Squashed mac & cheese

I was looking for recipes on Spark People and was inspired by this one for butternut squash macaroni and cheese. It seemed like a great way to get an extra veggie into a dish and also lighten up a traditionally high-fat - but very comforting - meal. I decided to make the recipe for Mother's Day dinner with the family but couldn't find butternut squash anywhere. Not even frozen. But I did find a spaghetti squash so I bought that and figured I'd try adapting the recipe to suit. The end result turned out better than I expected and everyone loved the dish. Here's what I did:

First to cook the squash, I cut it in a half, pierced the skin and baked it in a shallow amount of water in the oven until it is soft and browned. You can find lots of ways to cook a squash online including video tutorials.

Then I scooped out the flesh of the squash with a spoon. It does look a bit like spaghetti but more like thin rice noodles. I put the squash in a strainer to drain the liquid off while I prepared the rest of the dish.

I cooked macaroni (gluten-free for my mom & sister) and some frozen peas for colour and put that aside, too. Then in a big pot, I combined some milk, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, crushed garlic and some shredded cheddar cheese. You could use more or less of any ingredient as you wish. More cheese is always yummy but also not as healthy so I tried to strike a balance and used about a cup. I wish I had used sharp or old cheddar cheese because I think the flavour would have been better. So I'll make sure to do that next time!

The macaroni and squash was stirred around with the mixture in the pot until it was all combined and gooey. I put the mixture into a casserole dish and topped with some shredded parmesan cheese. You could top with breadcrumbs, too, if you'd like that crunch.

Then I baked the whole thing for about 30 mins until it was bubbly and browned. When served, you couldn't tell the melted cheese from the squash strands and the squash's taste wasn't detectable. Next time, maybe I will try to up the healthy (and protein) factor by combining some soft tofu in with the cheese mixture. This would also be a great dish for a pot luck & would freeze well. There will definitely be a next time for this dish!

Tangy pork chops (and a squash confession)

The finished product: Pork Chops with Tangy Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce and butternut squash puree with peas.

I had picked up some pork chops at the supermarket. They were a nice size but it was windy and I didn't feel like BBQing. So I dug around my cook books for a real recipe I could try. I often don't cook a recipe word for word but I don't cook chops that often either so I needed inspiration. I found a recipe for which I had the ingredients on hand: Pork Chops with Tangy Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce from Rachel Ray's Big Orange Book.

So here it is (note I only had two chops so I used less of every ingredient and only one can of tomatoes):

2 tb extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO to Rachel fans)
4 1 inch boneless pork loin chops
2 cloves garlic -- minced
4 scallions (white & green parts) -- in 1" pieces (I used 1/2 regular onion, minced)
2 tbs light brown sugar
2 14 oz cns fire-roasted tomatoes
3 stips of smokey bacon (I didn't use bacon for the chops...see side dish note below)


Place a large skillet over medium high heat with 1 tbsp EVOO. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and sear them in the hot pan until they're golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Once they are golden, remove the chops to a plate and cover with foil. To the same pan, add the garlic and scallions. Cook until the scallions begin to tenderize, about 4 minutes.

Add the vinegar, brown sugar and tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a bubble and return pork chops to pan. Finish cooking the chops in the sauce, this should take 3-4 minutes.

As a side dish, the Big Orange Book recommends polenta which I have found difficult to get, and to cook. I happened to have a butternut squash so I decided to make the same polenta recipe only with squash instead. And here's my confession: I have never cooked squash before. I've eaten it, seen it cooked on TV, but never attempted it myself. Before now.

I looked at the thing and figured (and remembered from cooking shows) the best approach was to cut it in half, season with salt, pepper and oil and roast in the oven until it was tender. Basically my technique was to cook it until it was done. Which didn't take as long as I thought it would: about 30 minutes. Then I scrapped out the flesh of the squash and put it in a pot with the crisped bacon (I used it here instead of in the pork chops), a couple tbs of milk, stock, about two handfuls of frozen peas and a bit of Parmesan cheese grated down into the whole mixture. As a side dish it was good but it would have been terribly bland if not for the bacon and cheese. Don't those two always lift a dish?!

Anyway, the pork chop recipe worked out well and the smooth squash was a nice balance to the tangy chops. The tomatoes kept the meat from drying out and becoming chewy (always a bonus) and I will be making this one again!