Roasted Vegetables with Walnut Gremolata, a la Bonnie

As most of us vegetable fiends already know, roasted veggies are amazing. However, when you top them with this delicious walnut-lemon zest-parsley-parmesan paste, the amazingness gets upped significantly! Also, the leftovers are fabulous served cold. Adapted from epicurious.com.

4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch rectangles
4 parsnips, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise
2 medium turnips, peeled, halved, cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
About 4 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
zest of one lemon
1 small garlic clove

Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss carrots, parsnips, turnips, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons oil, or however much you need to make them slightly shiny. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet (or to multiple baking sheets, as it's best if all your veggies have at least one side touching the pan); sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until vegetables are tender, shaking the pan every 15 minutes so they don't stick. It'll be about 1 hour. Basically, you want them to be soft, and for at least one side of each veggie to be browned - that means that they'll be sweet and delicious.

Now, for the gremolata! Pile the walnuts, parmesan, parsley, garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and lemon zest into the food processor. Add some fresh pepper. Process for just a few seconds, until everything is coarsely ground together. The paste should be fairly dry; if it's wet, add some more walnuts.

Drizzle vegetables with remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice and toss. Sprinkle gremolata over vegetables just before serving.

Perfectly Pink Roasted Beet Hummus

Brilliantly pink. Ultra creamy. With that deliciously earthy flavor that only comes from beets and a slight smokiness from the addition of cumin. How in the world did I not think of this sooner?!?!?

This recipe will make a party-sized batch. Feel free to reduce it...or just plan to consume large quantities of hummus over the next couple of weeks! It's a real hardship, I know...

3 medium-sized beets
3 C cooked garbanzo beans (I start with dried...you could also use canned)
1/3 C tahini
1 or 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely grated
zest and juice from 1 lemon
1/2 - 1 tsp cumin
sea salt, to taste
1/4 C plus 1 TBSP olive oil

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place your beets on a large piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with about 1 TBSP of olive oil, and fold up the foil to make a nice secure packet around your beets. Roast the beets in their foil packet for about 45 minutes, or until they are tender and can easily be pierced with a fork. When they have cooled, gently use your fingers to slide off the skins. Quarter the beets and toss them into your food processor with the cooked garbanzos, the tahini, the grated garlic, the lemon juice and zest, the cumin, and several nice pinches of sea salt. Turn your food processor on and let it do it's thing while you slowly drizzle in 1/4 C of olive oil. Stop the food processor, scrape down the sides, and taste for seasoning. Adjust your salt, cumin, garlic, and tahini levels to suit your taste and process a little longer. Use your best judgement with the oil and if it seems like you need more to get a nice creamy consistency, add more.

Dip into it with chips and veggie sticks, scoop it onto a big green salad, spoon it on pita, spread it on crackers topped with thinly sliced veggies...ohhhh the possibilities are endless!

(See the pretty pink hummus in the back there? Topped with cucumber? SO GOOD! Also, those crackers in front with goat cheese, sliced peach, and balsamic? Not so bad either!)

NOTE: If you are waiting around while your beets are roasting, consider using that time to pop each and every one of your garbanzos out of their skins. I read somewhere a couple of years ago that this made the smoothest and creamiest hummus...but figured that only a crazy person would intentionally put herself through that variety of torture. Well, I had time to kill while my beets were roasting and figured I would give it a shot. The verdict: I felt ridiculous while I was doing it and it was definitely time consuming AND Chris made fun of me a whole lot BUT holy crap this is the creamiest hummus I have ever made!!!

Baby Turnip and Avocado Salad

A note on turnips: check out the selection of fresh turnips from your local farmer's market and choose the small ones - they will be unbelievably sweet and tender! They are wonderful eaten raw on their own, dipped in hummus, or in this lovely simple salad.

Also, if you're not familiar with dulse, now's the time to acquaint yourself with this delicious, chewy sea vegetable. It's super tasty...and a great source of veggie protein, iron, potassium, and bunches of other trace elements, enzymes and phytochemicals. You can buy it as whole leaves (in which case, you really ought to eat it lightly toasted with melted chedder cheese on top...my favorite elementary school after-school snack) or as flakes - perfect for topping soups and salads.



6-8 baby turnips, tops removed, chopped
1 avocado, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 TBSP dulse flakes
2 TBSP parsley, chopped
1/4 C rice vinegar
3 TBSP olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, gently toss together all ingredients. Serve immediately. Yum yum!

Simple Roasted Root Veggies

Oh so easy to do, and definitely one of the best things about autumn. Use any of the fabulous fresh root veggies you find at your local farmers market.

Sweet potatoes
Turnips
Parsnips
Carrots
Beets

Olive oil
Lots of garlic, minced
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Allspice
Salt
Pepper

Chop all the veggies you want to roast to approximately the same size pieces. Big chunks are beautiful but keep in mind, smaller pieces will roast much faster. Combine all in a large glass baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and minced garlic. Now sprinkle on all the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and pepper that you like. Stir well until all veggies are coated. Roast in a 450 degree oven for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your pieces. Check for tenderness at regular intervals to determine doneness. Your veggies should be tender on the inside but glazed and maybe a tad crunchy on the outside.

Raw Beet Salad

A delicious, refreshing, and beautifully hued summer salad... (Mom's been making this for a couple years now, and it's a serious favorite!!)

2-3 large beets, peeled
juice from 2 limes
drizzle of olive oil
handful of fresh parsley and/or cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Grate peeled beets, either by hand or with a food processor (so much easier!!!). In a medium sized bowl, mix the beets with the lime juice, olive oil, parsley, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Serve chilled!

Quinoa, Avocado, and Jicama Salad

Three things I learned while making up this salad:

1. quinoa is the only grain that is a complete protein, containing all of the essential amino acids your body needs
2. jicama is loaded with fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and folic acid (a B-vitamin that helps in producing and maintaining new cells)
3. quinoa, jicama, and avocado all in the same bite is textural heaven...

1 C quinoa, cooked according to package instructions and cooled
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1/2 jicama, peeled and chopped into chunks
rice vinegar
olive oil
soy sauce
several dashes cayenne pepper
black pepper, to taste

Saute onion and garlic, if you prefer, otherwise feel free to leave it raw. Add all vegetables to the quinoa and dress with vinegar, oil, and soy sauce (I probably used about 1/4 C of each, but I definitely didn't measure and you should really just do it to your taste). Sprinkle in some cayenne and some black pepper, and mix thoroughly. Taste. Adjust seasonings as necessary. Enjoy!

Winter Veggie Soup

(Swiped from Epicurious.com -- with a few revisions)

3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup peeled, cored and coarsely chopped Granny Smith apple
1 cup peeled and coarsely chopped turnip
1 cup peeled and chopped butternut squash (seeds discarded)
1 cup coarsely chopped carrot
1 cup peeled, chopped sweet potato
5 cups vegetable stock
2 Tb maple syrup
Cayenne pepper
1 small whole-grain baguette
goat cheese

Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Add apple, turnip, squash, carrot, and sweet potato; season with salt, then sauté 5 minutes. Add stock, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add syrup, then cayenne pepper to taste. Cool slightly. Puree with a handheld mixer, food processor or blender.

Then: you can do two things. Either slice up the bread, toast it, spread goat cheese on it, and then float it in the soup; or, to add a yummy little kick to the soup, stir the goat cheese right in.

Chocolate Beet Brownies

I haven't tried these yet...but I'm totally going to! Delightful!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (or 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce)
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
4 eggs
1 C brown sugar (packed)
1 C applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 C unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup cooked beets, pureed
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Set aside to cool. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until light in color and foamy. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until well creamed. Stir in chocolate mixture, followed by applesauce and beets. Sift together flour, salt, spices and baking powder and stir into creamed mixture. Fold in wheat germ and almonds. Turn into greased 9×13-inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool before cutting into squares.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Amazing fall soup! Make a big batch and it'll be lunch for a week...

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 minced onion
1/4 cup minced peeled fresh ginger
5-6 cups vegetable broth
2 pounds carrots, sliced
2-3 potatoes, chopped
8 - 10 whole cloves garlic
juice from 1 orange
1/2 cup half and half or milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or to taste)
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and minced ginger and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add sliced carrots, potatoes, and whole garlic cloves, mix for a minute or two. Add veggie broth, cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.

Working in batches, puree mixture in blender or processor until smoot. Return soup to saucepan. Or alternately, remove from heat and puree with immersion blender. Mix in juice from orange, then half and half or milk. Cook over low heat 5 minutes. Mix in ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to simmer before continuing, thinning with more stock if desired. Ladle soup into bowls and serve! I like it with a little dollop of sour cream or yogurt and a sprinkling of dill and pepper on top. Also delicious served with cheesy toast (you know, toast...with cheese. toasted.)