Squash Soup

Our marathon Christmas celebration is finally over. This morning, exhausted, I surveyed the damage. We had Christmas presents in little piles all over the house. The cookie tins had taken over the kitchen. Dishes needed to be done. And I'm not sure which pile was bigger; the dirty laundry pile, or the ironing pile. Our house is too tiny to be so disheveled.

So I did the only thing that could be done. I started on one end and worked my way to the other. Its like that old joke about how do you eat a whale? One bite at a time. So the ironing is done. Most of the presents are put away. The bed is made. The laundry is downstairs. The sideboard and dining room table are uncluttered and the coffee table is bare. I even got the grocery shopping done and I have a plan for the week. I'm nothing without a plan.

It feels good to get things back in a little bit of order. The house isn't there yet, but its definitely much calmer now that I'm not worried about tripping and breaking my neck in the middle of the night anymore. Of course that doesn't mean I won't get up in the middle of the night and run into a wall. I've done that a couple times. My eating habits over the last two weeks have been like my house. In total disarray. I knew there was a problem, but when I was grocery shopping I had no desire to go down the ice cream or cookie aisles, but parked my cart in front of produce and pretty much drooled. A big slobbery drooler. Cleanup in produce.

So dinner tonight is a happily vegetarian, low fat, high fiber, delicious bowl of yumminess. It's Pinto Bean, Tomato, and Butternut Squash Soup. Its just a little spicy and yet so filling and comforting. I'm lazy and feel no need to puree any of it. I also find it has more flavor if you can find celery with the leaves on it too. This is my go to soup for wanting to feel better and healthier in an instant.

Pinto Bean, Tomato, and Butternut Squash Soup

adapted from Bon Appetit

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups vegetable broth

2 (15 oz) cans pinto beans, drained

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

2 cups 1/2 inch pieces butternut squash (peeled and seeded)

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery; saute until onions are golden, about 7 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add broth, squash, beans, tomatoes, oregano and cayenne pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Moody me.

Do you ever just have a bad day for no reason? The kind of day where you really just want to come home and eat a bag of potato chips for dinner? Nothing really traumatic happened. My husband is great and helps with the laundry and did the dishes this weekend while I was out of town. My job, although not exactly mentally stimulating, still exposes me to new things and gives me a sense of accomplishment sometimes. But over the course of the day the happy little mood I woke up with went South and left me feeling like Lucy Van Pelt towards dinner time.

It was time to break out some yummy, not quite unhealthy comfort food. Butternut Squash and Orzo with Fresh Sage. This is the side dish (although really it could be a meal all by itself) that showed the Brain that squash isn't just okay, it's really really tasty.

I just happened to have a bunch of squash already peeled and cut in a Ziploc in the fridge so the hard part was done. A little sauteing of onion and garlic, mixing in some white wine (already the day starts to get better) and some chicken broth. By now I'm humming along, loving the smell of butter and wine and broth. Next in goes the squash and the smells are getting even better. As the squash cooks I bring some more broth to a boil and cook the orzo in it. Then drain the orzo, add it to the squash with some Parmesan and chopped up fresh sage. The timer on the baked chicken (we eat a lot of that) goes off and Voila! Even the dogs who are desperately trying to eat my dinner can't bother me.

And maybe today isn't so bad after all...

Butternut Squash with Orzo and Fresh Sage

Bon Appetit

3 Tbsp butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove minced

1 2-pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 4 cups)

4 cups low salt chicken broth divided

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup orzo

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage

Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add squash cubes and stir to coat. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and wine. Cover and simmer until squash is just tender and liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes (if necessary, uncover and simmer until excess liquid evaporates.)

Meanwhile, bring remaining 3 1/2 cups broth to boil in heavy large saucepan. Add orzo. Boil uncovered until orzo is tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain orzo if necessary.

Transfer to large bowl. Stir in squash mixture, then Parmesan and sage. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Sweet Dumpling Squash

I am a giant fan of easy. Sometimes a meal I can come home from work and stick in the oven and be done with it is right up my alley. So, when I was grocery shopping and ran across these cute individual sized sweet dumpling squashes, I was hooked almost instantly. OK, I admit, for about 2 seconds I thought ooooooh how cute would these be filled? But instead, I came home from work, cut off the tops, and scooped out the insides. The only filling these got was a pat of butter and some salt and pepper. I then stuck them in the oven for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees. They were perfect next to simple baked chicken.

I love easy.