Butternut Squash Soup

2 butternut squash, halved lengthwise
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced yellow onion
1 Tbs light brown sugar
2 Teaspoons ground Ginger
4 Cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
salt & pepper to taste

preheat oven to 375 degrees. oil a rimmed baking sheet. place squash cut side down on baking sheet. bake 1 hour until soft. cool slightly so you can easily remove peel without burning yourself. remove peel and cut into 2 inch pieces. heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. add onion, brown sugar, and Ginger. cover and cook 15 min or until onion is tender. stir in squash and broth. bring to a boil. reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 10 min. working in batches, purée soup in blender. cool for 20 min. return to pot. stir in half and half. season with soy sauce, salt and pepper. bring just to a boil. remove from heat, serve hot with whole wheat rolls if desired

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Pasta Sauce

This sauce is so easy guys, really please don't buy jarred sauce (Except Rao's). It takes an hour to cook, but it literally just involves throwing everything in a pot and leaving it. I usually make a large pot of this on Sundays and then I have sauce for the week! This works well with any of your favorite pasta dishes or over fake meatballs in a grinder. This also works great in my eggplant parm recipe.

Ingredients:

2-28oz Cans organic diced tomatoes

1-6oz Can tomato paste

6 Cloves of Garlic, put through a garlic press, or minced super fine

1 1/2 Tablespoons Sugar

1/4 Cup Emeril's Italian Essence

1/4 Cup 21 Season Salute from Trader Joe's

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Teaspoon Black pepper

2 Tablespoons Flour

1/2 Cup water

Directions:

Stir all ingredients together in a large sauce pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for one hour, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Serve over your favorite pasta.

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Perfect Eggplant Parmesan

Why is this eggplant parm so perfect? No sog! I have eaten a lot of eggplant parm in my day, and the biggest complaint I have is that it's often greasy, mushy or both. Panko breadcrumbs really make this nice and crispy. Some may call me crazy for mixing Japanese breadcrumbs into Italian cooking, but I think its just damn delicious.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1 Large eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 cup flour
3 Tablespoons Emeril's Italian Essence or other Italian seasoning
2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon parsley
3 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese
32 Oz. Jar Rao's marinara sauce
1 Cup Parmesan reggiano cheese, grated
Vegetable oil for frying
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:
In a shallow bowl, beat the egg and water together. Place the panko breadcrumbs on a plate, or in a shallow dish combine with Italian Essence, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and parsley. Season eggplant slices with remaining salt and pepper. Dredge eggplant slices first in the flour tapping to remove excess flour. Then dip in egg mixture, then into the breadcrumb mixture. Be sure each slices is coated thoroughly, pressing the breadcrumbs firmly onto each slice.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Your pan should be liberally coated with oil about an 1/8 of an inch thick. It's important to get your oil hot enough before putting in the eggplant. Add eggplant slices and reduce heat to medium. Cook 4-5 minutes per side, pressing down lightly with a pancake turner. You will know the eggplant is done when they are golden brown and tender. You can test texture with a fork. During the last minute of cooking sprinkle each slice generously with your mozzarella. Put lid on pan to melt the cheese. While the eggplant is cooking microwave your sauce about 2-3 minutes or until hot. If using crushed red pepper flakes, add to sauce before microwaving until you get desired spiciness. Top eggplant with sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan reggiano cheese. Serve. The other reason this eggplant stays crispy, is the sauce is added right before serving so the breadcrumbs don't absorb it. This dish takes no time at all and is super easy! Serve with a side of penne and some bruschetta as an appetizer.

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

This is another recipe that takes just a little longer, but what can I say...its Sunday. This recipe is still super easy and blows away boxed dried potato flakes (yes some people eat that). I had a lot of extra potatoes to use up, so created this recipe as a slightly more sophisticated version of mashed potatoes. I LOVE rosemary, its one of my favorite herbs, so I tend to use it a lot in my cooking. Try this recipe and let me know how you like it! Feedback is always welcome.

Ingredients:

6 All purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 Cups of half and half (vegans, substitute the same amount of unsweetened soy milk)

2 Tablespoons dried rosemary

1 Stick smart balance butter blend, at room temperature

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add cut up potatoes and boil for 20 minutes. Test tenderness with a fork, should be easily mashable (I don't think that's a word). Drain potatoes in a colander. Return to pot. Mash with a hand held potato masher.

Combine rosemary and half and half in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add butter to the potatoes, stir to melt. Once your half and half/rosemary mixture has begun to simmer, SLOWLY pour into potatoes a little at a time and stir until you get desired creaminess. You may or may not use all of the liquid. Some people prefer their potatoes a little lumpier than others, so add the amount of liquid needed to get desired level of creaminess. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm. This does have a strong rosemary flavor so if you prefer, you can always use a little less rosemary, but for my personal taste these were OUTSTANDING!

Rosemary Potatoes

This is one of my alltime favorite side dishes. I almost didn't post it because the cooking time is longer, not sure if it's good for busy people, but I made it on my day off, so I thought I'd share it with you. Plus its easy to double it and make a lot so you have leftovers for the week. I made this as a side dish for my husband and myself and we still have a good amount left over.

Ingredients:

2 baking potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons dried rosemary

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash, peel and cut potatoes into bite sized pieces. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, toss to coat well. Spread mixture in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast potatoes about 30 minutes, stirring at 10 minute intervals. Potatoes will be done when edges start to brown, test tenderness with a fork. If desired you can add additional salt to cooked potatoes to taste. Serve hot.

Baked Ziti

This recipe makes a large tray of food so I hope you're hungry! This is a new take on an old favorite. Since this recipe makes so much, it's ideal for freezing and reheating at a later date. This will keep in the freezer for up to three months.

Ingredients:

1lb whole wheat penne

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Large yellow onion, chopped

1 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Teaspoon black pepper

1 Package morningstar farms beef flavored crumbles (fake ground beef)

3 Large cloves garlic put through a garlic press or minced very fine

1 1/2 Tablespoons dried oregano

1-25 Oz. jar marinara sauce

1-15 Oz. container ricotta cheese

1-12 Oz. bag frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess water

1 Cup freshly grated Parmesan reggiano cheese

1 Cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook penne in salted water according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, place large skillet with olive oil in it over medium-high heat. Add the onion, salt, pepper and cook for 7-10 minutes or until onions are translucent. It's important to make sure your onions are cooked enough, no one wants to crunch down on raw onion in their ziti. Add the "beef" crumbles and cook about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano, cook for 2 minutes. Add the marinara sauce and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the drained pasta to skillet and toss. Add the ricotta, spinach and half of the Parmesan reggiano cheese. Toss again. Transfer into a large rectangular Pyrex dish. Sprinkle top with mozzarella and remaining Parmesan reggiano cheese. Bake until the mozzarella has melted, about 15 minutes.

While this dish seems a little more involved, I made it this weekend for dinner and it was actually quite easy. If you want to save time, you can buy your onions pre-chopped. It's really important to squeeze the extra water out of your spinach so that your ziti isn't watery. Enjoy!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Seriously these are the best mashed sweet potatoes ever! The inspiration came from a restaurant I went to the other night with friends. I found their whipped sweet potatoes so good, I decided to try my hand at my own version. The result came out far better than I ever could have imagined. One side note I want to make here about not only this recipe, but all of the recipes on my blog in general, is that I often don't give exact measurements for herbs and spices. The reason is that seasoning is a very personal thing. Many are sensitive to salt, or don't like heavily seasoned items. It is very important to taste as you go to get a flavor that pleases your personal palate. That being said, the below recipe is exactly how I made this dish, but feel free to experiment!

Ingredients:

2 Large sweet potatoes

2 Tablespoons light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 Cup unsweetened soy milk

1 Tablespoon orange juice

1/4 Cup butter, melted (vegans can subsitute margarine or a vegetable oil spread such as Earth Balance)

1/8 Teaspoon salt

1/8 Teaspoon black pepper

Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly. Wrap individually with plastic wrap. With a fork poke holes in the wrap in several places. Place on a plate and put in the microwave for 7 minutes. Turn potatoes over (be careful they're hot!) and cook an additional 7 minutes. Potatoes will be VERY hot. Allow to cool for five minutes or so, then remove plastic wrap. Remove skins from potatoes. you should not need a peeler, you can now easily remove skins with your fingers. Place into the bowl of your kitchen aid mixer, fitted with a paddle if you have one. Mash a bit with a hand held potato masher. Now add the remaining ingredients to your bowl. Turn on mixer for 2 minutes. If you do not have a mixer, you can use an electric egg beater or simply a handheld masher. That's it! The cinnamon and brown sugar really help to bring out the sweetness of the potato. This is a very satisfying side dish and would make an especially nice accompaniment to a holiday meal.