Super Foods count here is three. Not too bad. This turned into a very successful experiment. jwa was a bit skeptical, as he is with all things that involve pumpkin. Although, once I told him I was using butternut squash as a substitute, he relaxed. He has some kind of weird pumpkin phobia that strikes in the Fall and doesn’t leave until Spring.

I changed this a bit from the original — I added olive oil, the sausage and the roux. I also used chicken broth in this version (mahahahaha, Vegetarian Times!) rendering it meat-laced and definitely un-vegetarian. You can use vegetable broth if you’d like.

Feta-Pumpkin (Squash) Casserole
Based on a recipe in The Vegetarian Times
1 tbsp olive oil (plus a little extra for the pan, if desired)
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 small white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, diced
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 medium butternut squash (or small sugar pumpkin), peeled and cubed
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 vegetarian sausages (I used apple-sage veggie sausage but hey, you could omit the sausage or use chicken, turkey, pork or lamb sausage)
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp rubbed sage (or 1 tsp fresh sage, shopped)
2 tbsp toasted bread crumbs
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a 2-quart baking dish (or use non-stick spray). In a saute pan, heat the tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute, stirring until onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, zucchini and sausage. Continue to cook until it all gets a little color and starts to look tasty.

Next, comes the pumpkin or squash and the tomato. Add it all in and stir a bit. Let saute for about 5 -6 more minutes. Then, add the butter and let it melt. Sprinkle in the flour and combine. Cook it for just a minute to get rid of raw flour taste.

Add the sherry and broth. Stir and let it all thicken up. Set the pan aside and cool off just a bit so you don’t scramble the eggs. You can also temper the eggs with just a little bit of the sauce in the pan — I think I did that in addition to letting it cool for about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg and egg whites, buttermilk and yogurt.

Add feta and spices to the sauteed vegetables and then the yogurt/buttermilk combination. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Spoon into a loaf pan or square casserole dish. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and bread crumbs. Bake 25 minutes or until bubbly. Serve hot.

When you spoon it out it may look a little messy. Ehh. That’s just the way it goes. It’s a casserole — a dairy-based casserole — it’s not going to photograph well or look magazine-perfect. It’s kinda going to gloop out onto your plate. But, it’s great tasting, so who cares if it’s not super pretty? Not me.

Super Foods: Yogurt, Pumpkin (Squash), tomato

Next Friday will be a Sugar High Friday…on a Friday! Hooray!

Edited because I forgot about the spinach. Oops!.
Three. Four. Count ‘em, three four super foods: turkey, walnuts, blueberries and spinach. Woohoo. I saw a recipe for a blueberry-port sauce which I thought looked very good (originally, it was alongside a pork tenderloin) but instead, I decided to pair it up with a stuffed chicken breast.

But — hold the phone, there. Swap the chicken for turkey and add some walnuts and spinach to the goat cheese and hey! It’s a Super Foods meal.

The idea for the turkey is almost exactly like the stuffed chicken breast I have been known to make on occasion. Pound it out between layers of plastic wrap, spread it with a little goat cheese and walnuts (or some kind of tasty stuffing), roll it up, cook and voila. This is just like that.

Turkey Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Walnuts with a Blueberry-Port Sauce
4 turkey tenderloins, pounded flat
4 oz goat cheese, softened
1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup port wine
2 tbsp minced shallots
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)
salt & pepper
Optional: 1 additional clove garlic, minced
Garnish: Thyme leaves or chopped parsley

Mix the room temperature goat cheese with the toasted walnuts, garlic, spinach and zest. Set aside.

Pound out your tenderloins and season with some salt and pepper. Spread some of the cheese mixture on the flattened turkey and roll up. If you want to get fancy you can tie these up but I just opted to flip carefully in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 and get an oven-proof skillet on the stove top over medium high heat. Add the oil and brown the turkey rolls on each side.

Place in the oven and finish cooking for about 10-20 minutes. Use a meat thermometer for this as mine were done earlier than I thought they would be — in about 10 minutes. At 165 degrees, remove the turkey rolls and let rest.

Start the sauce before you start the turkey. You can get it to the syrupy stage and then let it sit while you get the turkey to the point when it goes in the oven. Then finish the sauce while the turkey bakes and then rests (covered with foil) for about 10 minutes.

Sauce
In a medium saucepan combine the vinegar, port, shallots, garlic (if using), thyme, and bay leaf over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce mixture by about 2/3, or until thick and syrupy, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Add blueberries and chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a low boil and cook until blueberries are softened and sauce is a thickened, syrupy consistency, 12-14 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour any accumulated turkey drippings into the suace. Taste and adjust anything that needs adjustin’.

Spoon over plated stuffed turkey tenderloin. It’s super!

Today’s Super Foods recipe is a little like falafel — ‘cept it’s not. Instead of garbanzo beans it uses lentils. I was very surprised by the overall flavor difference, in that there was one. These have a nuttier taste and were very, very good. Even jwa expressed a surprised liking for these. That’s quite a recommendation as he typically does not get too excited about lentil recipes.

These were a little crumbly, so you probably don’t want to over stuff the pita. Two-three patties per each sandwich.

Next week, Sugar High Friday kicks Super Foods Friday to the curb.

Lentil Fritters with Yogurt Mint Sauce
From a recipe in Gourmet Magazine
1 1/4 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/2 cup rolled oats
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
dash of red pepper flakes
1 large egg, beaten lightly
Olive oil for frying
6 pita pockets, split (or flat bread)
Spinach leaves
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup olives, chopped (mine were feta-stuffed)

Yogurt Mint Sauce
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup cucumber, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced

Add lentils to a large saucepan of salted water and bring water to a boil. Cook lentils at a bare simmer until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

In a blender or food processor grind oats into meal.

Drain lentils and combine in a bowl with the garlic, coriander, pepper flakes, cumin, and 3 tablespoons of the ground oats. Mash mixture with a potato masher.

Stir in egg and salt and pepper to taste and form mixture into small patties — I got about eight.

Coat burgers with remaining ground oats and chill, uncovered, 15 minutes.

In a small bowl stir together yogurt, mint, and salt and pepper to taste.

In a large skillet heat a liberal coating of oil (a few tablespoons) over moderately high heat until hot but no smoking and fry burgers, in batches if necessary, until browned and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Serve burgers in pitas with lettuce and yogurt mint sauce.

Super foods used: beans (lentils), oats, and yogurt.

Brrrrrrr
We’re supposed to have a low of 19 today. I just heard from my Aunt in North Dakota and their high is going to be four below zero. Four below zero, people. For a high. Now, what goes better with cold, Winter weather than a nice, steamy bowl of soup? And vodka doesn’t count. So, right, it’s soup.

This is not only a healthy soup but a super foods soup. It has both broccoli and (to make it creamy), tofu. That is, in fact, my most favorite tofu trick. It’ll take on the flavor of whatever you add it to and with the help of a blender, it’ll creamify soups and sauces quite nicely.

Hearty Broccoli & Tofu Soup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 medium red potato, diced into chunks (I didn’t peel mine. You could also use a small russet potato but I’d peel that one)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium boxed
12 oz fresh broccoli florets
1/4 cup tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes (I usually just cut 1/4 of the block of tofu off, cube it up and call that 1/4 of a cup)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
pinch of red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a soup pot, over medium heat. Add the onion, thyme and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the diced potato, salt, tofu cubes, red pepper flakes and broth and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook uncovered until the potato is fork tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the broccoli and simmer for 3 minutes.

Use a blender to puree the soup (do it on batches).

Return to the pot and stir in the Parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer, taste, and adjust the salt and pepper. Serve, eat and you’re done. Now, onto the vodka because damn, it’s cold outside.

Super foods used: Broccoli and Soy — you could also, if you wanted to be super sneaky, add about a half cup of defrosted, chopped spinach to the soup when you add the potatoes and tofu and have three super foods!