Wild Rice and Butternut Squash Dressing

Wow... it has been a busy couple of weeks.  In the past 2 weeks we've travelled to my  parents for Thanksgiving weekend, had two baby showers, 2 prenatal classes, one of my college roommate's was in town to visit, a Christmas party, and our everyday jobs.  That didn't leave a lot of time for blogging.  So I have a stack of recipes to share with you and just need to find some time to post them.  Now if only I could find some time to get my holiday baking started and Christmas shopping done, I might actually catch up a little bit but the next couple of weeks are looking like they will be just as busy. 

Going back to my Thanksgiving recap, I want to share a recipe for wild rice dressing.  My mom isn't really a fan of bread so traditional stuffing recipes don't really appeal to her.  When I saw this recipe in Cooking Light for a wild rice dressing, I thought it would be a great addition to our normal Thanksgiving menu.  I made a few modifications for our own tastes to come up with the recipe below.  I think it turned out great and the leftovers were good as well.

Wild Rice and Butternut Squash Dressing
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, November 2010

1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 cup basmati rice
2 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 T olive oil
1 cup dried cranberries
5-6 green onions, chopped
2 T fresh sage, minced
2 T flat leaf parsley, minced
1 T fresh thyme, stripped from stems
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large saucepan, combine rice, stock, water and 1/4 tsp salt and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer about 40 minutes until rice is tender.  Transfer cooked rice to a 9x13 or similar baking dish coated with cooking spray, do not drain. 

While the rice is cooking, toss butternut squash with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp salt, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast for approximately 20-25 minutes until tender.  Add to rice in baking dish.

Add cranberries, onions, herbs, and spices to mixture, adding additional salt and pepper as desired.  Stir everything together, cover with foil and bake about 15 minutes until everything is heated through.

Asian Coleslaw

My friend Michelle first made this recipe for us in college and it tends to make an appearance at most barbeques and cookouts that we have now.  Its a great light side dish that's a different alternative to pasta salad or potato salad.  The salad comes together really easy with just a few simple ingredients and its a great budget dish.

One note of caution on this salad, add the dressing just before you serve it so it doesnt get soggy.  It also doesnt keep super well because the cabbage tends to wilt after its dressed so don't plan on having a lot of leftovers.  You can garnish with sunflower seeds or toasted almonds or both, whichever you prefer.

Asian Coleslaw

1 head of cabbage, shredded or 1 package of coleslaw mix
1 package oriental-flavor ramen noodles
1 package chicken-flavor ramen noodles
3-4 green onions, chopped
4 oz slivered almonds
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Fill a large bowl with water, add ramen noodles and soak until soft, about 5-10 minutes, drain and pull apart with your hands.  In a clean, dry bowl, add noodles and cabbage mix.  Toast almonds in a small dry skillet.  Add green onions and almonds to cabbage mix. 

In a separate bowl or jar, mix oil, vinegar, sugar and spice packets from ramen noodles.  Just before serving, add dressing to the cabbage mix and toss together.

Chipotle Chili Grilled Corn

Corn on the cob is one of summer's best foods. Growing up in Iowa, fresh sweet corn was everywhere in the summer and super cheap. Luckily, even though I'm no longer surrounded by corn fields, I can still get good sweet corn in the grocery store. In June and July its often as cheap as 10 ears for $1.00. That means we make a lot of corn for dinner or barbecues. When we are grilling some chicken or burgers for dinner, I don't want to heat up the stove inside to boil corn, so I started making corn on the grill as well.


There are a couple of methods you can use. You can keep the corn in the husk, soak them in water for at least 15 minutes and grill in the husk for 20-30 minutes. Or you can husk the corn, wrap them in the foil, add seasoning and cook in foil for 15-20 minutes. Cooking in foil essentially steams the corn.

You can vary the flavors by making a compound butter to spread on the corn. My favorite is this smoky chipotle chili corn but I also like to use a little lime juice and cayenne pepper or garlic and fresh herbs depending on what I'm serving it with.

Chipotle Chili Grilled Corn

2 T unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 T chipotle in adobo sauce
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced
1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
4 ears of corn

Preheat grill to medium heat. (If you are cooking this as part of a meal, the corn is fine cooked over indirect heat but you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly.) In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except corn. Stir until well incorporated. Lay out four large squares of aluminum foil, about 12"x12" each. Place one ear of shucked, clean corn on each square. Use a pastry brush or your hands to add butter mixture to each ear. Wrap tightly in foil, making sure there are no leaks in the package. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Be careful when you unwrap as the escaping steam will be very hot.

Note: If you use salted butter, decrease the amount of additional salt to taste. I use unsalted butter because I always have it on hand for baking.

Edamame Succotash

This is a super easy side dish that you can make to go along with pretty much anything. Its healthy and colorful and ready in about 5 minutes - what more could you ask for?


If you haven't ever tried edamame, you should. You can pick up a bag in the freezer section of shelled edamame and you just pop them in the microwave to cook. They cook in just a couple of minutes and sprinkled with salt they make a great snack or add them to all kinds of things. I had a bag in my freezer for quite a while that I wasn't really sure what to do with until someone told me how good they were on their own. You can add them to stir-fry dinners, mix them with couscous or pasta salads, or even add them to hummus or guacamole, although I haven't tried that yet.


Edamame Succotash

1 cup shelled edamame
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup peas
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced (I used roasted red pepper but you could use raw too)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp olive oil
2 T balsamic vinaigrette
1 tsp salt

Add oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook about three minutes. Add remaining vegetables and vinaigrette dressing. Cook about five minutes until vegetables are hot and vinaigrette reduces slightly. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with salt.

Note: If edamame, peas, and corn are frozen, microwave or thaw to room temperature first or increase cooking time.

Cucumber Tomato Bites

The hardest part of this recipe? Hands down, finding the phyllo cups. They seem to be something that not all grocery stores carry - in fact I had to go to three different stores. I found them at Meijer but I know that I have seen them before at Kroger, but of course not when I'm looking for them. You can find them in the freezer section, look in the area where the pre-made pie crusts, puff pastry, etc. can be found. Once you've found a couple of packages, you're only 10 minutes away from being done.


These would be a great appetizer for a bridal or baby shower, spring party or brunch since they are nice and light. I found this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker, she created it as 1 part of a 3 course menu for Breakstone's Triple Churned Challenge. Go vote for her menu (but hurry as tomorrow is the last day) and you have a chance to win $300! Click here to vote!

Cucumber Tomato Bites
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

1 cucumber, seeded and finely diced
1 tomato, seeded and finely diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat)
3 T cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
2 T lemon juice
2 T chives, finely chopped
2 T parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 packages phyllo cups

Let phyllo cups come to room temperature while you make the filling. Add the sour cream, cream cheese, and lemon juice to a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated to make a dressing. Add the cucumber, tomato and onion and toss with the dressing. Add chives, parsley, salt and pepper and toss to distribute evenly. Spoon the filling into the phyllo cups and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apples

Butternut squash has become my new favorite vegetable. It is so sweet and delicious. With its tough skin, it can be somewhat intimidating but get yourself a good strong vegetable peeler and a sharp knife and you'll be set. It's a also a versatile vegetable, you can play up the sweetness or mix it with Parmesan cheese and savory spices (especially cumin or smoky chili powder) and it works great. I like it better with sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and it pairs perfectly with apples.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apples

1 butternut squash
1 large or 2 small apples
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 T olive oil (I used a citrus infused olive oil but you could also use regular olive oil and add a little orange zest if desired)
1 T brown sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel and chop squash. Start by cutting off the bulb part of the squash and slice off the end so it stands up easily. Peel both sections and then cut in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds (save them to be roasted later) and cut into large bite-size chunks. Peel and core apple and chop into large bite-size chunks.

Toss apple and squash chunks with olive oil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle on cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Toss and spread in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, use a spatula to turn after about 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, squash should be fork tender. Sprinkle with brown sugar and add raisins. Stir again and bake an additional 5 minutes until raisins are soft.

I served this with Parmesan Panko Crusted Chicken... you can find the recipe here.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Here's a recipe for an easy weeknight dinner when you want something a little different than the usual pasta skillet meal or chicken/side dish combo. Stuffed peppers are often made with Italian flavors but I think they work really well with Mexican/southwestern flavors too.

Use a lean ground turkey or turkey breast in place of ground beef, brown instead of white rice, and 2% cheese to make this a healthier meal.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

1/2 pound ground turkey breast
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (I use Ro-tel)
1/2 cup brown rice
4 bell peppers (I used green but any color will work)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, cook rice with water as directed on package (I used Uncle Ben's quick brown rice and it takes 1 cup water per 1/2 cup rice and cooks in about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, brown turkey in a large skillet over medium high heat, crumbling as it cooks. Add 1/2 tsp cumin, cayenne, and half of chili powder. After about 5 minutes, add diced tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Add onions, black beans and corn and simmer until rice is cooked.

Meanwhile, prepare peppers by cutting in half through the top, remove stem, seeds and ribs. Rinse and set in a large baking dish. When liquid has cooked off rice, add remaining spices and fluff with a fork. Stir into turkey mixture. Squeeze juice of half of lime over the mixture and add half the cilantro. Spoon filling into pepper halves. Add a couple tablespoons of water to pan, cover the pan with foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Uncover, peppers should be softened. Sprinkle on cheese and return to oven for about another 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Top with remaining cilantro and sour cream, if desired.

Fiesta Chicken Salad

This is a salad that I make quite frequently as a main dish. You can add or subtract based on what you have on hand, if you marinate the chicken and add corn and beans, you'll get the main idea. Avocados and eggs add healthy fat and a nice creaminess, so I generally use one or the other. The tortilla chips give you a little extra crunch. If you have a red or green bell pepper on hand, chop some up and throw it in. Like tomatoes, add a diced tomato to the salad. You get the idea.


Fiesta Chicken Salad

Chicken:
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 T lime juice
1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Salad:
4 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup corn (I used shoepeg corn because I had some open, but frozen or yellow corn is what I normally use)
1/4 cup red onion, roughly chopped
1/2 avocado, roughly chopped
1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar, but often use colby jack or Mexican blend)
Cilantro-Lime Dressing (see below)

Cut chicken into thin strips and add marinade ingredients to a plastic food-storage bag. Add chicken slices and mix around until chicken is well-coated. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat a skillet to medium-high heat, add chicken and cook through. Turn heat to low and add corn and black beans and stir gently, cook for about 1 minute to heat corn and beans. Distribute lettuce on plates, add cheese, avocado and onion. Add chicken mixture to salads and top with crushed tortilla chips and dressing.


Cilantro-Lime Dressing
Adapted from All-recipes

1/3 cup lime juice
2 T honey
1 clove garlic
2 tsp apple-cider vinegar
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil

Add first 6 ingredients to a food processor and pulse until garlic and jalapeno are finely chopped. Add cilantro and pulse a few times. Once blended, slowly stream in olive oil with food processor running and process until incorporated. Pour over salad.