Sunday, November 24, 2013

Mediterranean Stuffed Delicata Squash Boats

Hey, everybody! This is Madeline again, and I have an awesome recipe that you will love this season. I think this would be a great dish to bring to your Thanksgiving dinner. It uses seasonal ingredients, but it doesn't have the expected fall flavors (like cinnamon, maple syrup, thyme, rosemary, cranberries, etc.). My main goal this fall and winter is to post recipes that will make your seasonal meals more diverse and interesting. This meal looks very impressive, too; I took a leftover squash boat to school and my friends were really surprised that I had such a "fancy" lunch. Enjoy!
 

Mediterranean Stuffed Delicata Squash Boats
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 delicata squash
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried parsley flakes
¼ tsp dried lemon peel
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)
¼ cup julienned basil (for garnish)
 
For stuffing*:
1 cup white or brown rice (depends on your preference)
1 roma tomato, finely diced
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup julienned basil
The juice and zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
*You will most likely have leftover stuffing. Save it, because it would make a great school lunch or quick dinner when you're home alone.

Preparation

1.    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut each delicata squash in half lengthwise and scoop out all the seeds. Combine the olive oil, balsamic, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, dried parsley, dried lemon peel, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Mix well using a whisk or a fork. Brush the mixture onto the delicata squash using a pastry brush. If you have excess, you can use it at a later step. Bake the delicata squash for 30 – 35 minutes. It will not be done; you should remove it from the oven when it seems like it has about 10 – 15 minutes left to cook.

2.    Bring water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. You will need two cups of water for white rice, and 1.5 cups water for brown rice. Add the rice. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes (for white rice) or 35 minutes (for brown rice). Do not lift the lid until the cooking time is finished! Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

3.    In a large bowl, combine all the stuffing ingredients. If you have excess of the oil and vinegar mixture that you used to brush the squash, you can brush the squash again to use it up. Then, stuff the area where the seeds used to be with the stuffing. Bake for 5 – 15 minutes, or until squash is soft throughout.

4.    Garnish each squash boat with fresh parsley and basil. Serve and enjoy! 
I hope you like this recipe! I highly encourage you to try it out, and if you do, please share it with me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #teenscancooktoo. Don't forget to also keep up with Teens Can Cook, Too by following us at all of our social media handles below.

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Stay healthy!
- Madeline

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Lime Couscous and Cannellini Beans with Salsa Verde

Hey, everybody! This is Madeline, and I'm here to share an awesome recipe with you that I made last night. My brother and my dad have been helping out at my brother's elementary school's garden, and they brought home some tomatillos that the kids grew. I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to make some fresh salsa verde.... but I didn't have any cilantro on hand. So, I decided to use basil and chives. Weird, I know, but it was really good! I figured I would make a dish incorporating more Italian flavors with Mexican flavors, and this was the end result. The salsa verde itself could be a great snack or dish at a party. Enjoy this recipe!

The final product
 

Lime Couscous and Cannellini Beans with Salsa Verde
Serves 3

Ingredients
1 cup whole-wheat couscous
1½ cups chicken or vegetable broth
The juice of 1 lime
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
¼ of a large yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp dried oregano
2 cups pre-washed baby spinach, loosely packed
9 tbsp organic Mexican cheese blend
Salt and pepper, to taste

For salsa verde:
3 medium-sized tomatillos
½ of a jalapeño pepper, all seeds and membrane removed*
3 tbsp. julienned basil
3 tbsp. chives, finely chopped
The juice of ½ of a lime
Salt and pepper, to taste
Salsa verde

*If you have a low tolerance for spice, then add ¼ of a jalapeño to make the salsa milder.

Preparation

1. Finely dice the tomatillos and the jalapeño. Combine them with the rest of the salsa verde ingredients in a small bowl. Adjust seasonings if needed.

2. Bring the chicken/vegetable broth to a boil. Remove from heat and add the couscous. Stir well. Cover and let sit for about ten minutes. If the couscous doesn't absorb the broth in that amount of time, give it a few more minutes. Fluff with a fork and stir in the lime juice, parsley, salt, pepper, and 3 tbsp of the olive oil. Cover again and set aside to keep the couscous warm while you finish the dish.

3. Heat the remaining olive oil on medium-high heat in a large non-stick skillet. Add the garlic and onions. Sautee until the onions are slightly translucent (about three to five minutes). Add the cannellini beans, tomatoes, red bell pepper, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well and sauté for about four minutes, or until tomatoes are soft. Stir in the spinach and sauté until spinach is wilted.  

4. To plate, make a bed of couscous for each person. Top with the beans and vegetables. Sprinkle 3 tbsp of Mexican cheese on each plate and top everything with a generous amount of salsa verde. Serve and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! I loved making and eating it last night. Please share your recreations with me using #teenscancooktoo!

I'm going to end this post with some thoughts I've been having recently. In English class on Thursday, we read two editorials about why Americans are so obese. I (obviously) was very excited about that activity, because I know so much about the topic and am trying to educate my peers through this blog. Anyway, the editorials basically criticized the government for forcing health upon us and our youth through the health care system, through initiatives to remove junk food from school vending machines, and more. The authors said that they think it all depends on personal choices and lifestyles. Yes, it's sad that so many people are overweight, but let them choose what they want. I happen to disagree with this point. I would say that I'm more in the middle of this argument. I don't agree that forcing kids to eat healthy by taking away their junk food is a good idea. However, I think that we need to educate them to make the right choice and present the healthy options. If they choose the bad ones, that's their problem, but if we get them excited about choosing the healthy snacks, then we've done our job. Forcing people to be healthy in any way will cause them to retaliate, but we can show them that being healthy is tasty and simple, which will hopefully inspire them to choose a better lifestyle. I hope that my blog can inspire kids, teens and adults alike to choose healthy options and cook healthy foods. I'm starting small, but my message branches out more and more every day, and it's because of my awesome readers. So thanks to everyone who reads my blog! I have now reached 200 followers on Instagram and over 100 likes on the Facebook page (yay!), which is great progress if you look at where I was at the beginning of the school year. Please keep up the support so I can reach more kids. Hopefully I'll meet some new milestones before 2013 is over!

And on that note, please follow Teens Can Cook, Too at all the social media handles below! Make sure you like the blog, too; just click the button on the right-hand side and you're done! If you have a Gmail account, a Google+ account, or a YouTube account, then you can follow this blog. It's super easy!

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Stay healthy!
- Madeline