Sweet Potato Casserole

You could say I am getting a head start on next year's Thanksgiving recipe postings. Or you could say that my Thanksgiving recipe posting planning went the way of most things I attempt to plan, straight to pot. 

Either way, this recipe is hands-down one of the favorites at our Thanksgiving table every year. It's such a hit that I typically make it for Christmas dinner as well. Maybe you will too.

This recipe finds its origins with our dear friend, Dr. B, who is from the South. Before I met Dr. B, I never had a sweet potato casserole. A cryin' shame. 

About a decade ago he brought it to a Thanksgiving potluck at church. Upon request, he passed the recipe along to me from his mother. Whom I'm sure was passed along the recipe from someone else after attending a Thanksgiving potluck at church. 

My point here is twofold. Despite the fact that I'm a Yankee [proven by my 22% Dixie score on this here Advanced Rebel-Yankee test], this recipe is Southern through and through. And despite that I've made some changes to accommodate our special gluten and dairy free diet, good recipes always have a way of getting passed down from homecook to homecook. This is one of those recipes. Dixie disclaimer: I reduced the amount of sugar in the casserole by half... and it still tastes like dessert to me.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

Filling

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 stick butter (or butter alternative such as Earth Balance)

1/2 cup milk (or milk alternative such as Almond Milk)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 cups canned sweet potatoes

Topping

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup self rising flour (or 1/2 cup of your favorite gf flour mix + 3/4 tsp baking powder)

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

On Top of the Topping

1/3 stick butter (or butter alternative such as Earth Balance)

The Preparation Method:

This recipe is super easy. Literally two steps and done.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix filling ingredients together with a handheld blender. Distribute mixture evenly in a well greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Mix topping ingredients together.

Distribute topping evenly over the sweet potato filling.

Place pads of butter evenly over the top. Cover with tin foil.

Place in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil covering. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes or until the topping is nice and brown.

Serve as a festive holiday side dish, or even as a gluten and dairy free dessert. Scrumptious!

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Gavin DeGraw has been blowing my mind lately. I can not get enough of his music, specifically his 2011 album Sweeter. If you have not heard this yet, you need to. There is something so remarkable about this man's music. Please, please, I beg of you, go listen to his album on Spotify right this instant.

But in keeping true to the holiday spirit, I am compelled to play a little Christmas jingle for you. Gavin DeGraw displays his musical prowess here singing Merry Little Christmas.

Thanksgiving Tagine

I present this recipe as an alternative to all the traditional Thanksgiving fare you're likely planning this week. Tagine is a nice gluten-free and vegan option to present on your Thanksgiving table for your guests with special diets. Totally untypical, I know, but with the squash and carrots it has a festive flair about itself. It's super easy to make the day before, and in fact, becomes more delicious after it sits in the refrigerator overnight.

Should you choose not to replace your T-Day favorites with this Moroccan classic, my tagine will make a fantastic recipe for Saturday night's dinner once you've grown completely annoyed with all the holiday leftovers.

Here's to a great week of preparation for giving thanks abundantly!

Thanksgiving Tagine


Ingredients:

2 TBS grapeseed oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup raw unsalted cashew halves
1/4 cup raisins
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
14 ounces vegetable broth
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 cube crystalized ginger, or 1/4 tsp ground ginger

The Preparation Method:


Heat grapeseed oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Add onion and garlic, cook until softened.

Add all other ingredients. Stir well. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for approximately 30 minutes until all vegetables are tender as evidenced by how easily they are pierced with a fork.

If you and gluten don't agree, serve with quinoa. If gluten is your friend, serve with the traditional couscous.

Enjoy!

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Speaking of non-traditional holiday delights, I found this remarkable Christmas tune (go figure) the other day. Seeing as Thanksgiving is just the gateway to Christmas, and Moroccan Tagine really has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, I thought this Hawaiian Christmas jingle would be an appropriate video to accompany this dish. Yay for Brushfire Records just released second Christmas album This Warm December, A Brushfire Holiday Vol. 2 !!!! Such quality music.

Jack Johnson - In The Morning

Jack - In The Morning from Brushfire Records on Vimeo.

Creamy Roast Pumpkin Soup (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

I'm on a roll with the pumpkin theme over here at Dance While You Cook. If you've been hanging around these parts for any amount of time you may have deduced that I am really whimsical in my postings and don't plan a thing, so this pumpkin theme in the month of October certainly wasn't intended.

It's just that pumpkin is jumping out at me from every angle. And I'm jumping on board.

(In case you missed my last few posts, check out my gluten-free pumpkin buckwheat muffins and this six pack of cider beer sitting in my ice box right now.)

I must admit, pumpkin is so darn tasty it keeps me dancing in The Little White Kitchen all month long.

Today's recipe for gluten and dairy free Creamy Roast Pumpkin Soup serves up all the rich warmth we've come to expect in a soup perfectly suited for a crisp fall evening.

Creamy Roast Pumpkin Soup (vegan & gluten-free)


Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 TBS olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 medium pie pumpkins, roasted
2 cups raw cashews
2 cups plain rice milk
4 cups vegetable broth (can use chicken broth if you prefer)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
a few dashs of cayenne pepper
flaky sea salt, to taste

The Preparation Method:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roasted Pumpkins
Cut pie pumpkins in half, seed and gut. Reserve the seeds for roasting.

Spread a small amount of olive oil over the inside of the pumpkin. Sprinkle with sea salt. Place pumpkin halves flat side down in a baking dish. Roast pumpkins in preheated oven for approximately 1 hour, or until the flesh of the pumpkin is soft and can easily be scooped out of the pumpkin shell.

Cashew Cream
This recipe calls for 2 cups of cashew cream. To make the cashew cream, take 2 cups of raw cashews and soak them in water for at least 20 minutes. Drain water. Place in blender with 2 cups plain rice milk. Blend until smooth. Keep blending so there are no chunks what-so-ever. Measure out 2 cups and set aside. (Freeze all remaining cashew cream for use at another time.)

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
While the pumpkins are roasting, begin preparing the pumpkin seeds for toasting. Wash the pumpkin seeds in a bowl of cold water. Drain water from seeds and set aside on a towel. If soaking wet, give them a spin in the salad spinner to remove some of the excess water. In a small mixing bowl, toss pumpkin seeds with a touch of olive oil, a few dashes of cayenne pepper and some sea salt. Lay in a single layer in a baking pan. Place in the oven with the roasting pumpkins. Allow the seeds to roast until they are nice and brown, approximately 30 minutes. Be sure to stir halfway through to toast all sides evenly. Add more salt once you pull them out of the oven.

The Soup
Next, get all of the other materials for the soup ready. Once the roasted pumpkin is ready the rest of the soup will come together very quickly.

Once the pumpkins are done roasting, scoop all of the flesh out of the shells, mush well and set aside.

In a large soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and minced garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until soft and starting to brown, approximately 5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, stir well and continue to cook for another minute.

Add all of the mushed pumpkin (approximately 4 cups) and 4 cups broth. Stir well. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes.

Using a submersion blender, or a standard blender, puree the soup until super smooth.

Return soup to large pot and add 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 2 cups cashew cream and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir well to combine. Heat through and serve with a hearty helping of roasted pumpkin seeds as a garnish.

Enjoy!

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I couldn't find a video for this song, but none-the-less, you need to listen to it. So fantastic! I have no idea what it's about, but what the heck, it's groovy. Who can complain? Anyone want to translate for me?

MC Solaar - Bling Bling

Pumpkin Buckwheat Muffins (Gluten Free)

'Tis the season for all things pumpkin. These gluten and dairy free muffins are such a huge hit in my household—a batch of twelve barely lasts twelve minutes out of the oven. Even the neighbor kids devour these little bad boys, asking for seconds and thirds. This is a good sign when it comes to gluten-free baked goods around here. A real good sign. 

Pumpkin Buckwheat Muffins (Gluten and Dairy Free) 

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients: 

Wet Ingredients = Large Mixing Bowl

3 large eggs

3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (this is half of a 14oz can)

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Dry Ingredients = Small Mixing Bowl

1 1/2 cups sweet white rice flour

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

The Preparation Method:

Crack 3 eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Add 1/2 cup canola oil and whisk to combine. Add the remaining 'wet' ingredients from the list above.

Whisk well to combine.

In a small mixing bowl combine all the ingredients from the 'dry' list above. Whisk well to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Do not whisk well to combine. Lightly fold the ingredients together until the wet has wetted all the dry. Do not stir too much. This will cause your muffins to turn out tough. Nobody likes a tough muffin. A tough cookie, maybe, but not a tough muffin.

Once the dry ingredients are lightly folded into the wet, it's time to place them into your muffin wrappers.

Place muffins in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake 15-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Be careful not to bake too long. This too will result in a tough muffin.

Remove from the oven and place immediately on a rack to cool. Try your darndest to let them sit for five minutes before devouring.

Bring them to kiddie Halloween parties. Bring them to neighborhood pot-lucks. Bring them to your office and hide them in the corner of your desk. This way they might last longer than twelve minutes. No one will know but you. The little people might start questioning you with that heavenly smell coming out of the kitchen, but I'm certain you'll find a way to explain that away. Pumpkin muffins? What pumpkin muffins?

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Here's a somewhat Halloweenish video to get you groovin' while you bake.

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic

Butternut Squash Breakfast Tacos for Dinner

I cook dinner for my brood nearly every night of the week.

Only recently have I come to realize that many of my meals are a slight variation on a theme. Take for instance the taco theme. There are a million and one ways to make a tasty taco. Why not explore them all?

This recipe is one that came together on a moment's notice. It's not that I had a moment's notice to prepare dinner. For I know this is part of my job description from the moment I awake any given  morning. But a moment's notice because the day got away from me and it was suddenly 5pm and I had three hungry munchkins at my feet demanding I feed them.

With no real plan for dinner in that moment, I began fantasizing about placing a carry-out order at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. In all practicality—and back in reality—I began pulling items fast from the fridge and frying them up. First came the chorizo, then the red onion, red bell pepper and butternut squash. Next the egg. I threw it all together on top of a corn tortilla and called it a night. My sweet hubby was so impressed with the flavor he couldn't stop raving about my new taco creation in-between bites.

There was something remarkably special about the caramelized butternut squash that put this dish over the top into the "Best Taco Ever" category in The Little White Kitchen. Perhaps it will fill the role of "Best Taco Ever" in your Big Blue Kitchen, or Awkwardly Tight Yellow Kitchen, or So Large I Can Hardly See You Across the Room Gray Kitchen, or ....

Butternut Squash Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients:
1 pound ground Chorizo sausage
8 eggs, fried
3 TBS vegetable oil
1/2 large butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large red onion, diced
salt & pepper, to taste
1 TBS brown sugar
8 soft corn tortillas

The Preparation Method:


This is going to require all four burners on your stovetop to be working at once. Get ready!

In one pan, over medium-high heat fry the chorizo sausage until cooked through. Set aside.

At the same time, in another pan, heat 3 TBS vegetable oil. Add the diced red onion, red bell pepper and butternut squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to suite your tastes. Saute over medium-high heat until the onions start to caramelize. Add 1 TBS brown sugar. Stir to combine. Continue to saute until onions are nicely caramelized and the butternut squash is easily pierced with a fork. Set aside.

At the same time, in a third pan, begin frying the eggs. We like ours over hard. Set the fried eggs aside.

In a fourth pan, heat a touch of vegetable oil and fry the corn tortillas to make them super pliable. Corn tortillas just aren't quite right unless they're gently fried.

Once sufficiently warm, pile each tortilla high with one fried egg, a heaping spoonful of chorizo, and a double-heaping spoonful of sauteed veggies. 

Yum-yum-ya-yum-yum.

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This is the jam that inspired my four-burner stovetop session. I may have played it five times over during the fifteen minutes it took me to prepare this dinner. I may have broke out a few hot Bollywood moves on my linoleum floor. I may have busted into a few old-school breakdancing moves in front of my three young children. Or I may not have done any of those things.

Panjabi MC featuring Jay-Z — Beware

Hearty Butternut Squash Soup

It must be the rainy, chilly, perfectly beautiful fall weather that gives me the craving for all things creamy. Here's another delicious soup to add to the recipe box.

Hearty Butternut Squash Soup


You'll Need:
2 TBS olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 medium baking potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
4 cups chicken/vegetable broth
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 avocados

The Preparation Method:

Peel the butternut squash with a potato peeler. Scoop out the seeds. Cut it into one inch cubes. Careful with the knife, ladies. The squash is tough as a rock and slippery. Not an ideal coupling.

Chop the rest of the veggies.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy soup pot. Cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash until steamy and fragrant. About 10 minutes.

Add chicken/vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.

Use your trusty immersion blender to puree the soup. (Or if you don't have immersion blender yet, you could always use a regular blender. Trust me, you need an immersion blender. It will make your life ten times better. I'm not exaggerating.)

Season with salt and pepper. Top with sliced avocado.

Ummm. Creamy goodness.

Speaking of rocks (remember the squash?), this is a favorite living room jam in our house.

Queen - We Will Rock You

Grilled Butternut Squash

This is my new favorite way to prepare squash. The brown sugar caramelizes on the grill and the squash gets a little charred. Chop this into little squares as a welcome addition to all kinds of dishes and soups, specifically the Five Fold Burrito.

Grilled Butternut Squash


You'll Need:

one butternut squash

3 TBS vegetable oil

salt

pepper

1/2 cup brown sugar

The Preparation Method:

Peel the squash with a good potato peeler. It's so much easier than you think. Come on, just try it.

Chop it in half. Or should I say, saw it in half. This thing is hard as a rock and slippery as a skate on ice. Unlike the item above, this task is much harder than you think. Just be careful with that knife.

So glad you didn't get hurt. Now slice the squash into pieces a 1/2 inch thick, give or take. Due to the slippery-like-ice nature of this Cucurbita moschata don't feel bad if some slices come out thick and some thin. Roll with it, it will all be tasty in the end. Once sliced, place in the refrigerator until grill time (up to 24 hours in advance).

At grill time, brush squash pieces with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on the grill. Take spoonfulls of the brown sugar and mash it onto the top side of each slice. Grill for approx. 8 minutes. Flip. Mash more brown sugar on this flip side.

Grill until squash is tender and easy to penetrate with a fork.