Mashed Ichiki Kuri Squash with Sunflower Sprouts

The lovely crook-necked vegetable, variously known as Japanese, Orange Hokkaido or Uchiki Kuri squash, has a distinctive teardrop shape.  The hard outer skin is smooth textured, without ridges, and is a beautiful reddish-orange color.  Originally from northern Japan, the Uchiki Kuri is available year round.  A versatile vegetable,  it can be baked, braised, boiled, or steamed, served as a side dish, or dressed up to take the center spotlight in an autumn meal.  Uchiki Kuri also makes a flavorful soup, or base for a sauce.

 

 

Japanese Orange Ichiki Kuri Squash

 Since this squash has an extremely hard skin, it is easiest to steam or bake the squash whole.  After it is cooked, it can easily be cut, and the seeds and center pulp removed.  The  skin can also be pulled off, or the flesh cut or scooped out. This Mashed Ichiki Kuri with Sunflower Sprouts recipe will use 3/4 of the steamed squash.  The remaining quarter will be saved for cutting into thin strips to make Ichiki Kuri Sushi (post of  Nov. 29)

An Easy Mashed Squash Dish

Mashed Ichiki Kuri Squash with Sunflower Sprouts

You'll need: uchiki kuri squash, lemon juice, Himalayan salt crystals, coconut butter, tamari sauce, cayenne pepper, thyme, summer savory, sage, sunflower sprouts, white sesame seeds
The Squash: Wash the shell of the squash, and place it in the steamer until the skin is easily pierced with a fork.  Allow the squash to cool slightly.  Cut in half, lengthwise, and scoop out seeds and pulp.  Cut the squash out of the skin  into large chunks, and spritz with lemon juice and a little Himalayan salt.  Keep warm.
The Dressing: In a bowl combine 2 T coconut butter and 1 t tamari sauce.  Whisk together with 1 t dried thyme, 1 t dried summer savory, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, and a pinch of sage.  Place squash chunks in dressing and mash in thoroughly with the back of a fork.  The dressing will melt and blend into the warm vegetable. Gently stir in 1/2 C sunflower sprouts, and sprinkle with raw white sesame seeds.
To Serve:  Mashed Ichiki Kuri makes a wonderful side dish to an evening meal.  Place on the table with a serving spoon.  It also tastes great, served as an open-faced sandwich on toast.

The Uchiki Kuri squash is known among food fanciers as a mellow squash with a subtle flavor reminiscent of chestnuts...the name "uchiki kuri' translates as "bashful chestnut".  The squash in the photo certainly seems to have a shy and demur look to it.

Heart of Gold Squash with Brown Rice Curry & Easy Pea Dahl

Heart of Gold Squash

Aptly named, the  "Heart of Gold" squash is dark orange inside, a dense-fleshed slightly sweet vegetable.  It makes an excellent accompaniment to an easy meal of brown rice curry with dahl made from tinned pea soup.  Definitely a quick comfort food for cheering the soul in chilly weather.





You'll need: squash, coconut butter, argulula sprouts, lemon juice, black pepper
brown rice, curry powder, dried mixed herbs (thyme, oregano, savory) ginger root, fresh parsley,  tinned "French Canadian" pea (or lentil) soup, small hot red chili pepper, coriander powder, cardamom powder.

The Squash: Wash and lightly scrub the skin of the squash.  Break off any stem, and cut lengthwise into thick wedges.  Remove pulp and seeds but leave the peel intact.  Steam squash until tender. Place the sections on a serving plate, and drizzle coconut butter.  Fill the squash cavity with argulula sprouts, spritz with lemon juice,  and a grind of black pepper.

Brown Rice Curry:  Add 2 T curry powder, 2 t mixed dried herbs, and 1 t finely chopped ginger root to rice before steaming.  When rice is cooked, remove from heat and stir in 1 T coconut butter and 2 T chopped fresh parsley.

Pea Soup Dahl:  Open a tin of your favorite pea or lentil soup.  Add 1 finely chopped hot red chili pepper, 1 t cardamom and coriander powder.  Heat gently.

A Simple Dinner

To Serve:  Place the brown rice curry in a bowl and top with spicy pea dahl. Add a wedge of "Heart of Gold" squash and serve with a fork and spoon.

Squash Rings with Herb & Spiced Grain and Savory Vegetable Sauce

Pale-skinned, mellow yellow-fleshed "Cream of the Crop" acorn squash is sliced into thick rings and steamed to perfection.  A portion of 'herb & spice' teff and millet is scooped into the center holes, and topped with an Italian flavored vegetable sauce.  An excellent side dish.  Served with crusty Italian bread or a simple green salad, it makes a Mediterranean-inspired meal on its own.

Cream of the Crop Acorn Squash

              

          

You'll Need: acorn squash, lemon juice, steamed millet and teff, coconut butter, hot red pepper, oregano, thyme, parsley, kale, golden beets, crushed fennel seed, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, freshly cracked black pepper, Himalayan salt crystals
 The Squash: Wash the squash, lightly scrubbing skin, and cut crosswise into thick slices.  With the edge of a spoon, scoop out pulp, string bits, and seeds.  Steam rings until tender, then lightly spritz with lemon juice, a twist of freshly ground black pepper, and a few grains of Himalayan salt.

Creamy pale rings ready for steaming

The Grain: Steam soaked teff and millet together until very soft and quite dry.  Stir in 2 T coconut butter, 1 minced small hot red pepper, 1/4 C finely chopped parsley, 1 t dried thyme, 1 t oregano, and the 1/2 the soaking water from the sun-dried tomatoes (see below) . 

Steam rising from the cooked grains

The Vegetable Sauce:  Using kitchen scissors, snip 1/4 C of sun-dried tomatoes into bite-size pieces, and soak in fresh water until soft (about 10 minutes).  Wash and steam beets. Slip from skins when slightly cool and chop into small pieces.  In a  steamer-safe bowl, add 1 T coconut oil, minced garlic, drained tomato pieces, and kale leaves sliced into medium-length strips. Place in steamer, and cook until kale is just wilted.  Add the rest of the tomato soaking water, chopped beets and 1/2 t lightly crushed fennel seeds, and steam for a few minutes more.  Just before serving, stir in 1 T chopped fresh basil and a little salt.

Rings filled with grain and topped with vegetable sauce

To Assemble:  Arrange squash rings on a serving platter.  Using an ice cream scoop, place rounds of the herb & spice grain mixture in center of rings.  Top with generous amount of Italian kale, tomato, and golden beet sauce.  Sprinkle with fresh basil and parsley. Enjoy with crusty bread, or a mixed green salad.

Provencal Portobello-Avocado Sandwiches

You'll need:  Chickpea hummus, portobello mushroom caps, avocado, spelt and hemp seed bread, arugula sprouts, garlic, green onions, fresh basil, dried oregano, thyme, summer savory, rosemary and fennel seeds, cayenne pepper, sea salt, lemon juice, tamari sauce, agave syrup
The Provencal Mushroom Marinade: 
In a small bowl, whisk 2 T olive oil with 1 t lemon juice, 1 t tamari sauce and 1 t agave syrup.  Add 1 clove of garlic, minced, 2 diced greens onions, 1/4 t. fennel seed (lightly crushed) and 1/2 t of each of the dried herbs. Place portobello mushroom caps in the marinade and toss to coat.  Allow the mushrooms to marinade for at least an hour or until savory.  (They can be marinaded, covered in the fridge overnight for maximum flavor)  Before assembling sandwiches, grill and set aside to cool, then slice across cap.
The Avocado: Cut, pit, and peel avocado.  Cut the fruit into medium-thick slices and sprinkle with lemon juice, 1/4 t dried summer savory, rosemary, thyme, sea salt and cayenne pepper.

To Assemble:  Thinly slice the spelt-hemp seed bread, and spread with hummus.  Arrange avocado slices on top, and mash lightly into hummus with the back of a fork.  Press portobello slices into avocado. Dust each sandwich with a generous pinch of arugula sprouts, and finely chopped  fresh basil. Enjoy these flavorful sandwiches as a savory snack, or team them up with soup for a satisfying lunch lunch.

A Pair of Pears

An avocado pear sliced and filled with lemony Bartlett pear and arugula sprouts is an easy appetizer or a satisfying accompaniment to a sandwich.  Busy days, it makes a nice, light lunch.  Sprouted pumpkin seeds boost the protein content and add a nice 'crunch'.
You'll need: avocado, pear, lemon, olive oil, agave syrup, arugula sprouts, soaked and sprouted  pumpkin seeds, dried thyme, oregano and summer savory.

The Avocado: Cut the avocado in half and remove pit.  An easy way to do this is to press the blade of a large knife firmly but gently into the pit, and twist.  The pit will pop out cleanly. Sprinkle the halves with a little lemon juice.

The Pear Salad:  In a small bowl, whisk 1 T. olive oil, and 2 t. lemon juice together until creamy. Stir in 1/2 t agave, 2 T pumpkin seeds, and 1/4 t. dried oregano, 1/4 t. dried thyme and a pinch of summer savory.  Core and dice the Bartlet pear into bite size pieces, and add to lemon dressing.  Mix well to coat pear.  Add in 2 T. arugula sprouts.  Spoon salad into avocado halves and serve.

A Simple yet Elegant Dish: '5 Spice' Pineapple and Sweet Millet

A flavorful marriage of fresh fruit and grain.  The juicy fresh pineapple is sprinkled with '5 Spice' powder, and served with a slightly sweetened millet.  The grain is cooked in coconut milk, topped with a swirl of agave and a daring dash of cayenne pepper.  The combination makes a tasty, filling but light meal, or sophisticated dessert.  The flavors are an intriguing partnership, and a delight on the tongue.  As well, the ingredients benefit the body, especially the digestive system.  Millet is easily assimilated by the stomach, and pineapple is particularly rich in bromelain, an enzyme that digests protein. 

 

A. Gillert, photo                Sweet Coconut Millet       

The Millet
You'll need: millet, coconut milk, coconut butter, agave syrup, cayenne pepper, and coriander powder.  Soak (and sprout if desired) 1 C. millet.  Combine millet with 1/2 C. coconut milk and 2 C. water, and steam until soft. In a serving bowl, combine 2 T. coconut butter with 2 t. agave.  Add millet, and mix gently to coat millet. Drizzle grain with a swirl of agave syrup, and sprinkle generously with cardamom powder, a touch of Himalayan salt, and cayenne pepper to taste.



The Pineapple
You'll need: fresh pineapple,
Asian '5 Spice' Powder

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A. Gillert, photo  Fresh Pineapple with Asian 5 Spice Powder

Twist the green leaves off from the top of pineapple.  Cut the fruit in quarters, lengthwise.  Core and peel. Dice the pineapple into bite-size pieces.  Sprinkle with 2 t. Asian '5 Spice' Powder. To Serve: Place a portion of sweetened millet in a dessert dish, and top with '5 Spice' Pineapple pieces. An unbelievably exotic  combination with a very sophisticated flavor.

A Grain for the Tasting: 10 Minute Millet

Millet goes in and out of favor, according to those who write of agriculture and food production.  My first introduction to millet was a tin pan half filled with the seed an African friend was carrying to feed his chickens.  His wife, he told me, also brewed the same millet into a good beer.  If you Google "millet" you'll find a store-house of information.  The grain was likely cultivated in Stone Age around the lakes of Switzerland.   Mesopotamia grew it around 3000 BCE, as did Chinese farmers of the same era.  The spread of the Roman Empire facilitated its cultivation far beyond the Fertile Valley where it sprung from. People who ate millet as a staple were healthy.  Millet is good for you, no doubt about it, with various vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates, and fiber. (Google it's nutritional profile to see wholesome components, especially silicon which benefits bone and connective tissue) Also millet's an alkaline grain, gluten-free, rich in amino acids and protein. Soaking and sprouting the grain increases both the protein content (by about 10%) and the profile of certain amino acids also increases.  In addition, soaking reduces the cooking time to about 10 minutes, making millet a candidate for a quick nutritional and flavor boost to any meal. Special diets often include millet since it soothes a weak or irritated digestive system, especially the stomach. It is also said to have amazing anti-fungal properties. With an ability to take on different textures depending on the length of cooking, the tiny millet grain creates the base for many dishes.

Millet soaking before cooking

 A Beautiful Bowl of Millet:
Measure 1 C. millet, and rinse well.  Cover with twice its depth of water. Soak for 4 hours, drain and rinse well. To sprout: (millet will swell in size and protein increase, but because it has been hulled will not produce sprout/tail) Put in covered container in fridge overnight. To cook:  (In a steamer)  Cover millet with fresh water and steam until done, about 10 minutes. If using stove top, place in pot with 2.5 C. boiling water. Reduce heat as with rice.

A beautifully cooked bowl of millet garnished with thyme and oregano

Darn Good Dips

1. Hummus, Zucchini, Tomato, & Pear Dip

  2. Baba Ganoush-Butternut Squash Dip

These easy Middle Eastern inspired dips go well with chips, raw veggies, or crusty bread, and crackers.  They make a light movie-night supper, or hearty afternoon snack.  To make these dips, either have on hand home made baba ganoush and hummus, or find a tasty variety at a local whole foods store, or specialty shop.  Dip 1. You'll need: zucchini, tomato, pear, lemon juice, agave syrup, olive oil, salt, Italian-style herbs, hummus, cumin, coriander powder.  Finely chop crisp zucchini, tomato, and firm pear to make 1 C.  Top with 1 t. Italian-style herbs (thyme, oregano, savory) and lightly dust with few grains of Himalayan salt.  In a serving bowl, combine 2 T. olive oil, 1 T. fresh lemon juice, 1.2 t. agave syrup.  Whisk well, and then blend in 1 C hummus. Fold 1 C. finely chopped vegetables into the dip. Sprinkle generously with coriander & cumin powder.  Dip 2. You'll need: baba ganoush, cooked and cooled butternut squash, olive oil, lemon juice,  allspice, arugula micro-greens (or sprouts, shredded spinach) chipotle chili powder.  In a serving bowl,  whisk 1 t.  fresh lemon juice, 2. T. olive oil, 1/4 t. allspice.  Add butternut squash to bowl, blending well.  Mix in 1 C. baba ganoush.  Fold in  1/2 C. arugula micro-greens, sprouts, or finely shredded spinach  Dust with spicy chipotle chili powder.