In sticking with the meal plan I have made quite a few new, relatively easy recipes the past two weeks. Here are three from the past couple of days. There have been a couple of modifications. . .instead of Baked Brown Spanish Rice I made Rice Cooker Spanish Rice and instead of Pepsi Pot Roast we are going to make Pulled Elk (instead of pulled pork). I changed the rice because I was baking Lazy Chiles Rellanos and the temperatures were different and I didn't want to wait for the rice to bake at a lower temperature when it was already supposed to take 80 minutes at a higher temp. We are making Pulled Elk to take to a football shindig at a friend's house on Sunday--plans that arose after I had made the weekly menu.
On Monday I prepped everything for the week. I roasted butternut squash for the Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. While that was roasting, I blanched spinach and made cream cheese crust for the Spinach Pie (on taps for tomorrow), and prepped for the Chicken Curry (recipe to follow) I was making for dinner that evening by making a cream of chicken substitute. After roasting the butternut squash I roasted the chiles for the Lazy Chiles Rellanos. While they roasted I simmered the squash in broth and blended it with a hand blender then I put it in the refrigerator for later in the week. I then made the Chicken Curry. It was a productive day.
I had received three butternut squash from the co-op over the past month so I tried to find a recipe that sounded like it would take away some of the sweet since that is what PE dislikes about butternut squash. I succeeded (for the most part) with this soup. I didn't blend the squash, onions, and garlic as thoroughly as I could have so he encountered a few chunks that were the sweet he doesn't enjoy but said a little salt nipped that in the bud. The directions are lengthy but that is because they are more detailed. Don't let the length scare you away.
I also received chiles from the co-op this past week and wanted to use them. Once again The Pioneer Woman came to the rescue and I had a delicious recipe bookmarked that was perfect. . . Lazy Chiles Rellenos. I love Chiles Rellenos. I have wanted to make them for quite awhile but didn't know that I cared to make the individual version. So the Lazy in the title of the recipe really spoke to me. It was all I had hoped for. I even had delicious corn tortillas from the co-op to enjoy with that and the Rice Cooker Spanish Rice. The meal was excellent. PE said the leftovers were great too.
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Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
from The Hungry Mouse
Print Recipe
20 oz. butternut squash, cut up into chunks (that’s about 4 cups)
1 large sweet onion
1 clove elephant garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
7 fresh sage leaves, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
Preheat your oven to 350. Line a sheet pan with foil and/or parchment paper. Spread cut squash out on your prepared pan. Add the chopped onion to the squash on the sheet pan. Next, peel your clove of elephant garlic. Slice it thinly and sprinkle it over the onion and squash. Drizzle the olive oil over the veggies on your pan. Mix the veggies up with your hands to cover them with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and fresh minced sage to taste. Pop the pan into your preheated oven. Roast the veggies, stirring a few times during cooking, for about 1 1/2 hours. You want them to slow cook and develop nice, caramelized edges. Transfer the veggies into a large-ish soup pot. Pour in the chicken broth. Turn the heat on to medium-high and bring it up to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Check your veggies for doneness. Fish out a larger piece of squash with a wooden spoon. Smoosh it against the side of the pot. If it breaks up, it’s done. If it’s hard and refuses to come apart, simmer the soup for a few more minutes, then try again. If it breaks up easily, keep going. Once your veggies are cooked through, it’s time to puree them. I do this with a handheld stick blender. (If you don’t have one, you can totally use a regular blender. Just transfer and puree the soup in batches to ensure that you don’t overload your blender.) Put the stick blender in the pot. Make sure that the head of the blender is completely submerged, or else you’ll have a splatter fest on your hands. (Remember, your heat should be off at this point.) If you can’t get your stick blender completely submerged, tip your pot a little and use the stick blender in the deep end of the pot. Blend the soup until it’s completely pureed. When you’ve blended up all the chunks of veggies, your soup should be pretty smooth. Add the cream to the pot. Puree the soup again with your handheld blender to combine it. Ladle out into bowls. Garnish with chopped chives.
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Lazy Chiles Rellenos
from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Print Recipe
8 whole roasted, peeled, and seeded green chiles (can be canned)
1 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese, grated
5 whole large eggs
2 cups whole milk
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 325. Mix together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Cut chilies in half and add a single layer of chilies on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Top chilies with half the grated cheese. Repeat with another layer of chilies and another layer of cheese. Pour egg mixture all over the top. Place into a larger baking dish or rimmed baking sheet. Pour in 1/2 inch of water and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until completely set.
Cut into squares and serve with warm corn tortillas!
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Rice Cooker Spanish Rice
from Sparky
Print Recipe
2 cups long grain rice
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chiles
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp chili powder
salt, to taste
Spray rice cooker with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in rice cooker and stir. Run rice cooker cycle. When the cycle is almost completed check the rice. If necessary, add additional 1/2 cup water. The amount you need will depend on what kind of rice you use.
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