1 cup chopped or grated carrots
  • 1 cup green peas
  • 1 cup green beans

Add 4 cups (1 quart) of vegetable stock to a large stock pot (if you want, you could add 4 cups of chicken stock).  Be sure to use stock and not broth for that “cooked all day” flavor.  Add the onion, celery, turnip, squashes, bok choy and mushrooms and cook covered over medium heat until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add:

  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (I find the Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes taste less metallic than regular canned tomatoes)
  • 1 12 ounce can of your favorite beans (I love the cannellini beans or great northern)

Cook over low heat for another 10-15 minutes until tomatoes and beans are heated through.