Sweet Acorn Squash

We received a delicious acorn squash in our Door to Door Organics delivery and Steven instntly knew what he was going to do with it.  I wasn't pleased with the choice in syrup, but I will admit that the end result was delicious.

First, grab a whole stick of butter, about 1/2 cup of brown sugar (you can totally vary how much this is), and a bottle of syrup.  Next time I would use an organic maple syrup.  Whole foods has a jug I really like.

Cut your squash in half and place half a stick of butter in each half.  

Take a fork and stab the squash a lot.  Really take out some aggression because you need a lot of little holes.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over the edge and into the center of the squash. Then, drizzle the syrup in the same way.

Place in a 400 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes.  This varies by the size of the squash.

It will melt and get soupy while baking.  About half way into cooking, give it a little stir.  This is also a good time to check the tenderness and judge how much longer it might need.  You can also stab a few more holes if you think you need it.

When finished, the sugar will be nice and caramelized. 

I didn't get a picture of the finished result because we grubbed like we were starved when this came out of the oven.  Basically, scoop the squash meat and butter mixture out of the shell and mash it with a potato masher until the consistency you like.  Ours was similar to mashed potato consistency.  

ENJOY!

Vegetarian Chicken Chorizo Posole

Sounds too good to be true right?  Nope!  Even the largest carnivore in my family scarfed this hearty soup down and asked for more.  It all started with this recipe for Chicken Chorizo Posole from Taste of Home.  I was flipping through one of my 80 billion or so issues and read it to Steven who was instantly on board to try it out.

Except I had a plan.  I love Soyrizo- the flavor and taste is amazing- so, I was going to re-do this recipe vegetarian style. We followed the recipe for the most part substituting the "meat" and oregano and added a little garlic to the broth.

First, we roasted the tomatillos, onions, garlic, and jalapenos.  I used a large cookie sheet and drizzled the bacon flavored grapeseed oil over the top with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper.  The bacon oil is vegetarian.  It has a yummy smokey bacon-esque like flavor.  I put them in a 425 oven for about 30 minutes.

While those guys are roasting, I started my broth.  I used 2 bay leaves, 5 whole cloves, and 5-6 garlic cloves.  I threw them in the pan with a drizzle of bacon oil  and added 4 cups of water, 1 cup vegetable broth and one bag of Chik'n pieces.  I brought it to a boil and then let it simmer for about 15 minuets.

Then it was time to get roasted goodness out of the oven.  The tomatillos produced some liquid and I made sure to scoop ALL of that yummy flavor into the Ninja with the rest of the veggies.

Pureed for about 45 seconds.

Next, I drained the broth and reserved the liquid.  I also removed the clovers, garlic, and bay leaf and smashed up the Chick'n.

Next I put the Soyrizo in the pot a another drizzle of the bacon flavored grapeseed oil and smashed it up.  Chorizo has a LOT of grease when cooked that the soy version does not, so adding in some oil is important.

The soup is really coming together!  We poured the broth back into the pot and added in hominy, cumin, Italian spice (we were out of oregano), and lime juice.

Then we added the delicious smelling puree from the vegetables.

We let it simmer about 15 minutes or so to cook through and soften up the hominy.  The kitchen smelled amazing! We quickly grated some cheddar cheese and, set out sour cream, and cut some tortillas in half.

And then we enjoyed an amazing vegetarian version of posole.  Even the big meat-eaters that ate this soup were impressed.