Fall is such a great time of year, the leaves present an amazing backdrop, there are still some warm days and squash is abundant! I don’t know about you, but I love squashes of all kinds. They are earthy and sweet, versatile and full of vitamins and nutrients and they are cheap! My CSA recently ended and in the last few weeks, my farmer, John, from Royal Acres Farm, had a bunch of butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squashes. I jumped at the chance to experiment with them and develop some new recipes.

Royal Acres Farm loaded up with Squash Galore!

Have you ever grilled a squash? Well that is my new favorite way to cook them! Sometimes I just don’t want to turn the oven on, I want something quick and painless. Pushing the started on the grill is as easy as it gets, so I decided to try to grill a butternut squash and guess what, it was amazing, so easy, delicious and you can eat the skin!

Grilled Butternut Squash Stuffed with Chipotle Black Beans

Serves 2

1 Butternut Squash, Halved with seeds removed and saved for roasting

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 cup Sprouted Black Beans (How to Sprout)

1 onion, sliced

1 clove Garlic, chopped

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1 tbs Cumin

1 tbs Chipolte chili powder

Himalayan Pink Sea Salt to taste

Fresh Cilantro for Garnish

Light your grill to preheat. Slice the squash in half long ways and remove the seeds. Save the seeds for roasting as they are a great snack! Lightly oil the squash and season with sea salt. Place face down on the grill over medium heat until flesh is slightly charred and a knife is easily inserted about 10 minutes, flip and do the same on the other side. The squash is done when a knife slides through it with no resistance.

While the squash is cooking prepare the filling. Add Sprouted black beans to a pot of water, boil for about 10 minutes or until the beans are al dente, drain. Heat 1tbs of oil in a saute pan over medium high heat, add the onions, cooking until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute before adding the beans and tomatoes. Stir to combine and then add the cumin, chipotle, and salt. You can always add more or less depending on your taste. Lower the heat and let simmer for a few minutes until all flavors are combined.

Take the squash off of the grill, fill the cavity with the black beans and top with cilantro and enjoy! Happy eating!

It's a Monday, sigh. This weekend held an amazing Halloween adventure spent with friends in Brooklyn followed by a Monday - ugh I hate when that happens. So after a full day of dragging myself through work, I just wanted to go home and make something comforting because in all reality I am not as young as I think I am and I am beat from too much fun!

When looking through my fridge I found some vegetables that were calling out to be used. My eggplant was on its way out and the leeks were starting to wilt so as I strolled outside on this beautiful fall day I came up with a game plan. Fall Vegetable Casolette.

A few years ago I was in France doing a chateau tour of the countryside and stayed in a beautiful place in Lyon. The house was amazing and the dinner that they served was even better. As part of the B&B network in France out host told us that they are held by certain dining standards and although they do not eat large meals at night they still must cook them for their guests. We convinced her that we wanted to eat what they would eat so she made a slightly more decedent meal than an average weeknight but equally as satisfying and delicious. She threw together a vegetable cassolette and oh my god was it delicious. She told me it was a simple process of oven roasting vegetables together with olive oil and salt so tonight when I had these delicious vegetable on their way towards the compost pile I thought a cassolette sounded simple and quite honestly, perfect.

For the recipe you can use whatever vegetables that you have laying around, feel free to improvise and experiment!

Fall Vegetable Cassolette

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side

4tbs Olive Oil

2 Cloves of Garlic, chopped

2 Leeks, sliced rounds

1/4 cup Organic, Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Large Eggplant, sliced into rounds

1 Butternut Squash, neck only, sliced into rounds

3 Tomatoes, sliced into rounds

1 Onion (I used Cipollini Onions but any onion will do), sliced into rounds

Himalyan Pink Sea Salt

Preheat the oven to 425. Chop garlic and leeks. Place a ceramic tarte pan or pie plate on the stove (this step can be done in a sauce pan and transferred to the dish if you would like). Heat 2 tbs of olive oil over a medium flame. Add the garlic and leeks and saute until softened. Add the apple cider vinegar to the pan to slightly braise the vegetable, scraping up any bits. Remove from heat. If you used a saucepan, transfer the leeks and garlic to the bottom of your tarte pan at this time.

Alternating your eggplant, tomato, butternut squash, and onion slices begin to layer your vegetables on top of the leeks and garlic in a circular fashion. The vegetables should overlap one another. Drizzle the remaining 2 tbs olive oil over the top followed by the sea salt.

Bake 40 minutes to an hour, until vegetables are soft in the middle and crisped on the edges. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top and grate Parmesan cheese if desired. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

This dish is great because it can be eaten in such a versatile manner, you can eat it as is, you can layer it on quinoa as a ragout, or you can put it on vegetable pasta as a sauce. It is a great warming and comforting dish and so simple to make, Not only is it alkaline but it taste great also, happy eating!