acorn squash risotto

risotto. acorn squash. cheese. these are a few of my favorite things.

another one of my fave things is looking for some culinary inspiration… whether it’s a new ingredient, a new (to me) cooking technique, or a fantastic recipe posted by one of my fellow foodie bloggers. in this case, i was lucky enough to stumble upon two fabulous posts from two fabulous bloggers — the faux martha & lauren’s latest. and this was the culinary inspiration for today’s post.

on another note, i’ve been MIA on the blog for the past few weeks (thanks for your patience!), but i hope you’ve enjoyed following my tweets @yumyumyummers about my culinary adventures around alberta!

now, back to the risotto…

adapted from the faux martha & lauren’s latest

(tip: the first thing you’ll need to do is roast the acorn squash. however, finding some canned squash puree could work as a shortcut. if you don’t have time to roast. though my preference is fresh squash, since roasting veggies is relatively simple.)

roasted squash:
– preheat oven to 400F
– lightly grease oven-safe baking pan w/ extra-virgin olive oil (evoo) or line w/ cooking parchment paper
– place 2 acorn squash (halved, seeded, lightly greased w/ evoo) in baking pan (squash side down)
– roast in oven for approx 40-45min at 400F
– remove from oven and allow to cool before handling squash

the rice:
combine the following ingredients in large saucepan and bring to a boil:
– 1.5 cups organic arborio rice
– 3 cups water

– once boiling, reduce heat to medium & simmer for 10-12min.
– stir ingredients until water is absorbed and rice turns into a creamy consistency.

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spinach & lox quiche

easy does it. breakfast. lunch. dinner. breakfast-for-dinner. whatever you want it to be. :)

yes, this is another one of those awesome i’m-too-lazy-to-go-get-groceries recipes. a little organic baby spinach, cheese and eggs from the fridge. smoked salmon from the freezer. some herbs from the pantry. and you’re all set to make an easypeasy crustless quiche! yummers.

– preheat oven to 375F

the lox:
– 40g wild sockeye smoked salmon (thinly sliced)

(tip: you can easily find smoked salmon in the frozen seafood section at the grocery store… the smoked salmon just needs to thaw and it’s ready-to-eat!)

quiche batter:
whisk together the following ingredients in large prep bowl:
– 1-1.5 cups chopped organic spinach
– 5 large eggs
– smoked salmon / lox (thinly sliced)
– sprinkle 1/2 tsp herbes de provence
– 1/3 cup aged white cheddar (grated – or another cheese that melts well, such as queso fresco or light mozzarella)
– season w/ ground black peppercorns

spiced bison & beet salad

back in the salad again… well, sort of. ;)

bison & beets in a salad, you ask? perhaps a bit of an unlikely combo, but somehow it just worked. and besides, i had to do something fun with the leftover roasted beets from this previous yumyumyummers recipe. oh, and the fabulous montreal steak spice that i picked up from spice station on my culinary travels out east.

montreal steak spice is a blend of pepper, salt, coriander, dill, mustard seeds, dehydrated garlic and onions, red pepper flakes, rosemary, thyme, paprika and caraway seeds. montreal steak spice is typically used as a rub for steaks… why not bison, too? oh yes.

en papillote (french for ‘in parchment’) is a cooking technique where you bake food in a folded parchment paper bag (placed in a baking dish) and essentially steam the ingredients to lock-in the juicy flavours. although some may think it’s fancy-schmancy, it’s quite a simple way to prepare fish, poultry, lamb and bison, too! check it out…

– pre-heat oven to 400F

the bison:
– 500g organic bison (wrapped in kitchen twine)
– lightly drizzle red wine over the bison (i used some leftover zinfandel in this recipe.)
– season w/ 1 tsp montreal steak spice