Roasted Acorn Squash stuffed with Curried Quinoa and Chickpeas

This was not a very methodical preparation since I roasted the squash, and while it was roasted I decided to do the rest. So in the future I'm sure some of these steps can be combined.

Split an acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds and strings, put face down in 1/4 inch of water in a roasting pan. Cover pan and bake for 1 hour in a 400 degree oven.

In a saucepan, boil 2 1/2 c of water. Add 1 1/2 c quinoa. Lower heat and stir occasionally until most of water is absorbed and quinoa looks like little commas. In another pan, I heated a tablespoon or two of olive oil and sauteed two pressed garlic cloves. I would have done some onion too, but we were out. Add to that a 19 ox. can of chickpeas and 2 t curry power. Stir. Add a tablespoon or two of water to give mixture a little "sauce" and to prevent spices from scorching. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or so. Chickpeas should taste thoroughly curried. To this I added 1/2 c of sliced almonds and the quinoa. The quinoa still had some water in it, so at first the mixture looked a little loose, but soon the water cooked out and it all came together quite nicely. I would have added some chopped parsley for color and flavor if we had it. Next time!

Had this with lacinato kale sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

Blueberry Muffins

How To Cook Everything single-handedly gave us our crash course in fish cookery a few years ago when we first started to decommission our vegetarian status. And we love the weekly Minimalist feature the author does in the NY Times. But this muffin recipe requires some tweaking.

While attractive as all get-out, and look, they're smooching, I goofed and used baking soda instead of baking powder. I wondered why one would want the b soda flavor so present, muscling out the yummy fresh blueberries I felt lucky to bag this time of year. My mistake! And though I low-balled the 1/2 c of sugar, I was wanting for more sweetness, and moisture, in the final analysis. (But maybe those two things too were the result of my soda/powder mixup.)

3 T canola oil
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar, or to taste
1/2 t salt
3 t baking powder
1 egg
1 c milk
1 c fresh blueberries
1/2 t fresh lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin pan.
Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat together the egg, milk, and oil. Mae a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating, and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. I got 7 huge muffins out this. Bake 20-30 minutes.

Essenza di Malvasia ICT 2006

Since my wine habit has been limited to sips and drams these last few months, pregnancy supernose was delighted to encounter this one, the sips of which were worth the 6th toe.

A nice dry white, full, with crisp acidity, good structure, and very fruity.

More information, en Deutch!

Producers: Vinosia, Campania
Jahrgang/Vintage: 2006
Rebsorte(n): 100% Malvasia Grape (s)
Alkoholgehalt/Alcohol content: 13%

Genuss/Enjoyment:
Empfohlene Lagerzeit/Recommended storage time: 2007 - 2009
Höhepunkt/Peak: 2008
Empfohlene Trinktemperatur/Recommended temperature: 8-10 ° C.

A few more months and I'll be revisiting this bottle with gusto.

The Chicken Sandwich, deconstructed, plus brussels sprouts

Thankfully vegetables are making a comeback as far as my preg palate is concerned, but I crack myself up to think that this meal is a prime example of my new eating style. I've had a hard time eating out lately because of a problematic situation with "flavors together." Even if they're flavors I like. I have to taste everything separately. Or so says month 6 of pregnancy. So here: rotisserie chicken breast, sliced avocado, sliced cheddar cheese and b sprouts. Period.

Apparently from now on, I'm eating like a child. Also good: melted chocolate smeared on a banana topped with chopped walnuts. Mmm.