Quinoa & Roasted Butternut Squash Hot Dish!

The Minnesota in me can't whip up a side dish, containing condensed 

cream of soup, without calling it a hot dish.  Sorry.  Not sorry. 

I made this dish in December for a luncheon potluck at my daughter's school, with items I had in the kitchen. I didn't know how it would turn out, but after several moms asked me for the recipe at the luncheon, and another mom just stopped me last week to ask, I decided it was time to get this recipe on the blog. 

What you need:

• 3 cups dry quinoa (which cooked in 6 cups of liquid, water or stock, will yield ~8 cups of cooked quinoa)
• 8 ounce block of cream cheese, room temperature soft
• 2 boxes of condensed cream of mushroom soup 
• 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 large onion
• 1 large butternut squash
• Olive oil
• Sea salt & black pepper

Also, I highly recommend you make the Maple Spiced Pecans, also on this blog, as they are the perfect addition of sweet and spicy crunch to this hot dish.  

 Get all that tough skin off the squash quickly, with a vegetable peeler.

I seriously just thought of this in the last 6 months after many a squash 

struggles.  Major 'duh moment'!!

 I cut the 'neck' of the squash off, then bisect the bottom of the squash

for easy removal of the the seeds and pulp.

 Slice the 'neck' of the squash into roughly 1/2 inch slices. Then

cut into roughly 1/2 inch cubes.

 Cube the bottom half of the cleaned out squash.

Place the cubed squash on a foil lined baking sheet, topped with 

parchment paper (the foil is only for easy clean up, not needed

if you are a bit more motivated than I am).  Toss the cubes with a 

generous amount of olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper.

I forgot about the onion, but remembered to toss it in, right before the

pan made it's way to the oven.

Place in a 400 degree oven.  Roast for 1 hour, tossing with a spoon

after half hour.

While the squash is roasting, and the quiona is cooking (just follow directions 

on the dry quinoa package), combine the 8 oz block of cream cheese, 2 boxes 

condensed soup and 2 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable) in a large bowl with a whisk.

This is my favorite brand of condensed soups.  It is also gluten free,

which is wonderful for those with dietary restrictions.

 Add the cooked quinoa to the sauce and stir.  Add sea salt to taste.

Fold in the roasted squash and onions.  

Place in an oiled baking dish.  At this point you can cover the dish and

 place in the refrigerator to bake off later.

For the perfect crust, use the vegetable peel to shave off a bit of butter

and place on top.  This too is one of my favorite little ideas/ 'duh moments'

Sprinkle a little sea salt on top of the shaved butter, and place in a

375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

The top will be golden brown.

Yum!  This hot dish is meal enough, when topped with the

 Maple Spiced Pecans and served with a side of greens. 

Here are a couple other ideas for this delicious hot dish: toss in additional roasted vegetables 

(zucchini, asparagus, root vegetables, portobello mushrooms), stuff large portobello mushrooms

and bake off or serve along side grilled poultry or beef.

Seriously, yum! 

Maple Spiced Pecans

 The maple spiced pecans are the perfect addition to a roasted

butternut squash and quinoa hot dish.

Oh my goodness, these are the absolute best thing to ever happen to salads, snack mix and the palm of your hand (as you shovel in a hand full)...and making them is super easy too!

 Place 1 cup roughly chopped raw pecans in a saute pan, over 

medium heat.  Watch closely.  You want to heat them until the pan

starts to smell a bit nutty.  Watch closely though, as it can go from 

tasty to burnt very quickly.

 With the pan still on the heat, add 3 T. pure maple syrup, a pinch

of cayenne pepper and a generous crack of sea salt to the warm 

nuts.  Stir until all of the nuts are coated.  Remove from heat.

Pour the warm pecans onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet

and pop in a 300 degree oven for 7 minutes.  

Remove from oven, allow to cool, and then store them in an air tight

container.  They are seriously delicious.

 

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Crunchy Balls

I have been meaning to post this FOREVER.  For all my GF lovelies out there, this one is for you!!!  My sister-in-law, who is plagued with crazy food allergies, had a variety of GF treats at Christmas.  One was the inspiration for this treat.  I say 'inspiration', as I begged for the recipe (ahem, Emily...still love you), but never received it...but, I really don't think I am too far off. 

4 & 1/2 cups Gluten Free Rice Krispies

3 cups Confectioner's Sugar

1 & 1/2 cups Peanut Butter

1 & 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Do you have one of these little measuring gizmos?

They are crazy fantastic for measuring things like

peanut butter and honey.  They sell them at

most kitchen or baking supply stores.

If you have a food processor (no worries if you don't this

can all be done with a little stirring...I am just all about shortcuts)

Combined Confectioner's Sugar, Sea Salt, Peanut Butter and GF Rice Krispies

(reserve 1 cup of Rice Krispies for later, so just pulse 3 & 1/2 cups in the food processor)

Pulse until it is all combined and the consistency of a stiff cookie dough)

She always says, 'I push mommie's buttons???' when

I pull out a food processor or blender.  God love her. 

Pulse until it is all combined and the consistency of a stiff cookie dough

(you don't need to roll it into a ball, I just did this so you could truly see the thick consistency of the dough)

Stir in the reserved cup of GF Rice Krispies

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Use a small cookie scoop  (I don't know the scoop number off hand,

but it is ~2 tablespoon scoop).  If you don't have scoop, no worries, just

eyeball small clumps of dough...these are homemade, so they don't need to be perfzy!

If you didn't use a scoop (or have an even smaller scoop than

my ~2 T scoop), you can skip this process.  I cut the

dough in half, as these should be bite size treats. 

The newly cut clumps, rolled into perfect little balls.  I place

them in the freezer for 20 minutes, to make them easy to dip in

the chocolate. 

Over low/medium heat, place a couple inches of

water in a saucepan and place a glass or stainless bowl that

fits securely on top of the saucepan (the water should not touch the bottom

of the roll when it is simmering).  Stir until smooth and melty. 

Dip the Peanut Butter Crunchy Balls in the melted chocolate

and return to the parchment paper lined baking sheet to

set.  You can place in the refrigerator, if patience isn't your strong suit

I dare you to let them fully set, before you pop one of these morsels of goodness in your kisser.