Recipe: Squash-Poached Eggs

This twist on a basic baked squash adds an egg, poached in the cavity of the squash near the end of cooking. The gentle, moist heat from the squash cooks the egg to a perfect texture (while picking up some flavour from the squash and butter) and having an egg makes the dish heartier for the fall. It's a perfect recipe for our Mini Hubbard squashes.

Ingredients:

- 3 Mini Hubbard squash

- 6 eggs

- 3 tsp butter

- olive oil

- salt to taste

- maple syrup for drizzling

Steps:

1. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds.

2. Place squash cut side down in a lightly oiled roasting pan. Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes or until squash is thoroughly softened.

3. Remove from oven and flip squash halves over so that the cut side faces up.

4. Drop 1/2 tsp of butter into the centre well of each squash. Add a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of maple syrup.

5. When butter is melted completely crack an egg into each squash. Be careful not to break the yolks.

6. Place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until eggs are cooked but yolks remain soft (or cook longer for a harder yolk).

7. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. You can add an additional drizzle of maple syrup over the squash or on the plate itself.

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Recipe: Maple Carrots

Of the many ways we use carrots in our house this recipe is hands down the kids' favorite. It seems I can never make a large enough amount and Eric and I always end up giving the kids seconds from our own plates. Rich with butter and carroty flavour, the tiny drizzle of maple syrup at the end of cooking helps to caramelize and enhance the veggie's natural sweetness. You can swap out the butter for a vegetable oil if you prefer, but the taste will suffer with a lighter fat. Saturated fat in moderation is not to be feared, it is a high quality source of fat soluble vitamins and when eaten with veggies helps to make available nutrients which might otherwise be lost. In other words: we eat butter (and coconut oil, a plant-derived saturated fat) because it's tasty AND healthy!

Ingredients:

- 3-4 large carrots (or 5-7 medium sized carrots)

- 1-2 cups water

- 2 tbsp butter

- salt to taste

- 1 tsp maple syrup

Steps:

1. Chop carrots into coin sized slices, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Carrots can be peeled or unpeeled, depending on your preference. The skins will soften considerably with cooking so as long as they're sufficiently washed you can skip the peeling step and add the extra fiber from the carrot skins to your meal.

2. Place carrots, water and salt in a pan and heat on high. The water should cover most but not all of the carrots.

3. Boil about 10-15 minutes, until carrots are softened and only a little bit of water remains.

4. Lower heat to medium and add butter. Saute, stirring frequently, for about 10-15 minutes until carrots are beginning to brown.

5. Add maple syrup and stir quickly to coat the carrots before taking them off the heat.

6. Serve alongside a hearty fall dish and enjoy! Although, if you're Eric and me, you'll likely get only a bite or two before surrendering the rest to the kids.

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Recipe: Harvest Vegetable Soup

This is a dish I made for Thanksgiving dinner last year. It captures the general harvest abundance theme of the holiday as it's sort of a smorgasboard of late summer/early fall veggies all thrown together into one delicious dish. It can be made in advance and reheated for dinner but it also works well alongside busy Turkey Day preparations since it's a pretty simple process: toss it all into the oven and puree when sufficiently roasted. For the purposes of this recipe I've listed specific ingredients and quantities, but really the spirit of the dish is to toss in whatever veggies look tasty. Last year we had more peppers available since the summer was less cool and rainy so I featured them heavily. However, a pepper-less soup with early fall's acorn squash turns out to be just as yummy.

Ingredients:

- 2 acorn squash
- 1 lb tomatoes (for this recipe I used 10 of the small tomatoes from this week's box)
- 3 small onions
- 1-2 garlic bulbs
- 3-4 large carrots
- a sprig of fresh rosemary
- olive oil
- salt to taste

Steps:

1. Prep veggies minimally and lay in an oiled roasting pan. For acorn squash, this means cutting in half and scooping out seeds. For carrots: chop off stems and slice in half. For onions: peel and slice in half. The tomatoes I used for this recipe are sufficiently small that I didn't bother with cutting out the core, but if you use larger tomatoes you may want to.

2. Pop the whole cloves out of the garlic bulb but don't peel them as you want them to bake inside
their own skin.

3. Drizzle veggies with olive oil and salt lightly. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. You may want to take the garlic out a bit early so it doesn't burn. Watch for the skins to start browning and remove from the oven immediately if they do.

4. After veggies come out of the oven throw all but the garlic in a food processor. You'll need to scoop the acorn squash flesh out with a spoon.

5. The garlic will be softened and might have a very squishy texture. Cut the cloves open and squeeze the garlic flesh into the food processor.

6. While the veggies are pureeing (this will likely take several minutes), finely chop 2-3 tsp of rosemary.

7. Move the veggie puree to a large pot and add broth or water to desired texture. For this recipe I added 3 cups of water and made about 7 ½ cups of soup in total. Heat on medium for 10 minutes and adjust salt to taste. If you use water instead of broth, don't forget to add salt to bring out the flavor in the soup.

8. Serve and garnish with whole rosemary. Other tasty finishing options include a dollop of sour cream or full fat yogurt, or 2 or 3 croutons made from buttered toast (ideally a thick, crusty bread) cut into cubes.

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Recipe: Potato and Turnip Gratin

Another week, another recipe with layered slices of veggies, baked to perfection! It must be the cooler days turning my mind to comfort foods as we slide into fall. Hakurei turnips are back and - although bigger than their spring versions - still very tender and sweet. They are delicious layered between slices of potatoes along with garlic and fresh thyme. This is a good recipe for waxy potatoes because they will hold together as they cook in the liquid. Baking the veggies in milk and egg instead of heavy cream make this dish a cross between a more traditional au gratin and a frittata.

Ingredients:

- 3-4 medium sized potatoes
- 2-3 turnips
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- a few springs of thyme
- 1 egg
- 2 cups of milk (or more, depending on the size of your baking dish)
- (optional) 100 g of Parmesan, grated
- olive oil
- salt

Method:

1. Slice potatoes and turnips very thinly. These delicate Hakurei turnips don't need peeling, and whether or not to peel the potatoes is up to you. I tend not to peel potatoes in general because 1) I am lazy, and 2) the skins contain fiber and nutrients like vitamin C, folate, potassium and iron, among others.

2. Slice garlic thinly as well.

3. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a baking dish and layer slices of potatoes, turnips and garlic, packing them in tightly. Sprinkle some fresh thyme leaves and salt in between the layers as you go.

4. Whisk egg and add milk. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. You may need to add a bit more milk to ensure that the liquid comes up to the level of the veggies but doesn't cover them.

5. (Optional) Shake grated Parmesan over top of veggies.

6. Bake uncovered at 375 F for 45-60 minutes, until top level of veggies are browned. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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Recipe: Eggplant Parmigiana

There are many versions of this popular dish. This one skips the heavy breading and uses the abundant fresh tomatoes of late summer in place of tomato sauce. It's critical to drain the tomatoes first as they have a high water content and can make the final result too watery.

Ingredients:

- 2-3 eggplants
- 180 g mozzarella, grated
- 3-4 tomatoes
- 2 eggs
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
- olive oil
- salt

Method:

1. Slice eggplant into roughly 1/4 inch slices.

2. Thinly slice tomatoes, salt and drain in a strainer over the sink to get rid of excess water.

3. Beat eggs lightly. Individually dip eggplant slices in eggs before frying in olive oil on medium heat.

4. Fry until eggplant is golden brown on both sides. You many need to add olive oil to the pan once or twice as eggplant absorb oil while they cook.

5. In a baking dish, start layering ingredients. Begin with eggplant slices.

6. Cover eggplant with tomatoes, minced garlic and grated mozzarella.

7. Continue layering in that order until the baking dish is full.

8. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F.

9. Let rest for at least 10-15 minutes out of the oven before serving to allow eggplant to absorb some of the juices in the baking dish. Yummy!

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Recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes

Late summer days when the tomatoes and sweet peppers start to pile up on the kitchen counter I look for ways to use them up. This recipe makes excellent use of them both with a hand from some garlic and feta. The roasted and skinned peppers I used to stuff the tomatoes are a tasty and versatile dish in their own right. Try them with pasta, in salads or on top of a burger.

Ingredients:
- 4 medium sized tomatoes
- 4 oz feta, crumbled
- 2-3 sweet bell peppers
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste

Steps:

1. Slice peppers and place skin side up on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil.

2. Place peppers directly under broiler until skins blacken, about 5-10 minutes.

3. Put peppers in a medium sized bowl with a plate or pot lid on top. The steam from the pepper will loosen the skins and make them easier to peel.

4. While the peppers are steaming, core and hollow the tomatoes with a small spoon or melon baller.

5. Combine feta, oregano, garlic and salt in a bowl.

6. Once the peppers have had a good 10 minutes to steam, remove them from the bowl and peel the skins off. Don't worry if you can't get every scrap of skin off.

7. Chop peppers and add to bowl with feta and seasoning. Mix thoroughly.

8. Fill hollowed tomatoes with pepper and feta mixture. Place tomatoes side by side in a baking dish and drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil.

9. Bake at 350 F until tomatoes soften and the skins wrinkle slightly, about 25 minutes. Enjoy!

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