This flavorful and colorful Stuffed Squash with Brazil Nuts and Pistachios makes an attractive entrée for a Thanksgiving dinner. Use a dense, sweet, orange-fleshed squash such as buttercup, acorn, or kabocha for the best results with this recipe. I like to use Brazil nut butter, but you can use any type of nut butter that you prefer.
This flavorful and colorful Stuffed Squash makes an attractive entrée for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
American
Yields4servings
AuthorRobin Robertson
Ingredients
1tablespoonolive oil or 1/4 cup water
1yellow onion, minced
2clovesgarlic, minced
2cupscooked brown rice
1cupcooked wild rice
1/3cupBrazil nut butter
1/4cupsweetened dried cranberries
2tablespoonschopped pistachio nuts
2tablespoonschopped Brazil nuts
1tablespoonminced fresh parsley
1teaspoondried tarragon
Salt and ground black pepper
1large winter squash, halved and seeded (such as buttercup, acorn, or kabocha)
1 1/2cupshot water
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the oil or water in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the rice, wild rice, Brazil nut butter, cranberries, nuts, parsley, tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and spoon the mixture into the squash cavities
Place the squash halves in a baking dish, stuffing sides up. Add the water to the bottom of the baking dish and cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake until the squash is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
This flavorful West African Vegetable Stew is especially good served over rice or couscous or with coarse whole grain bread. Like most stews, this one tastes even better the second day, so make it ahead. The crops of peanuts (or groundnuts), sweet potatoes (or yams), and okra can be found throughout western African countries, where stews such as this are often called groundnut stew.
Brimming with vegetables, this flavorful stew is especially good served over rice or couscous or with coarse whole grain bread.
Course
Soup
Cuisine
West African
Yields4servings
AuthorRobin Robertson
Ingredients
1tablespoonneutral vegetable oil or 1/4 cup water
1large yellow onion, chopped
1sweet potato, peeled and diced
1green bell pepper, chopped
1medium eggplant, diced
1cupsliced okra, fresh or frozen
1clovegarlic, minced
114.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2cuppeanut butter
1 1/2cupsvegetable broth
1/4teaspooncayenne, or to taste
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/8teaspoonground black pepper
Instructions
Heat the oil or water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, sweet potato, and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the eggplant, okra, and garlic. Cover and cook 5 minutes longer, then stir in the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter and broth, stirring until smooth. Stir the peanut butter mixture into the stew and season with cayenne, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
For a thicker consistency, scoop out about 1 cup of the stew and puree it in a blender or food processor, then return it to the pot.
1/2cupraw cashew pieces, soaked for 3 hours, then drained
1chipotle chile in adobo sauce
2tablespoonsminced fresh parsley
12-ounce jar chopped pimientos, drained
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and potato. Cover and cook for 4 minutes to soften. Stir in the celery salt, broth, corn, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, stir in the coriander, liquid smoke, and almond milk, and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, combine the drained cashews and chipotle in a blender with 1 cup of the simmering broth from the soup. Blend until smooth and creamy, then add 1 more cup of the soup and blend until smooth. Stir the mixture back into the soup. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with parsley and pimientos.
For bite-size versions of these delicious vegan Peanut Butter Cups, use small paper candy cups instead of the cupcake liners. To make these soy-free, use a soy-free vegan butter.
In a bowl, combine the butter, peanut butter, and vanilla, stirring until well blended. Stir in the sugar. Mix well until thoroughly combined, then refrigerate to firm up slightly.
Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate is melted.
Use a small brush to coat the chocolate over the bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of 12 to 18 paper cupcake liners. Reserve the remaining chocolate. Refrigerate the cups until firm, about 10 minutes.
Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of the peanut butter mixture and shape into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc and place inside one of the chilled chocolate- lined cups. Repeat until all the cups are filled. Spoon the remaining 2 teaspoons melted chocolate over the tops of each cup. Refrigerate until firm.
Recipe Notes
Variation: Use vegan white chocolate chips to make White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.
The quick and easy sauce in this recipe is made with just three ingredients, but it provides a big bang of flavor as a coating for the lightly fried tofu. When making the sauce, mix in the sriracha a little at a time and taste as go, to be sure turns out at the heat level you prefer. I like to serve this Big Bang Tofu over rice or quinoa with sautéed greens on the side. The sauce also makes a great dip for roasted cauliflower florets.
14 to 16 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
2tablespoonscornstarch
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tablespoonsafflower oil or other neutral oil
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the chili sauce, mayonnaise, and sriracha. Mix well until thoroughly blended. Set aside.
Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch dice and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the cornstarch and salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat the tofu.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and stir-fry until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Toss the tofu with the reserved sauce and serve hot.
This Curried Almond Sweet Potato Soup has it all: great taste, vibrant color, and the creamy goodness of almond butter. For this recipe, I use Frontier brand organic curry powder, a heady blend of coriander, turmeric, cumin, mustard, fenugreek, cardamom, nutmeg, red pepper, cinnamon, and cloves, but most any curry spice blend should perform well. For a thinner soup, stir in a small amount of nondairy milk during the final heating.
2large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2/3cupalmond butter
1tablespooncurry powder
1/4teaspooncayenne pepper
Salt
1/4cupchopped roasted almonds
Instructions
Heat the oil or water in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, broth, and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
Stir in the almond butter, curry powder, cayenne, and salt to taste. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth, or use an immersion blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Heat the soup over low heat until hot. Serve sprinkled with the chopped almonds.
This flavorful and colorful Stuffed Squash with Brazil Nuts and Pistachios makes an attractive entrée for a Thanksgiving dinner. Use a dense, sweet, orange-fleshed squash such as buttercup, acorn, or kabocha for the best results with this recipe. I like to use Brazil nut butter, but you can use any type of nut butter that you prefer.
