Salad days aren't over yet!

This time of year is confusing for us here in California: the evenings and mornings are chilly, but it can still reach into the 70s during the afternoon; you can get pretty sweaty running around outside or walking the dog in shirt sleeves, but the stores are full of winter sweaters or even ski gear. As for the supermarkets, they are full of root vegetables and squash and other such fall delights, and, alarmingly, some of them are already stocking eggnog and candy canes. Confusing indeed.

So, in order to embrace this season of mixed messages, here are two salad recipes - both of which are salady and cool enough to satisfy anyone still reeling from a warm afternoon and not up to sitting in front of a steaming bowl of wintery stew, but which also use classic fall ingredients, and therefore hark of the season to come.

Chicken, Pomegranate and Roasted Squash Salad
Serves  4

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
4oz crumbled soft goat cheese
5 cups baby spinach leaves
5 cups arugula (rocket) leaves
1 butternut squash, peeled, and cubed
oil spray
1 whole roasted chicken, stripped and shredded (you won't need the whole thing)
4 baby turnips, peeled and cut into thin strips (julienned)
1/2 cup pomegranate arils

Dressing:
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 TBSP pomegranate vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Put the butternut squash in a large rimmed baking tray sprayed with oil spray, spray the squash well with more oil spray, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes until soft and turning brown on the edges. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Make the dressing by combining the ingredients in a leak-proof jar and shaking to combine.
3. Toss the leaves, cooled squash, chicken and turnip to combine. Pour over dressing and toss to coat.
4. Sprinkle goat cheese, pomegranate arils and pumpkin seeds over the top.

Kale, Hazelnut and Squash Salad
from Martha Stewart
Serves 6 as a side

1lb (about 4 cups) of cubed butternut squash
6 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper
4 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 bunches of lacinato kale (the curly leaved kale)
4 oz crumbled soft goat cheese
1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss the butternut squash with 1 1/2 TBSP olive oil and salt and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet and then bake in the oven until soft and starting to brown (about 40 minutes). Set aside to cool.
2. Toss the sliced shallots on a separate baking sheet with another 1 1/2 TBSP olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for 30 minutes (you may need to toss them in the middle of the cooking time). By this point, they will be golden brown and soft. Set aside to cool.
3. An hour before you want to eat, prepare the kale. Cut the long central spine out of each of the leaves, and then cut the remaining leaves into thin strips and put into a large bowl. Combine the lemon juice and remaining 3 TBSP olive oil with a whisk and pour over the kale. Use your hands to rub the dressing into the kale so that all the leaves are coated. You will feel the leaves start to tenderize. Cover the bowl and leave for at least 30 minutes, and up to one hour.
4. Toss the cheese, nuts, roasted squash and shallots with the kale and serve.

Pumpkin, how do I love thee..

...let me count the ways.

OK, confession time: I don't like pumpkin pie. I know, shock, horror, I realize it's amazing they agreed to grant me American citizenship. It's a texture thing, I think. Can't explain it, just don't like it. However, you can put pumpkin in pretty much anything else, and I will gobble it up, particularly given the usual blend of spices that go alongside our 'squashy' fall friend. It is an American custom I have 99% (the remaining 1% being the pie) adopted with a smile, so bring on the muffins, cupcakes, cookies, cakes, even the lattes (and yes, I know that they haven't been anywhere near a real pumpkin, and that Starbucks is the devil incarnate, yada yada yada. I can't help it if they still hit that spot).

You find pumpkin featuring more rarely in savory dishes though, it seems to me. This dish is an example of why we should probably allow our squashy friend to branch out more often. It is also a dish where the pumpkin lends a substance but not a strong flavor, making it very kid-friendly. In fact, I could easily have billed this dinner as a new recipe Mac 'n' cheese and certain tablemates would have never guessed they were eating pumpkin (helped no doubt by the fact that they eat so fast that the food can hardly touch the sides on the way down).

The original recipe came from one of those waiting-for-the-kids-again-in-the-car-so-I-may-as-well-read-recipes-online-on-my-phone moments. Its a quick fix for those among us like me who are cookbook-addicted, but miles away from their stash, our own emergency little nicotine patch, if you will. Creds for the untweaked version go to Cooking Light online - however, the tweaks are all mine.

Rotini with Pumpkin and Pancetta
Serves 6

1lb rotini
6oz pancetta or bacon in a small dice
4 TBSP finely chopped fresh sage
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling!)
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 TBSP heavy cream (double cream)
4 TBSP chopped fresh parsley

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain over a bowl, reserving 1 1/2 cups of cooking liquid. Set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook for 4 minutes or until nearly crisp. Add 2 TBSP of the sage and the garlic, and cook for 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
3. Stir in pumpkin, parmesan, salt and pepper.
4. Add the pasta, reserved cooking liquid and cream and toss to combine.
5. Serve sprinkled with remaining sage and parsley.

The mysteries of root beer

I have often wondered who on earth invented root beer (and why, quite frankly). This is usually followed by a spell of wondering why it's existence is allowed to continue unchecked. My abhorrence for all things root beer is not simply random. The smell of the stuff makes me want to physically gag, so steering clear of it is a health issue for me and a public service. And I have my reasons, well one reason, specifically. In the UK, the most common brand of antiseptic cream is called 'Germolene'. It is vibrant pink in color, and all of us who grew up there would recognize the smell (and the color) instantly and be transported back to a youth of skinned knees and irritated insect bites. So imagine my horror when I moved to the US and discovered that one of the country's most popular beverages smells exactly (and I mean EXACTLY) like antiseptic cream. Except that you don't liberally rub it root beer over cuts and scrapes. Oh no, you drink it. Imagine pouring yourself a nice cold glass of Neosporin, and you will no doubt understand my reaction.

However, I am nothing if not open-minded, and have had to become all the more so, since one of my children, who were all born and bred in the US, seems to have developed a taste for drinking root beer, so I even have to allow it in my fridge from time to time. My interest in thinking more flexibly and being a tad less dogmatic (just a tad, mind you), was therefore piqued when I recently found a recipe for a chicken dish where the chicken is cooked in root beer. And I have to say, my interests were right to pique themselves, since this was a pretty good dish and a fun dinner for everyone around the table. If you didn't know that there was root beer in the recipe, you would probably find it hard to guess - it lends a sweetness and slight spiciness to the chicken, but isn't at all overwhelming and didn't make me feel like I was dining on antiseptic, which is always a good thing, I find! All in all, a dish that bears sharing and a repeat appearance in my kitchen.

Root Beer Pulled Chicken with Rainbow Slaw
original recipe from Family Circle
Serves 6-8

2 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 12oz can root beer (not diet)
1 TBSP vegetable/canola oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 TBSP yellow mustard (not hot mustard!)
8 bread rolls (I used ciabatta rolls)

for the slaw:
2/3 cup light mayonnaise
2 TBSP cider vinegar
1 TBSP vegetable/canola oil
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
12 oz broccoli slaw mix
1 cup shredded red cabbage

1. Coat slow cooker with oil spray and then place the chicken breasts on the base of the stoneware. Sprinkle with onion salt and garlic powder.
2. Pour over the root beer (holding nose if necessary!)
3. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
4. Meanwhile, heat vegetable/canola oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes until softened and turning golden.
5. Stir in ketchup, brown sugar, molasses and mustard. Bring to the boil, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Make the slaw - whisk together the mayonnaise, cider vinegar, oil, sugar, celery salt and pepper. Add the broccoli slaw mix and shredded red cabbage and stir to combine.
7. When cooking time is up, remove chicken from slow cooker and use two forks to shred it. Take a half cup of the cooking liquid from the slow cooker and then discard the rest. Return the shredded chicken and reserved cooking liquid to the slow cooker and stir in the sauce.
7. Serve the chicken on the bread rolls and top with slaw.

Winging it

I am not the bravest of cooks. But I also rarely cook exactly to a recipe. My specialty is the 'tweak'. However, sometimes, I get all courageous, spurred on by some fabulous produce, some time on hand (yeah, like that happens often), or the guilt induced by the combination of not having enough time to go shopping, having a heretofore unseen combination of items available in my fridge AND having already subjected the family to take-out twice in the same week. Oh yes, I can do guilt, but sometimes, the plus side of my propensity for self-flagellation bears pretty fabulous results. Last night was one of those occasions, so I'm sharing the resulting culinary creation with you. And I don't mind if you pass it off as your own creation, and deny all knowledge of the recipe written out here. Consider it a gift from me :-)

The instigation for my creative burst were these:

Beautiful, aren't they? And they are called Tongue-of-Fire beans, which makes them even cooler!

Now, not so long ago, before I was used to venturing outside my narrow comfort zone in the vegetable department, I would have left these in the fridge until they were shriveled and foul-smelling before reluctantly throwing them out and promising to do better next time (probably in tandem with some more guilt). However, I'm a bit braver these days, so I thought, what the heck, and concocted the stew below, using pretty much all the things I could find in the fridge. No worries, if you don't happen to find these beautiful beans - you could easily substitute with a can of butterbeans or cannellini beans. Or, you could use raw lentils, in place of the ready cooked ones I used, and use them as the base at the beginning of the recipe, cooking them in the stock, in place of the beans. Go on, be brave!

Pancetta, Chard and Tongue-of-Fire Bean Stew
Serves 5

olive oil
6 oz raw cubed pancetta
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups of shelled beans
about 4 cups chicken stock
3 cups chopped red or green chard leaves (discard the stems)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil)
3 TBSP sun-dried tomato pesto
1 cup ready-cooked green lentils
salt and pepper
cooked farro to serve

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion and pancetta and sauté until pancetta is starting to brown.
2. Add the garlic and rosemary, and cook for 1 minute more.
3. Stir in the beans, and then add sufficient stock to cover the beans, with the level about 1" above the beans.
4. Bring to the boil, and then turn the heat down so that the mixture bubbles lightly - boiling it too vigorously will cause the beans to break apart and become mushy.
5. Continue to simmer, uncovered, until the beans are tender (about 40 minutes).
6. Stir in the chard leaves, sun-dried tomatoes and red bell pepper and cook for 5-10 minutes until the chard is wilted, the sun-dried tomatoes plumping up, and the bell pepper tender.
7. Stir in the pesto and the cooked lentils. Then taste the stew and add salt and pepper to taste if desired.
8. Serve on a bed of cooked farro (or cous-cous, or barley, or rice, or orzo...)

Aaaaaaah cheese

Seriously, is there anything better than cheese? This is a rhetorical question. Of course there isn't! As author, Avery Aames once wrote: "“Life is great. Cheese makes it better.”  (And you have to listen to Ms. Aames, because she wrote books called 'A Long Quiche Goodbye' and 'Lost and Fondue'. She is clearly a genius.) And when, to your cheese, you add some soft, gooey polenta, fresh chard and juicy little cherry tomatoes, that's a serious meal, right there.

I have but one complaint - one of the reasons I gave this recipe a whirl is that it is in a book called One Pot of the Day from Williams Sonoma. I am a huge fan of the one pot. Less work, less dishing up, less washing up. It's a win win win. However, technically this is not a one-pot dish. It's a slow cooker and a skillet dish. Still, it is definitely going to become a regular around here, if only for the wonderful marriage of a few of our favorite ingredients. Did I mention how much we love cheese?!

Polenta with Cheese, Garlic and Chard
Serves 6

6 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups stone-ground polenta
salt and ground black pepper
1 bunch Swiss Chard (I used red chard)
2 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
7oz fontina cheese, cut into small cubes
3 TBSP toasted pine nuts

1. In a slow cooker, stir together the broth, polenta, 1 tsp salt and several grindings of black pepper. Cover and cook on low for 3-3.5 hours, stirring two or three times if possible. By this point, the polenta should be thick and soft and no longer gritty.
2. About 20 minutes before the polenta is ready, removed the stems from the chard leaves and chop them cross-wise into small pieces like you would celery. Cut the leaves into fine strips also, but keep them separate from the stems.
3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and then add the chard stems and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they are starting to soften. Add the garlic, tomatoes and chard leaves and season well with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook until the leaves are wilted and tender (about 4-5 minutes more).
4. About five minutes before the polenta is ready, stir in the parmesan and then sprinkle the fontina cubes over the top of the polenta. Recover, and then when the five minutes is up, open again and stir in the melted fontina. Serve the chard mixture over the polenta and garnish with pine nuts.

Pasta Night Y'all

Those of you who bother to read the headings will note the southern reference, and perhaps do a double-take. After all, I am from the south of the A country, just not the south of this country, where I believe 'y'all' to be in common parlance (based on the regular utterance thereof by a good Texan friend of mine). No, in Cornwall, where I grew up, I don't think 'y'all' is much in evidence, not that Cornwall doesn't have dialectal quirks of its own... but that is for another day.

I was surprised when I found myself buying a 'Special Collector's Edition' of 'Taste of Home', and no, it wasn't because I was sucked in by the incredibly prestigious thought of owning a 'Special Collector's Edition!' I thought you had to be born and bred south of the Mason-Dixon line and have Paula Deen on speed dial, to even consider buying Taste of Home. I kind of expected to be turned back at the cash register. I was wrong, it turns out, as Taste of Home seems to have a broader remit than just southern cooking. However, when I then opted to subscribe to the magazine, I was offered a deal on a companion subscription to 'Country Woman'. Yeah, that would be a step too far, I think.

I'm rather disappointed that I didn't overcome my misconceptions sooner, as the first dish I tried from my prestigious gold-plated Special Person's leather-bound edition was rather good.  If it is representative of the edition as a whole, then it is a good sign of great meals to come and, now that I have dispelled the southern myth I seem to have created all by myself, I don't even have to break out the poorer-than-poor impression of a Paula Deen accent each time I dig into another recipe. That's a relief all round, I'm sure.

Meaty Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
12 servings (no kidding, we have been eating this for lunch a lot lately!)

1 lb Italian sausage (pork - if you buy individual sausages, then remove casings)
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 jar (8oz) marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), chopped
3 TBSP finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

1. In a large skillet sprayed with oil, cook the beef and sausage, onion, green pepper, celery and garlic over a medium heat until the meat is no longer pink.
2. Transfer to a slow cooker and stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours (or high for 5-6). Discard bayleaf before serving over pasta (we had it with tortellini).

More florets please!

I get a weekly bag of seasonal vegetables from a local CSA, and recently cauliflower has been making an appearance. Now, I love nothing more than par-boiled cauliflower baked in a cheese sauce and topped with succulent tomatoes and crispy breadcrumbs. Why, I'm struggling not to dribble on my keyboard right now. But, as you know, I am also somewhat addicted to trying out new recipes, so when a Cooking Light recipe for Cauliflower Fritters hit my inbox, it was the kind of coincidence you might call 'fortuitous'.

I have to say, that despite the appearance of cauliflower in the recipe, the resulting morsels of crispy goodness don't taste strongly of cauliflower, which might make this dish useful to those trying to persuade reticent children to partake of a few florets. Whether overtly cauliflowery or not, these fritters were gobbled up by my family, who then nearly wept when they realized they were all gone. I kid you not. The original recipe calls 2 fritters a serving. Well, they haven't met my daughter, who polished off 5, hardly taking a breath between mouthfuls. Yes, this recipe is definitely a keeper, and definitely one for doubling (the recipe below gives original quantities - I made double this for my five mouths, and there was not even a crumb left). I hope your florets are just as appreciated around the dinner table.

Cauliflower Fritters with Yoghurt Sauce
Serves 4 (*see notes above!)

10 oz steamed cauliflower (don't boil it, or it will end up too wet)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 TBSP flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
3/4 cup refrigerated shredded hash brown potatoes
2 oz shredded white cheddar cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup plain 2% fat Greek yoghurt
2 TBSP minced green onions (spring onions)
2 TBSP mayonnaise
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. Place the steamed cauliflower in a large bowl and mash with a potato-masher. Stir in onion, flour, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon rind, potatoes, cheese and eggs.
2. Form into 8 patties.
3. Heat a large skillet or griddle over a medium-high heat. Spray with oil spray. Cook the patties for 4 minutes on each side or until crispy and golden brown.
4. Combine yoghurt, green onions, mayonnaise and lemon juice in a small bowl. Season to taste.
5. Serve fritters hot with yoghurt sauce.