Butternut squash and warm kale fall salad from Runner's world.

Nate and I have been eating this up.  We love it.  We sub out goat's cheese and add feta instead.





http://www.runnersworld.com/recipes/butternut-squash-and-kale-warm-fall-salad

Butternut Squash and Kale Warm Fall Salad
What you'll need:
2 large bunches of kale
1 small butternut squash
1/8 red onion
1 clove garlic
¼ cup of chopped walnuts
5 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
½ tsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp goat cheese (honey goat cheese adds a nice sweetness)
Salt and pepper
How to make it:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Peel butternut squash, remove pulp, and cut into ½-inch chunks.
3. Toss chunks in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil. Spread out on a foil-lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 17 minutes, until tender and starting to brown.
5. While squash is baking, wash kale and allow to dry. Toast walnuts for 2 minutes in a small oven-safe pan.
6. For dressing, combine vinegar, mustard, a teaspoon of salt, cayenne pepper, and a generous amount of fresh-ground black pepper in a small bowl. While whisking, drizzle in 2 tablespoons olive oil.
7. Mince garlic clove, and add to dressing.
8. Remove stems from kale, and chop into 1 to 2-inch pieces.
9. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat.
10. Add kale, and stir constantly. Cook for 5 minutes until kale is bright green and slightly wilted.
11. Remove from heat, transfer kale to a large bowl and toss with dressing, onions, walnuts, and a small pinch of salt.
12. Pile salad in center of plates. Top with butternut squash and crumbled goat cheese. Recipe feeds two.

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Summer fruit water

6c. Watermelon, cubed
2c. strawberries, frozen
1c. Cold water
1 lemon (juice)
1c. Ice
3/4 c. Sugar

Blend until smooth, serve cold
Makes 2qts

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Bagles- from all recipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 1/2 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast 2 tablespoons white sugar 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

7 cups bread flour (can use 1/2 whole wheat 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon white sugar 3 tablespoons poppy seeds (optional)

Directions:

1.	In large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water to soften; stir to dissolve. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, oil, 6 cups of flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly until the dough forms up and leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out on floured board and knead, adding small amounts of flour as necessary. Bagel dough should be pretty stiff. Work in as much extra flour as you can comfortably knead. Knead until smooth and elastic, 12-15 minutes.
2.	Roll the dough into a ball, place it in a large oiled bowl, and turn to coat. Cover and let fully rise until an impression made with your finger remains and does not sink into the dough (about an hour).
3.	Punch down and cut into thirds, and roll each piece between your palms into a rope. Cut each rope into 4 equal pieces and shape into balls. Roll the first ball into another rope that is about 2" longer than the width of your hand. Make a ring with the dough, overlapping ends about 1/2" and sealing the ends by rolling with your palm on the board. If the dough resists rolling, dab on a drop of water with your finger. Evenly place the bagels on 2 nonstick baking pans or very lightly oiled baking sheets. Cover and let stand until puffy, about 20 minutes.
4.	While bagels are proofing, fill a 4 quart saucepan 2/3 full with cold water; add 1 tablespoon sugar and bring to a boil. When ready to cook, drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water and wait until they rise to the top. Cook for a total of 1 minute, turning once.
5.	Carefully lift each bagel out with a slotted spoon or skimmer. Drain momentarily. Turn into a dish with topping, if desired (it works best to sprinkle though). Evenly space bagels on 2 nonstick baking pans or very lightly oiled baking sheets. (bakes well on parchment paper too)
6.	Bake with steam in a preheated 500 degree F (260 degrees C) oven until well-browned, about 20 minutes. Turn bagels over when the tops begin to brown,  (to steam just put a pan of water on the bottom rack).

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Thai Coconut Chicken Soup Tom Kha Gai

I found this recipe on food network and adapted it a bit.  I halved it because I did not want leftovers.  The full recipe fed my family with just Maesyn Nate and I eating the soup and Jake the broth- and we had left overs.  

Ingredients
2 cups chicken stock,  

3 Tbs lemon grass paste
3 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or dried, hand torn
1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 small Thai chilies, halved lengthwise (I left these out for the kids sake)

1 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (13-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla) 

3/4 teaspoons sugar
1 (8-ounce) can straw mushrooms, rinsed (I did not use these because I did not have them and it was fine)

1 lime, juiced (more if you want it more citrus flavored
1 pint bottled chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Bring the stock to the boil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, chilies, and garlic. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and gently simmer for 10 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth.

Uncover and stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, mushrooms, lime juice, and chicken. Simmer for 5 minutes to heat the chicken through; season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into a soup tureen or individual serving bowls. Garnish with cilantro. Be careful to avoid chewing the lemongrass, ginger, or lime leaves.

We like to serve this over jasmine rice and steamed broccoli and carrots.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/thai-coconut-chicken-soup-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

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Roasted Baby Carrots with Chili and citrus glaze

We got this recipe from epicurious and really liked it.  I just used 1.5 small bags of the baby carrots rather than real baby carrots.  I forgot to add the orange peel, but we really liked them just the same.  Leave out the chili so it is not too spicy.
Also, we needed to bake them a lot longer so they were not still crunchy.

• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 bunches baby carrots (about 32), trimmed, peeled
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk juice, 1 tablespoon oil, and vinegar in small bowl to blend; set aside.

Stir remaining 1 tablespoon oil, crushed red pepper, and salt in medium bowl. Add carrots and toss to coat. Scrape carrot mixture onto large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange carrots in single layer.

Roast carrots until almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes (depending on size). Add juice mixture and toss to blend. Roast until juices are reduced to glaze and coat carrots, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes longer. Season to taste with more salt, if desired. Transfer carrots to large bowl; add mint and orange peel and toss to blend. Transfer to serving bowl.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Baby-Carrots-with-Chile-Mint-and-Orange-Glaze-357513#ixzz2Lxuf6taV

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Naan

This recipe is really easy and really good.  I will never buy or make pita again and I don't have to buy flat bread anymore either.  This is good with falafel.

I am copying this recipe from my friend's blog.

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes. Combine yeast mixture, sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise about 1 hour, until doubled

Punch down dough and knead a few times. Pinch off handfuls of dough and roll into balls a little bigger than golf balls and place on a tray to rise. Cover again with a towel.
Pre heat griddle. Roll balls of dough out flat and cook a few minutes on each side. Mine rolled out to be about 8 inches in diameter and I left them a little thick cuz thats how I like them. You could do them thinner if you wanted.

http://mealicious.blogspot.com/2010/05/naan.html

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Ginger Steak

In a bowl large enough to marinate steaks in sauce combine:

½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup finely chapped onion
2 cloves garlic chopped
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons powdered ginger

You will probably want to double this sauce. I quadruple it for 11 people
but for 5 I’d just double it. When you have this mixed together put your
steaks in and let marinate for 2 to 4 hours. (I usually get boneless top sirloin
steaks) but you can get any steak that is tender.

If possible use a heavy skillet (like cast iron) heat so that you can sear the
steaks. So sear your steaks on both sides in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, then
I add the sauce to the pan and let cook about 15-20 minutes. You can cut a
steak to see if done enough for your liking if not cool longer. Ready to eat.

**This is Chris' mom's recipe and is a family favorite of theirs!

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Granola bars

3/4 cup butter, softened 

2tbs water

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla
5 cups rolled 9 grain cereal or Old fashioned oats

1 cup rice krispy cereal

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup ground flax or wheat germ (can omit if you dont have)

Cream butter, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add rest of ingredients to bowl and mix well.

Press firmly into a cookies sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Cool completely at cut into bars. YUMMMM!
 155 calories per bar.
Variations: 

• Substitute coconut oil, or any nut butter for the butter

• Substitute Agave for the brown sugar (agave and honey are sweeter than brown sugar and more calorie dense so you will probably need less)
• Add nuts, seeds or dried fruit
• omit chocolate chips
• add other chips or candies 

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Healthy Berry Crisp

(4 servings)

Ingredients for the Fruit Filling:

• 24 oz organic berries, thawed but not drained (I used a medley from Trader Joe’s with organic strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries)

Ingredients for the Crisp Topping:

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp agave syrup- or honey
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9 (or 8) inch baking dish.

For the fruit filling: Pour the thawed berries + any accumulated juices into the prepared baking dish.

For the crisp topping: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir with a fork until combined. Mix in the butter (or coconut oil), honey (or agave) and vanilla extract. Stir until well-incorporated.

Sprinkle crisp topping evenly over the fruit filling. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the fruit filling is hot & bubbly and the crisp topping is golden brown.

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Slade's Shishkabobs Slavaki

I modified this recipe, and usually just use 2 large breasts, but there is probably enough marinade for 3 breasts.I also do not use as much olive oil and add fresh chopped mint!

Ingredients:
7 chicken breasts cut into 1 to 11/2 inc cubes
1/2 -2/3 cups olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
2/3 cups fresh parsley
3 large cloves garlic
2 tbs Oregano
1 1/2 tsp salt and pepper
2/3 c. chopped onion

Blend in a blender and pour over chicken and then put chicken on bamboo skewers that have een soaked in water and marinate for 4 hrs in fridge.

Grill on BBQ.

Serve in Pita pocket with lettuce, tomato, red onion, feta cheese, kalamata olives, and tzatziki.

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