Balancing Act: Roasted Fall Vegetable Salad

While fall is the ideal time of year for comfort food - apple pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing - it's also the easiest time of year to pack on a few extra pounds. Thanks to the cooler weather, it's easy to hide what all that pie does to your middle underneath layers and loose sweaters. And though I'm not one to sacrifice my favorite fall foods for vanity's sake, I don't want to be cursing those extra helpings of cider donuts come next spring. So in order to get the most of the comforting fall flavors we all love, I look to the many hearty vegetables the autumn harvest has to offer.

This salad with roasted butternut squash, brussels sprouts and beets is so satisfying that you won't feel like you're missing out at all. Plus, just look at those colors. If that doesn't look like fall, I don't know what does. And if anything, eat this salad so you can feel a little less guilty about polishing off that bag of candy corn after.

Roasted Fall Vegetable Salad
makes 4 entrée-sized servings

Ingredients:
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 lb brussels sprouts, halved
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups precooked beets, quartered
1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
16 oz baby spinach (or 2 bags of the pre-washed kind from the grocery store)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Assemble the squash and brussels sprouts on the baking sheet so they're in one even layer. If the pan is too crowded, use 2 baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Using your hands, toss the veggies so they're evenly coated in oil. Roast in the oven about 30 minutes, or until tender and slightly browned. Allow the veggies to cool slightly.
3. Top the spinach with beets, gorgonzola, walnuts and roasted veggies. I don't use any extra dressing for this, because I find the beets and roasted veggies help moisten the spinach, but if you want to drizzle with some extra olive oil, more power to ya.

Quick Bites: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

In case you've been living in a ditch for the past couple of weeks, pumpkin season is upon us, and there's no escaping it. From pumpkin lattes, to pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin Hershey's kisses, pumpkin is everywhere and it's taking over the world. Not that I'm complaining, I'm more than willing to succumb to the pumpkin world domination.

So today I bring you a super quick, super simple, and even more delicious recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bread. A couple years ago, my brother Michael and I went to breakfast at this diner where he ordered pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes. This was before the pumpkin craze was really the phenomenon it is today, so we thought the combination of pumpkin and pancakes was totally brilliant. Now that Michael is all grown up as a freshman in college (sigh), I attempted to recreate that diner breakfast in bread form. Though I'm not able to share this bread with Michael right now, the comforting aromas of pumpkin and chocolate keep us feeling close regardless of the physical distance.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread adapted from Big Girls Small Kitchen
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup turbinado sugar (raw cane sugar)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 can pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking power, and baking soda.
3. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Add sugar, vanilla extract,  and oil until combined.
4. Fold the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir in pumpkin purée until combined. Fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
5. Pour the batter into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until cooked through and tender in the center.

Before...

...After! Mmm...

One Pot Wonder: Italian Vegetable Soup & Cornbread

Summer is unofficially over, which means it's time to get back to routines and schedules. And I could not be happier. I know, I sound like a total party pooper. Don't get me wrong, I do love summer, but come late August every year, I'm itching for cooler weather, apples and pumpkins, prime time TV, and a week when I can just stay put and get back in the kitchen.

Now I don't want to jinx it, but I think it's safe to say that the dog days of summer are finally past us. The weather in NYC has been just divine, and I've finally had a few weekends where I can stay home and relax instead of living out of a suitcase between graduations, vacations, and beach visits. So with some extra time on my hands, it was about time I got back in the kitchen with one of my favorite Sunday traditions: one pot meals!

As I've said here before, one pot meals are clutch for young, busy and poor folks (like me)! They're a major timesaver during the week, and much healthier and more cost effective than ordering takeout everyday for lunch or dinner. On the menu this week is a big, biiiig pot of Italian vegetable soup. Besides chopping up all the vegetables, you essentially just dump and stir everything into a big pot. And because I always need a little carb-age to truly hold me over, I made a lighter version of hearty cornbread. While it may officially be summer until this Saturday, this Italian vegetable soup and cornbread says fall is here to stay.

Italian Vegetable Soup
serves 6-8

Ingredients:
2 cups escarole, chopped
2 cups baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 fennel bulb, chopped
28 oz can diced tomatoes
6 cups vegetable broth
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Add escarole, spinach, garlic, onion, zucchini, red bell pepper, fennel, canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, red pepper flakes, thyme and oregano to a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10-15 minutes until vegetables are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and top with parsley and basil.

Healthy Cornbread
serves 12

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in yogurt and eggs until combined and batter is smooth. Pour into pan and bake 20-25 minutes until tender and cooked through in the center.