Foodie Friday: Roasted Squash Stew with Turkey & Baby Kale

Between the cold weather and feeling a bit under the weather this past week, I’ve been jonesing for some soups and stews to warm me up. As always, I head over to Pinterest and browse my most recent 3000 recipes that I’ve pinned (out of control!) and this baby caught my eye.

Squash stew? Done! I was missing a few of the ingredients from the original recipe so I took a stab at my own version and was rather pleased with the end result.

Roasted Squash Stew with Turkey & Baby Kale

Serves 4
Adapted from Cookin’ Canuck

Ingredients
2 tbsp EVOO, divided
2 small delicata squashes, diced [About 3 cups]
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1/4 lb ground turkey or chicken [I used Jennie-O Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast]
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, not drained [I used Muir Glen Organic Red and Yellow Diced Tomatoes]
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups baby kale or spinach

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss your diced squash on a baking sheet with 1 tbsp EVOO and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Put the sheet in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes, tossing a few times.

While your squash is roasting, heat a large pot over medium heat with the remaining 1 tbsp EVOO. Once heated, add your diced onion and saute until translucent. Add the ground turkey to the pot and season with salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Once the turkey is completely cooked through, add the minced garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant, add the can of tomatoes and chicken stock.

By this time, your squash should be just about finished roasting. Remove from the oven and add 3/4 of the roasted squash to the pot. Smash the remaining 1/4 squash until smooth and add to the pot. This is used as a thickener in the soup. Make sure everything is well incorporated and finally stir in the baby kale until wilted. Adjust any seasonings to taste and feel free to add more stock or water if you want the soup to be thinner.

This soup is great with a scoop of quinoa mixed in or with some crunchy roasted chick peas on top!

Nutritional Information
Per serving

198 Calories  /  8g Fat  /  26g Carbs  /  15g Fiber  /  7g Sugar  /  11g Protein

Just My Imagination Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Joanna Murnan for winning a pair of custom hammered metal earrings from Just My Imagination!

Joanna Murnan said :
The triples are adorable in the mixed metals – very cute!

Please email me at Brittany@BarrAndTable.com within the next 48 hours with your mailing address as well as which pair of hoops you want and in what metal; silver, gold, or mixed! And don’t forget, it may be too late for holiday shopping, but it’s never too late to treat yourself to some new one-of-a-kind jewels 😉

Roasted Squash & Chick Pea Baby Kale Salad

Have you entered my Just My Imagination giveaway yet? Only 2 more days!

I am an absolute squash fiend; winter squash in particular. Butternut squash is currently my favorite, but I’ve recently found out about so many more kinds to try! Over the weekend I finally got my hands on delicata. I’d say in terms of flavor, it compares to acorn squash, but it’s so much easier to prepare which instantly wins me over. Not to mention you can eat the skin which also makes it great for salads.

I don’t know about you, but during this time of year, along with some fun new desserts, I’m always looking for an equally fun and tasty salad to bring to holiday gatherings. And nine times out of ten, mine include squash!

Roasted Squash & Chick Pea Baby Kale Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
6 cups baby kale greens
1/3 cup raisins, craisins, or dried cherries
1 medium delicata squash; sliced
1 can chick peas; drained, rinsed, & thoroughly dried
3 tsp coconut oil; divided
3/4 tsp salt; divided
3/4 tsp ground black pepper; divided
1 tsp McCormick Fiesta Citrus Seasoning

For the Vinaigrette
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place sliced squash on one baking sheet and coat with 2 tsp coconut oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Place chick peas on another baking sheet with the remaining 1 tsp coconut oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 black pepper, and 1 tsp fiesta citrus seasoning. Bake squash and chick peas for about an hour, flipping the squash 1 or 2 times and tossing the chick peas around. When finished, the squash should be golden around the edges and the chick peas should be nice and crunchy! Let cool completely.

While the squash and chick peas are cooling, place all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. After everything has cooled, throw kale, squash, chick peas, and raisins (or other dried fruit) in a large bowl and toss with about 3/4 of the vinaigrette. Make sure everything is equally coated. Drizzle the last bit of dressing over top of the salad and top with a little freshly cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.

To make it into a more substantial meal, throw 4oz of your favorite protein on top!

Nutritional Information
Per serving, for 4 servings

218 Calories  /  6g Fat  /  35g Carbs  /  8g Fiber  /  12g Sugar  /  8g Protein

Food for Thought

What is your favorite holiday salad to share?

What I Ate Wednesday #7 – Sunday Brunch

Sundays are definitely one of my favorite days. Morning yoga in the park, hitting up the farmers market, and on some special Sundays, we do brunch.

One thing you need to know about Nathan and me is that we love deals. Groupon and Living Social are my best friend. So much so, that people poke fun at me for work.. “Oh, you’re going out to eat? What kinda deal did you get?” I have no problem with this because as a foodie, trying new restaurants (for half price, mind you) is nothing less than awesome!

This past Sunday’s brunch was at Lebanese Taverna. It may not have been a new restaurant to try, but we absolutely love the food there, so when a deal popped up for brunch, we were on that like white on rice! Or hummus on pita.. you choose 😉

I realized when I went to put this post together that I didn’t take pictures of any of my food from Sunday, except brunch sooo here’s a quick break down!

Breakfast
Cinnamon raisin protein oats & quinoa. This recipe is coming soon and you don’t want to miss it!

Brunch
Lebanese Taverna deliciousness!

Homemade Bread
This is important enough for it’s own line. Have you had their bread?! It is incredible.

Red Sangria
Pomegranate wine, triple sec, brandy, cinnamon, basil, apples, and plums. I would order that every time!

Our Feast!
Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Lebanese Salad (cucumber, tomato, mint, & onion), Chicken Kabob, and Beef & Lamb Shwarma.

My favorite parts? The baba ganoush and beef & lamb shwarma. I could eat all of it. All day. Everyday.

Booza
An ice cream trio with Pistachio-Orange (my fave!), Vanilla Cardamom (Nathan’s fave!), and Honey (the overall crowd-pleaser.)

Clearly, it was too warm outside to let the ice cream pose for a picture, so naturally, we devoured it! Sorry. (Not really.)

Dinner
Leftover thai.. steamed bean thread noodles with fresh ginger, hu-nu, onions, carrots, baby corn, scallions,bean sprouts, pork, and bean sauce in a hot pot and a side of edamame. This comes from a place called Thai Arroy. It looks like a little whole-in-the-wall, but it is the best thai food in Baltimore!

Snack Time
Homemade peanut butter froyo. This is another recipe coming soon and definitely worth checking out! It’s so easy and much cheaper than going out 🙂

Like I said.. I didn’t do such a great job of taking pictures on Sunday, so now you’re subjected to a bad Instagramed phone picture. For this, I truly apologize.

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite Sunday tradition? Are you a Sunday brunch-er?

And don’t miss my giveaway; you have until tomorrow night to enter! You could win a case of the delicious CalNaturale Svelte! Yum!

What I Ate Wednesday #6 – Heavy Seas Ale House

I love nothing more than trying new things.. especially when it comes to food! I’ve been mixing up my meals a bit this week and trying new easy recipes. I also got to try a new restaurant in Baltimore; Heavy Seas Ale House. The food was delicious and the drinks were even better! So let’s get to it, shall we?!

Breakfast

Perfect morning quinoa with blueberries & almonds and a Bombshell Spell. All directly from the lovely Tone It Up Nutrition Plan!

Sensible Snack #1

1/2 grapefruit sprinkled with stevia. Alright, so not everything is getting mixed up this week, but what can I say? I’m a fan of the grapefruit!

Lunch

Summer shrimp salad.. another one from the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan. This is such a great meal for warm days! It’s so light and delicious and frankly, I’m a fan of topping anything with avocado!

Sensible Snack #2

GT’s Guava Goddess Kombucha is one of my absolute favorite drinks lately! If you have never heard of or tried Kombucha, get on it! And I would highly recommend the Guava Goddess, Gingerade, and Gingerberry flavors.

I was also so excited to try The Good Bean Chocolate Berry bar. These bars are full of fruit and no nuts! Typically I love almonds and cashews and other nuts in my bars, but this one replaces that crunchy texture with chick peas. So delicious and you really don’t miss the nut! (And how can you top dark chocolate and berries?!)

Dinner

We celebrated my parents’ 35th wedding anniversary at Heavy Seas Ale House. Nathan and I had only been there once before for drinks, but had been wanting to return and try the food; we’d heard so many good reviews!

Heavy Seas has become known for their beer cocktails. The first time we went there, I got the Gold Ale Cucumber Margarita. Holy yum!

“Heavy Seas Gold Ale”, resposado tequila, fresh lime juice, cucumber and house made golden ale syrup with a salted rim.

This time I had to try something new.. here we haveAny Port in the Storm. Again, holy yum!

Gosling’s Black Seal Rum, house made ginger syrup, lime juice, and “Heavy Seas Gold Ale”

We started out with 1/2 dozen raw Washington oysters. I’m not a big oyster fan, but I always try one when we get them. My parents loved them! I much preferred the Spicy Beer Nuts. I would definitely recommend them, but watch out.. they’re addicting and the spice builds!

Pecans tossed with sweet spices and “Marzen”

My mom and I both got the Crispy Rockfish Special over mussels and cockles, topped with zucchini, roasted corn, & bacon in a tomato broth. Delicious! I was happy to learn that crispy didn’t mean fried. It was cooked in a pan, skin on, so the skin was nice and crispy, but the fish was not at all oily.

We finished off with a lovely Flourless Chocolate Cake with bay leaf chantilly creme on a beautifully (and deliciously!) decorated plate. And to our surprise, every table gets to end their meal with these wonderful homemade mini chocolate chip cookies with a touch of spice! I have to say, I think I preferred the cookie to the cake!

I will definitely be returning to Heavy Seas to try some more delicious food! I hear the burgers and oyster po boy sandwiches are out of this world, so I think next time we’ll be trying out their lunch dishes. Can’t wait to report in on that!

Speak Up!

What’s the best dish you’ve had a restaurant recently?