Why haven’t I ever made it myself? I don’t know. When I tried it, my cooking skills were subpar — I didn’t know what to do with it and I was afraid to try. As I’ve gotten older and developed my hand in the kitchen, I just haven’t taken the time to make this. But I’ve been thinking about that tasty dish a lot lately and decided to make my own version. It’s been years since I had it last, so I cannot remember exactly what was in it so I just threw some things together to make this.

MMmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm. This was so tasty, I could have eaten the whole thing myself. Nonetheless, I shared it with Will. I told Will this was spaghetti and excluded the word squash. Why? Not because I thought he wouldn’t eat it, but because I think the specification might be a little much for him. In any case, he gobbled up a big bowl of this and told me it was “yum.” Good enough for me.

The cool thing about this dish, I think, is that it’s naturally low in carbs and gluten-free (and vegetarian too), so this is something I could serve without worries whenever anyone comes to my house.

1 spaghetti squash (I used a smaller one)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tsp capers
sea salt and pepper
freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Cut the squash in half, length-wise and seed. Put squash halves cut-side down on the baking sheet. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a small skillet. Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Don’t let the garlic brown. Stir in tomatoes, capers, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

Scoop squash into a bowl. Pour in tomato mixture. Stir together. Serve warm, topped with freshly grated Parmesan.
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This veggie rich dish is a good submission for Sweetnicks‘ ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. Check out Cate’s site tomorrow night for a roundup.

The post Kid Approved: Garlic Tomato Spaghetti Squash appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

Nearly every weekend this summer has included a trip to my cousin’s farm. Will and I have carefully selected the farm-fresh and mostly organic produce and coveted it all week long. There were overflowing pints of blueberries that Will would finish before the day was out and tiny, sweet orange cherry tomatoes that would burst as we bit them. And then there was sweet corn, so crisp and sugary that we’d consume ear after ear.

But, as my cousin’s husband said this weekend, the season is quickly coming to an end. When we drove over to the farm on Sunday, we found giant, ripe, just-picked heirloom tomatoes and brilliant other tomatoes. Plus, several varieties of onions, gigantic cucumbers and other goodies.

With winter fast-approaching, we bought about 10 pounds of seconds tomatoes — ones that didn’t quite pass muster but are perfect for fresh marinara. We also bought several of the perfect red tomatoes and an heirloom. I immediately started dreaming of what to do with the lovely globes of goodness. The seconds were destined for marinara (more on that later this week . . . it was a lengthy process). The regular, ripe, perfect tomatoes I have tucked away for gazpacho (along with the cucumber and a red onion), which I will tell you about another day. But the heirloom, oh the heirloom. The gnarly, imperfect, gigantic heirloom was my wild card. Would I slice it and eat it bit by bit? Or perhaps transform it into something else.

But while flipping through a Barefoot Contessa cookbook, I found my answer. An heirloom tomato salad with blue cheese dressing. Ina Garten’s recipe didn’t quite meet my tastes (too much mayo . . . heck, mayo in general! ew!), so I worked out my own vinaigrette version.

Coincidentally, did you know that September is an Eat Local Challenge month? I am taking on the challenge this time. After a summer of doing my best to eat locally (and prepare for winter to do the same), I am ready to nudge my eating local forward with a solid footing for winter. So my challenge this September is to buy, prepare and store local produce for the long New England winter that will be here before we know it. I’ll be sharing my progress as I go as well.

Now. Onto the recipe.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette
serves 4

1 extra large heirloom tomato (about 2 lbs)
1/2 red onion, finely diced
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp tarragon wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Slice the heirloom tomatoes into extra thin pieces. Arrange on a plate. Top with finely diced red onion.

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and blue cheese. Spoon over the tomatoes.

Serve immediately.

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This is my contribution for Sweetnicks’ ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. Check out the Sweetnicks site for great fruit, veggie and antioxidant-rich ideas.

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I’ve been craving some unusual things lately, but the combination that surprised me the most was a light black bean and corn dish. Cold. These just aren’t ingredients I mix together under ordinary circumstances. And when I do, they are usually mixed up hot in a Southwest flavored dish. Not so with this. Instead it’s a salad with a light dressing. The result was tasty – and my mother enjoyed it a lot too so it’s not just for pregnant folk.

Good thing that this dish contains two vegetables and antioxidant-rich black beans too, because that means I can submit this for Sweetnicks‘ ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays this week.

1 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1 cup diced cucumbers
3/4 cup feta, crumbled
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Combine the black beans, corn, cucumbers and feta in a bowl.

Stir together the lemon juice, olive oil, cayenne pepper and salt. Pour over the black bean mixture.

For best results, chill for several hours before serving.

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My tomato basil marinara sauce begins with the above. What are they? Broiled tomatoes. Mmmm. Broiling them makes them soft, perfect for crushing, and it ripens their flavor.

This sauce is great for baking (lasagna, manicotti, etc) or good with pasta. You could use it over chicken parm or dip fried mozzarella in it. Or, you could add veggies for a chunkier rendition.

Tomato Basil Marinara

2 large tomatoes, washed
3 extra large cloves of garlic (or 6 medium cloves), minced
1 cup basil, chopped – fresh only
3 small cans of tomato paste
water
1 tbsp dried Italian seasonings
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp sugar

Place the tomatoes on a jelly roll pan, covered with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and turn on the broiler (high). Cook, flipping every five minutes, for 15 minutes, or until skin blackens and pulls away.

Let tomatoes fully cool before proceeding (allow at least an hour . . . I made the tomatoes a day a ahead and left them in the fridge over night).

Gather and prepare all ingredients. Halve the tomatoes and remove seeds and stems (discard). Chop and crush tomatoes finely.

Heat a large dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Place the garlic and basil and cook, stirring frequently, for one minute. Add tomato paste and water. How much water? 2.5 cans worth per can of tomato paste. Stir in tomatoes and Italian seasonings.

Bring sauce to a rapid boil.

Stir in salt and pepper and sugar. Lower heat to low and simmer sauce for one hour, stirring occasionally.

* Be sure to taste your sauce throughout the cooking and add additional salt and pepper to your taste. Always add a little at a time though so as not to over season.

This is a post for Sweetnicks’ ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. Check out Sweetnicks for other like-minded, antioxidant rich recipes.

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My poor family. They are always my guinea pigs when I experiment with recipes. Some, like this one, turn out great and end up on the blog. Others, like a tragic butternut squash casserole I made for Thanksgiving nearly four years ago plague me. They won’t let me forget the poorly conceived, over sweet dish that made my brother swear off butternut squash forever. But fortunately that was one of my first experiments, not one of my latest. (And besides, nothing tops my mother’s homemade pumpkin pie with the sinews . . . ew. It looked like pecan pie. And of course, the friend I had sleeping over that night had never had pumpkin pie before . . . hell, she probably hasn’t since.)

Anyway, the butternut squash incident came up (for the umpteenth time) the other night at dinner while everyone was trying the peppers. Why can’t they just let it go???

On to these stuffed delights. This is a pretty fast and low-fat, low-carb appetizer that’s great for parties. I picked up these mini sweet peppers in bulk at Costco last week and scoured the internet for a worthy recipe. There seemed to be only two really out there: one that was stuffed with goat cheese and garlic and one that was stuffed with a rice-y mixture. The rice didn’t appeal to me and I didn’t have any goat cheese or garlic (gasp!) on hand, but what I did have was feta. The resulting mixture (see below) drew raves and tasted great. And being that it’s an easy make-ahead finger food that is actually better cold, it’s perfect for when you have guests coming (think: day ahead).

Anyway, I thought the colorful peppers and sundried tomatoes would make it a great candidate for Sweetnicks’ ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. Check her site later for a roundup of other like-minded, antioxidant-rich recipes.

More Delicious Appetizer Recipes:

• Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Crostini
• Sundried Tomato and Red Pepper Meatballs
• Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Bread

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The post Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers . . . mmmm! appeared first on Sarah's Cucina Bella.

In any case, being that Billy lived in the great citrus hub of Florida, he would send oranges and grapefruits up to us in New York every year. The thick cardboard box, filled with layers of the round citrus fruits, would sit on the floor just inside the dining room. We’d have a bit every day until it ran out. I wasn’t particularly into the grapefruits, though I tried them once in a while. But my grandparents, with whom I lived, would each have a half for breakfast everyday. I remember them sprinkling a bit of sugar on top to make them a little more palatable. Of course when I ate them, there was a sugar sprinkle for virtually every bite. They were just too sour for me.

Lately I have been trying to eat a greater variety of good-for-you foods, so when I saw a sale on grapefruits at my local grocery store, I picked one up just to give it another whirl.

Health Benefits of Grapefruits:
Grapefruits are high in vitamin C, and contain a good deal of lycopene (an antioxidant). Some studies have also suggested that eating half a grapefruit (or drinking a glass of grapefruit juice) before meals can help people lose weight. According to one study, that is because grapefruits naturally lower insulin levels which results in decreased hunger.

I decided to try out a recipe for broiled grapefruits that I had seen in Low-fat Vegetarian Cooking by Jenny Stacey. However, as luck would have it, the cookbook was completely MIA when I needed it. Fortunately, I was able to locate another recipe in another cookbook in my home.

Okay, so it’s not a tome of excellence by a master chef or a tried and true . . . but it had what I needed when I needed it. Yes, ladies and gents, I made broiled grapefruits with a recipe from Can You Take The Heat? – the WWE cookbook (actually, the cookbook is so old that it was published under the WWF moniker, which was changed years ago because of the World Wildlife Foundation’s lawsuit). I used to be quite the WWE fan and this was a gift from a wonderful friend. I have since lost interest in wrestling – particularly since the WWE began to look more and more like WCW – another wrestling “league” that they merged with several years ago.

Back to the recipe. I cut back on the butter suggested, but basically did follow the directions. The result? Pretty good. The combination of butter, brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon really cut the sour tang so that it wasn’t so abrasive.

Will I eat it again? Definitely. I am still not a fan of grapefruits but this version makes the sour-tart really tolerable. I also really liked having the soft, juicy flesh warm. That was a huge plus.

Broiled Grapefruits
serves 2
Adapted from Can You Take The Heat?: The WWF Is Cooking!

1 ruby red grapefruit
1 pat butter, cut into pieces
1 tbsp brown sugar, divided
2 dashes of cinnamon

Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with aluminum foil (makes for an easy cleanup!)

Cut the grapefruit in half, and remove a small slice from the bottom so that it sits flat. Use a spoon to slightly seperate the edge of the grapefruit from the peel. Place the two halves on the baking sheet. Top each half with half of the butter pieces, 1/2 tbsp of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon.

Place the tray about 4 inches from the broiler on high heat and cook for 8 minutes, until the butter is fully melted and it begins to brown.

P.S. This is my ARF/5-A-Day entry for this week’s roundup at Sweetnicks. Check out her site late Tuesday for a great roundup of antioxidant rich foods.

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First, let me talk a bit about asparagus. Asparagus is a good source of vitamins A and C, both antioxidants. It’s also a great source of folate and vitamin K. It’s been a highly appreciated veggie since ancient times. And did you know that it’s a member of the lily family?

I’m a big fan of asparagus. Last summer I made grilled herbed parmesan asparagus and used white asparagus to create a savory ham napoleon. But it’s winter, the white asparagus hasn’t made it’s way into my local grocery store yet and hell! I have a new grill pan . . . so this is what I created:

What is it? Garlicky pan grilled asparagus with romano. Long name, I know. But it was worth it. I got the idea from a grill pan cookbook I received for Christmas. Except that recipe called for orange rind, no garlic, no romano and something else . . . maybe ginger? I don’t remember and frankly it’s important to this discussion. Really.

Making this was really easy and simple and the cleanup was a breeze. What more can you ask for from a tasty dish?

Garlicky pan grilled asparagus with romano
serves 4

1 bunch asparagus
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
fresh romano, grated
sea salt

First, soak the asparagus in cold water for 15 minutes or so. This will revitalize the asparagus and any leftover dirt will float to the top (hey! easy cleaning!).

Meanwhile, heat your grill pan over medium until very hot (I did it for maybe 10-15 minutes).

Now, remove the asparagus from the water, rinse briefly and then dry with paper towels.

Drizzle asparagus with olive oil and toss into the grill pan. Cook, shaking (or stiring) frequently, for 5 minutes.

Add minced garlic to the pan. Continue cooking for an addition 5 minutes.

Remove asparagus from pan and place on a serving plate. Sprinkle with romano and sea salt.

Serve warm.

P.S. The secret? I ate it all!

P.P.S. This is an entry for Sweetnicks ARF 5-A-Day. Check out Sweetnicks later tonight for a roundup of great antioxidant rich recipes.

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