Thanksgiving Make Ahead Recipe: Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

Thanksgiving is coming! I am up early on the Sunday morning before Thanksgiving. My philosophy and strategy regarding Thanksgiving is that it is fun when done in small doses. I try and make as much as I can ahead of time.


This morning, I am making Roasted Acorn Squash Soup.  My plan is to freeze the soup and then defrost it the night before Thanksgiving. The day of, I will throw it in a crockpot, which will allow me to have one more easy vegan dish, to make my vegan and health-conscious guests happy.

Yesterday, my mixed doubles tennis partner said: "If you live in Seattle, you have to know how to cook for vegans."  Another great option in Seattle is to order a vegan take-out for Thanksgiving dinner; which is what he and his wife are doing this year.

Since pureed soup is vegan, it is good soup to freeze and I may save some for myself to bring to work for lunch.

I sliced the acorn squash in half, using a serrated knife.  Then I added olive oil, Kosher salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

You can save the acorn squash seeds for a nutritious snack for your Thanksgiving guests. 

While the acorn squash was cooking, I rough chopped carrots, shallots, yellow and red onions and a granny smith apple. If you are in a rush, take the time to cut the carrots into smaller pieces.

I took all the scraps from the apples, carrots and onions and threw them into a stock pan to make basic vegetable broth. Since this is a Thanksgiving make ahead dish, I have time to make the broth while the acorns are roasting and cooling off.

Thanksgiving is a great time to make stock. I raided the refrigerator and gathered celery bottoms, leaves, more onion peels, and garlic peels.  I peeled extra carrots and prepped vegetables that have for other dishes I need to make this week.  I threw this "waste" in the stock pan to make vegetable broth.

For the soup, I sautéed the rough chopped items in dutch oven with some olive oil.  After everything was starting to look translucent, I added my spices and gave them extra time to toast.  It is starting to smell like Thanksgiving!

Since I don't have the broth ready yet, I added about a quarter cup of water to simmer on low for
about 5 mins and then covered the pan and turned off the heat.

After the squash has cooled and the broth was strained, I scooped out the flesh of the squash and added 3 1/2 cups broth to the dutch oven pot.

I let this cook for 20 minutes and then pureed the ingredients using my immersion blender. I skipped the step to add salt and pepper, because I will season this on Thanksgiving while this is being heated up in a crock pot.

Since the ingredients were mostly cool, I poured them in containers and put them in the freezer to be ready to go for Thanksgiving day.

Making this soup ahead of Thanksgiving is easy.  I modified this Roasted Acorn Squash Soup recipe from Lacey Baier's blog.

OMG! Take a breath! Ohm! Since writing this blog post on Sunday morning, my oven died - just 3 days before Thanksgiving.  At least the burners work!  I cannot bake or roast and we have guest coming.  The repair man is set to come out today.  I am so glad that I got one recipe done. Stay tuned and see how I adjust my plan for Thanksgiving to handle this - or if my oven can be repaired!

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My blog is about living in the Pacific Northwest.  Here is photo of my view this morning.

Laurie's Quick and Easy Spicy Stir-Fry Udon Noodles

My dear friend Laurie shared her stir-fry recipe for thick, chewy, satisfying and slurp-worthy Spicy Stir-Fry Udon Noodles. This is a versatile recipe that can be made for busy weeknights. The sauce is so easy to make, and you can use a variety of vegetables or meat in this stir-fry.

Where to buy Udon Noodles?
Most Asian specialty stores and health food stores sell Udon noodles.  If you live in an area that does not have as many options, you can purchase dried Udon noodles from Amazon.

We are lucky to live in the Seattle area, where we have many Asian and health food grocery stores to choose from.  The largest Asian grocery store in the Pacific Northwest, Uwajimaya, is a landmark here.

Uwajimaya opened in the Seattle area in 1928.  This store is a place for all things Asian and their mission is to educate customers on all aspects of Asian culture.  If you are visiting Seattle, this is a must go to place. Simply put: Uwajimaya is amazing.

There are oodles of noodle choices available at Uwajimaya.

Most of the ingredients were already in my pantry.  I use low sodium soy sauce and pre-chopped up garlic.  You can find Sambal Oelek in most Asian specialty stores.  It is a popular Indonesian sauce that was incorporated into many Dutch recipes, after the Dutch colonized Indonesia.

Soaking frozen udon noodles is a nice trick to keep them from sticking together.

If you are in a hurry, you could buy pre-chopped up vegetables.  I just quickly chopped my own.

Peanut oil has a high smoke point, which means it is less likely to burn while the temperature is turned up high.  It also adds a slight nutty taste.

Just stir-fry all your ingredients in a wok or a pan that you have.

This is such a great meal to be able to make.  Thank you Laurie for sharing.  Udon did it! Here is her recipes and let me know if you like it.

Yield: 4 ServingsAuthor: Laurie L.

Laurie's Quick and Easy Spicy Stir-Fry Udon Noodles

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 20 MINStotal time: 30 mins

This versatile recipe for thick, chewy, satisfying and slurp-worthy spicy udon noodles is a great weeknight choice that you can make with a variety of vegetables or proteins.

ingredients:

Stir-Fry

• 1 Tbsp olive, peanut or vegetable oil
• 4 chicken thighs, cubed (meat optional) or ¾ lb of ground pork
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced (match-sticked)
• 1 cup green onion
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 2 packages of fresh or frozen udon noodles. Note: If you are using frozen noodles, bring water to a boil and cook the noodle while you stir fry meat and veggies.
  

Sauce

• 1-2 tsp Sambal Oelek (or Asian Chili Garlic Sauce or Sriracha)
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
•  2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced

Garnish

• Sesame seeds 
• Additional sliced green onion
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro

instructions:

1. Prepare your vegetables and set aside. Mix up the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. If you like, you can fill a large bowl with hot tap water and add udon noodles to the bowl to soak, so they can be separated before adding to the wok. This isn't necessary though, as you can add fresh udon noodles directly from the package to the wok, if you prefer to skip this step.
2. In a large frying pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Cook the meat and then set aside while you cook veggies.  Add carrots and cook, stirring for a minute or so. Add onions and cook, stirring, until onions are soft and carrots are tender. Add green onion and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or so.
3. If soaking udon noodles, gently stir to loosen udon noodles and separate, then drain. Add drained noodles (or unsoaked fresh noodle to the wok and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or so. Add sauce and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring to combine well. Scatter baby spinach over the top and cook, stirring constantly, until the spinach is wilted.
4. Move stir fry to a bowl or plate and garnish with sesame seeds, additional sliced green onion and parsley or cilantro.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Quick and Easy Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetta alla Carbonara's origins does not come without controversy.

Spaghetti Carbonara is a simple dish that is quick and easy to make. It is working person's go-to dish. This is a dish that busy people have in their arsenal. This dish makes people happy.

It does not surprise me that my friend Cindy sent me this recipe. Cindy is a busy woman that knows how to get things done!

In a previous blog post, I asked my friends to send me recipes that meet the following criteria:

1. Tastes good 
2. Easy to make 
3. Approved by person who LOVES to cook

This recipe certainly follows the above criteria. Thank you, Cindy, for sharing.

Umami! That is why I think this simple dish tastes so good. Spaghetti Carbonara has a lot of umami, think: Parmesan cheese and bacon.  A few dashes of Tabasco adds another layer of umami. If you have not yet discovered umami, you can learn about the science behind umami here.

Wait, the bacon!

Did I mention this has bacon in it? That may be why you can't go wrong with this dish.

For busy folks who are short on time, you can put your oven on double-duty to roast the bacon while your pasta water is heating up. Grab a sheet pan with a silicon liner and add the bacon. Place the pan on the middle rack in the oven at 400 degrees and roast for about 18 mins - depending on how crispy you like your bacon.

The silicon liner is a must, if you don't want messy clean up.

Speak now, or forever hold your peas!

Whoops, Cindy's recipe does not call for peas! She certainly does not call for frozen peas! There is a heated discussion on Serious Eats, should there be peas in carbonara?

If you want to add peas, just blanch them in the hot water; before throwing in the pasta.

Sometimes, I am not good at following directions. I am not sure why I threw peas in this dish. Real carbonara aficionados would just not do this. Maybe I felt like I had to sneak in a vegetable? Or I like the contrast of the bright green color against the creamy noodles and bacon? Do I regret this? Maybe just a little.  Readers, please leave comments to let me know what you think.

Peas out, people!

Thank you, Cindy, for sending me this recipe.

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Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara plated with parsley on top.

Prep 10 ∙ Cook 15 ∙ Makes 4 ∙ Difficulty Easy

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 8 oz bacon, cooked and chopped into 1" slices
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup parmesan
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 or more dashes of Tabasco

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta to al dente according to package instructions
2. Whisk together eggs, cheese, cream and Tabasco
3. Drain pasta, leaving some water clinging
4. Working quickly, add egg mix and stir as hot pasta cooks egg
5. Add bacon, salt and pepper to taste

Jean's Healthy Seafood Soup

Last Friday, we woke up to snow! The chilly weather reminded me that my friend Jean sent me a recipe she made up called "Healthy Seafood Soup". She made this for her daughter, when she decided to become a pescetarian.

I made Jean's Healthy Seafood Soup.  Her recipe was easy to follow!

This chilly weather also affected our plans to visit the Walla Walla Wine Country for the Fall Release.  We wanted to enjoy some newly released wines and spend some time with friends.

Snow in early November? I am hoping my winter planter boxes hold up for a while!

According to Komo News, our local news channel, Mike Ehl, Director of Operations at Sea-Tac Airport said an unusual north wind blew out of the Fraser River Valley and made its way down to the Puget Sound region - which caused enough havoc at the Sea-Tac Airport to impact nearly 360 flights and cancel ours. This wind direction is typical on warm summer days, but not this time of year.

It was disappointing to have our weekend plans changed and not be able to get out of Seattle for a few days to enjoy the fall colors and visit our friends, Sarah and Jim, who had a great weekend planned for us.

What is with this weather?

Since Jean's recipe calls for a white fish, I checked The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® to see which fish I should use. This guide helps consumers and businesses choose seafood that is fished or farmed in ways that have less impact to our environment.

Alaska cod is listed as a "Best Choice".  The Seafood Watch is updated twice a year.  I read that our state's local fishing fleets may be affected by "The Blob", a large body of warm water that may be taking a toll on Alaska cod. I hope Alaska cod stays a best choice as it is tasty fish and very healthy.

With all this weird weather in the Pacific Northwest, it can be difficult to keep up with what is healthy to eat and what is healthy for our environment.

I called Gemini Fish Market - our local fish shop in Issaquah, Washington, and asked them if they had Alaskan Black Cod and what shrimp I should buy.  Not only did they made some great recommendations, they impressed me with their continued focus on sustainable seafood stocks that contribute both to healthier people and healthier oceans.

I made Jean's recipe with Alaska Black Cod and Louisiana White Gulf Shrimp.  Her recipe is very easy to follow.  I chopped up the onion and celery and made Emeril's Creole Seasoning Spice Mix. To make things easy, I used chopped garlic from a jar.

Everything is chopped up and ready to go!

This recipe was just for my husband and me, so I only used one Chinese Eggplant and divided the recipe in half.  The recipe calls for Japanese Eggplant, but Chinese Eggplant was in stock at the store - and I am not sure I know the difference.

If you do not currently use silicon baking mats, I highly recommend them. Below are before and after photos of the silicon sheet pan liners.  You can see how easy they are to clean up and you hardly have to wash the bulky sheet pan.  These liners make baking cookies, roasting vegetables or making a one sheet meal very easy.  After baking the eggplant, the skin was easily removed. I did a quick chop and moved them to a glass pan.

Here is a "before" photo of the silicon baking liner.

Here is an "after" photo, very little mess!

Jean's timing for how long to cook the shrimp and fish was spot on for the size of shrimp and fish that I had.  Her technique to keep the shrimp and fish under foil allowed the proteins to "rest" while I moved on to make the vegetable broth and orzo.

Let's talk about fish bones.  There were a lot of bones in the Alaskan Black Cod.  The important thing it to make sure you get them all out.  I tried to remove them before cooking the fish with pliers, but I would have really mangled up the fish.  What I did was remove the bones after the fish was cooked and before I dished it up for the soup. There is probably a better technique to remove fish bones - readers please do comment if you know one!

Cooking the shrimp and fish separately, allowed me to monitor the cooking times.

I grabbed my dutch oven, turned the stove on medium heat and added olive oil to the pan. I added the chopped celery and onion. Waiting to add garlic till after the celery and onions were soft, was a good trick and helped keep me from burning the garlic. I poured in the vegetable broth and started to make the orzo in a separate small soup pan.  The orzo could have easily been just cooked in the vegetable broth - as it is a pasta and cooks pretty fast.  If you are planning to have leftovers, I would keep the orzo separate so it doesn't get mushy the next day.

After the vegetable broth simmered, I ladled the broth in a bowl and piled on the shrimp, fish, eggplant, a handful spinach and topped it with cooked orzo and some diced scallions.

I definitely recommend this recipe as it tastes great! It was super easy to make and approved by a person who loves to cook!

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I liked just piling on the shrimp, fish, orzo, and spinach.  I also added some chopped scallions.

JEAN'S HEALTHY SEAFOOD SOUP

Note: This takes about 1 hour to complete, and according to Jean tastes even better the next day.

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 small Japanese eggplants, cut in half
1/2 pound of halibut or other mild white fish, without skin
1 pound of wild American shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T Cajun seasoning, such as Emeril's, recipe to follow
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2 stalks celery, 1/4" dice
1/2 red onion, 1/2" dice
2 T garlic, minced
1/2 bunch fresh spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place eggplant cut side down on baking sheet. Coat lightly with olive oil. Bake until skin is lightly charred, approximately 15 minutes. Cover with foil for 10 minutes, then peel and cut into 1/2" cubes. Place in glass dish.

Meantime, lightly oil both sides of fish and coat with Cajun seasoning. Heat 2 T olive oil in heavy saucepan. Add shrimp and cook until pink, turning once, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove to dish with eggplant and cover with foil to keep warm. Add 2 T olive oil and heat. Add fish and cook about 2 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Remove and place in the dish with the shrimp and eggplant.

Add 4 T olive oil and heat. Add celery and onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes, taking care not to brown. Add vegetable broth and scrape bottom of pan to incorporate seasoning. Bring to low boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add shrimp, fish, eggplant and spinach, along with salt and pepper.

May serve alone or over orzo. If using orzo, add 1/2 cup orzo to simmering broth before adding shrimp, etc. cooking for 8 minutes.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning): 

2 1/2 T paprika
2 T salt
2 T garlic powder
1 T freshly ground black pepper
1 T onion powder
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T dried oregano
1 1/2 T dried thyme

Combine. Shake to mix. This can be kept in a jar and stored in the pantry.

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Friends, please send me your favorite recipes that:

1. Tastes good
2. Are easy to make
3. Approved by a person who loves to cook

Thank you, Jean, for sending me this recipe!


FYI, Since my last post, I have learned how to turn on comments! So please add comments and I will respond to them.