Stuffed Summer Squash

It's squash season! I saw these really great summer squashes at the farmers' market over the weekend and just had to get them. They have many names - flyer saucer squash, pattypan squash, scallop squash, etc. Whatever you call them, they're really gorgeous and really delicious!

Despite the heat, I decided to turn the oven on and make stuffed squash. 

I scooped out the insides of the squash, and saved what I scooped out.

I sautéed together some garlic, onion, habanero pepper, tomatoes, the insides of the squash and black beans, and then added the veggies to cooked quinoa. I then placed the mixture inside the hollowed out squashes. 

I cooked them at 400 degrees for about about 30 minutes, until the squash was tender. I then sprinkled some Daiya cheese on top and popped them back in the oven for about 10 more minutes.

I served the stuffed squash over beds of sautéed kale. This was a really delicious meal! I'm looking forward going back to the farmers' market next weekend to get more squash to experiment with!

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Grilled Polenta with Beans and Veggies

This is a meal that used to be in heavy rotation on my dinner menu, but I haven't made it recently since I haven't been eating corn. My corn allergy is mild, and since I haven't had it in a while, I've decided it's okay to add it back into my diet in moderation. Most people eat corn all day, every day without realizing it, which is not a good thing. Corn is in a lot of processed food because it's so cheap, and high fructose corn syrup is all too prevalent in the standard American diet. I highly recommend seeing the film King Corn, which is all about the corn industry and how corn ended up getting into so much of our food.

This is grilled polenta with beans and veggies. I like to buy the tubes of organic polenta, slice them and grill them on the stove. I'm not really sure what I did wrong with it this time, because the polenta broke apart and stuck the pan. I think it was the pan I used, so I won't use that one again for this. After fighting with it for a while, gave up on and and mashed it all together and then cut it up to serve it, which didn't alter the taste at all. I sprinkled some Daiya cheese over it while it was cooking. The veggies are mixed peppers, tomatoes, and onions, and I also added black beans.

Polenta is made with boiled cornmeal, which has a smooth, creamy texture. Strangely, it used to be classified as peasant food, but it has gained popularity and is now on the menu in many high end restaurants. It's naturally gluten-free, so it can make a nice grain alternative to people with gluten intolerance. And it's also really tasty!


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Quesadillas on Spelt Tortillas

I made quesadillas with rice flour tortillas back in January. I have been able to find the rice tortillas again, but my friend Jessica told me that Whole Foods carries spelt tortillas and I wanted to give them a try. I hadn't seen them before, but it's probably just because I didn't look. I bought the last package they had at my local Whole Foods and decided to whip up some quesadillas again. I stuffed them with red, green and yellow peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and I used refried beans and a little Daiya cheddar cheese as the "glue" to hold the whole thing together. I served them with guacamole and sautéed kale. This meal was delicious and easy to make!


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Deep Dish Rutabaga Fennel Gratin

I saw the recipe for this on the Vegetarian Times website and it looked interesting enough to try out. It consists of slices of rutabaga, onions, potatoes and fennel layered in a baking dish and covered in cheese, flour, milk and spices. It was easy enough to make allergy friendly - I used Daiya cheese, rice milk and Bob's Red Mill's Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour. I also doubled the recipe because I didn't know what I'd do with half a fennel bulb hanging out in the fridge.

This recipe was definitely an experiment. I guess it was because I doubled the recipe, but it took waaaay longer than an hour to cook. I should have turned the heat on the oven up higher. Because it was coated in flour, the cheese didn't melt. I put the dish under the broiler thinking it would help melt the cheese, but all that accomplished was burning the top. It was quite good though, and it was an interesting change of pace from the type of meals I usually cook. If I make it again, I will probably omit the flour because I don't think it was necessary.



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Another Pizza!

We made another pizza! This time we used Bob's Red Mill's gluten-free pizza crust. It takes a little longer to make because it uses yeast and needs time to rise. The package makes a large amount of crust, so we made a larger pizza and had leftovers. The crust was pretty good, except it tasted a little dry. We topped the pizza off with diced tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, red bell peppers, shallots and Daiya cheese. This definitely wasn't as good as anything from Pala Pizza, but it was good enough!




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