What's Cooking?: 8 Ball Squash

I've been checking out the local farmer's market most Saturday mornings after my Weight Watchers meeting. This past weekend I was buying zuchini when the farmer told me to try this squash, which he called 8 Ball Squash, a reference to its shape, no doubt.

So he talked me into it and I went home and prepared it according to his suggestion - a little salt, pepper, garlic, parmesan, and tossed on the grill. I don't have a real grill so George Foreman would have to do. George didn't quite give it the nice grill marks I was hoping for. It pretty much tasted like a regular old zuchini to me. So nothing exciting here. Just a fun shape. Which happened to be enough that day to get me to eat a veggie with my meal which might not have happened otherwise, so I guess that is good.

Why Haven't I Done This Sooner?

I roasted veggies for the first time Sunday night. Oh my God. So simple. And SOOOO tasty. And even better reheated tonight for dinner. This is going to become a Sunday night staple for me and I plan to make an even bigger batch to keep me in veggies for all my meals throughout the week.

This mixture includes red potatoes, red bell peppers, onions, and zuchini. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin, and chili pepper. Very yummy. And I'm anxious to try other combinations.

Anyone care to share their favorite roasted veggie combos?

What's Cooking? - Black Bean Salad

Are you sick of turkey and sick of cooking in general? Here's a tasty dish I created myself that contains no turkey and required no cooking at all....well, except for nuking my Steamfresh brown rice (the greatest invention known to man).

I had been buying a black bean salad at Whole Foods and decided it didn't look all that complicated so I decided to try to replicate it at home. I adore the combination of black beans and corn. I literally just threw this together by eye, so I don't have measurements:

• Canned black beans, drained and rinsed


• Frozen corn


• Chopped bell pepper - red, yellow, and green


• Chopped onions


• One chopped jalepeno (seeded)


• Garlic powder


• Fresh cilanto


• Juice of one lime

I served it with a side of brown rice and, my friends, this was delicious. Light, easy, and healthy. Next time I will probably add an extra jalepeno, chopped tomatoes, and maybe red onions instead of white.

It was best served the second day after the flavors had time to meld in the refrigerator. Yummo!

What's Cooking? Butternut Squash Soup

I'm finally getting around to posting some of the creations I came up with after buying various winter squash at Whole Foods.

For the butternut squash I decided to do a soup. I got this recipe from Food Network. Yeah, it has heavy cream in it, but not much considering the number of servings it makes.

I was suprised I liked it as well as I did. Many times squash is just too squashy-tasting to appeal to me so I was a bit afraid of a soup made nearly entirely from squash. I was pleasantly suprised to find that I liked it alot. If I made it again, I would probably try it with a little heat by adding a shot or two of tabasco. Might go nicely with the sweetness from the honey.

That said, it's unlikely I will actually make this again unless I find a good trick to getting the squash out of the skin. It took me forever because the darn thing was so hot. But I was afraid if I let it cool it would be hard to scoop out of the skins. Yes, Alton Brown says this recipe was easy, but for the squash newby...not so much!

What's Cooking? - Black Bean Pasta Cancun

I finally have my kitchen set up (for the most part) so I am ready to get back to cooking a little more than I have been. I found a great website called Eat Better America which has lots of good recipes including the Black Bean Pasta Cancun I made. People, this was DELISH! I highly recommend trying this recipe. It's pretty easy and it's vegetarian for those who don't eat meat.

The only thing I did differently than the recipe is that I used the entire can of black beans because I wanted more protein in this dish. The cilantro and lime zest really gave this a fresh flavor even though the ingredients were canned.

You can check out the recipe here. If you try it, let me know how you liked it.

What's Cooking? - Buffalo Chicken Breasts

In trying to come up with something to do with chicken breasts that wasn't boring, I decided to try to make Buffalo Chicken Breasts. When I was in my 20's there was a little neighborhood bar I used to go to with my friends on Thursday nights to drink beer and eat Buffalo wings (shout out - Pat and Mike's at 93rd and Maple in Omaha!)

They were mighty tasty but mighty fatty too. I think my Buffalo Chicken Breasts were just as tasty and alot healthier. My lips were on fire and my sinuses were cleared....just like Pat and Mike's wings! And the flavor brought bake lots of memories...mostly of all the cute softball boys who would come in for beers on Thursday nights after their games. ;-)

I don't have a recipe. I just kinda made this one up. I sprinkled the chicken with salt, pepper, and a little paprika, and cooked them in a skillet with a bit of olive oil. For the sauce I just heated a 2 oz. bottle of hot sauce and a tablespoon of light butter. Once the chicken breasts were done cooking I smothered them in the hot sauce mixture and served them up with some carrots, celery, and light ranch dressing.

What's Cooking? - Black and White Angel Food Cake

I went to a cookout yesterday afternoon where it was my job to bring a dessert. I used to love to cook and bake things back when I had more time so I decided to break out my Cooking Light cookbooks and see what I could find. I ended up making this Black and White Angel Food Cake (although, as you can see, it ended up being more of a Brown and Slightly-Less-Brown Angel Food Cake). That said, it looked pretty good when it was finished and it tasted great too.

I need to spend more time in the kitchen. I enjoy it and it's so much tastier to eat freshly prepared food. I don't have tons of time during the week so I think I am going to aim for spending some time on Sundays experimenting with new recipes.