Category Archives: Lunch

Quick and Easy Tomato Sauce

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Ashley| Leave a comment
Tomatoes

I’ve been having a lot of experimental soup recipes lately.  Hearty, hot, and wholly un-publishable, they’re messy and tasty and completely dependent on what we have in the refrigerator.  I kind of feel like everything I’ve been making lately is pretty experimental, actually.  Tasty, of course (especially when I’m hungry and its venturing into past-dinner-time), but not the kind of thing I really think is ready to share with anybody on here.  For instance, I tried egg drop soup today… and I think it will definitely make its way on here soon, but not the one I made today.

Tomato

But one experiment that I really do want to share with you is this fabulous tomato sauce I made last week.  I didn’t expect this tomato sauce to be something special, in fact I didn’t even take many pictures, but lordy be was I happily surprised.  It was completely experimental and completely dependent upon the random stuff we had in the fridge and the pantry, but it turned out to be so flavorful that I must post it here for posterity.    It didn’t make a huge batch because I only had a few tomatoes, so unfortunately I don’t have any of it left.  In fact, I used it all up in two days.  First, it was mixed in with some rice and then the next night it was the star of a polenta lasagna (another that will have to be re-worked and shared later).  Basically, I gobbled it all up as quickly as I could.

Still Diced

So I’m going to share this recipe with its approximate measurements because I didn’t take special care to be exact.  But have no fear, a little extra oregano or a little less salt is something that is a) easily fixable, b) highly adaptable, and c) all up to your special preferences.  This is not a recipe that relies on a specific exacting ratio of tomato to onion (in fact, I didn’t even have fresh onion! I used dried minced onion and it worked just dandy).  This is simply a recipe that has flavorful ingredients that work together to make a divine tomato sauce.  No difficulty, just deliciousness.

in the pot

Quick and Easy Tomato Sauce
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Recipe type: Sauce
Author: Ashley @ The Drunk Squash
Prep time: 3 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 48 mins
What Do You Need?
  • 3 cups diced tomato
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 3 tbsp minced onion
Make it Happen
  1. Dice your tomatoes and put in a saucepan on medium-high. Stir as you’re assembling the other ingredients.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients. As the tomatoes release their juices and the mixture begins to boil, taste it and see if you like the herb/spice balance. Adjust to your liking.
  3. Continue to let the mixture boil down and reduce, approximately 30 minutes or until you have a thick, chunky tomato sauce.
Notes

I used heirloom tomatoes because that’s what I had in the fridge- they were absolutely divine, but so would be most any tomatoes I’m sure!
I don’t have a food mill, so I made this an easy, chunky recipe and left all the skins and seeds in the tomatoes when I diced them. If you wanted to make a smoother recipe, I’d suggest using a food mill or even utilizing the food processor. Personally, I was extremely pleased with the more chunky sauce.

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Cooking

I added a few notes to the bottom of the recipe about kinds of tomatoes and the methods for preparing the tomatoes.  Basically, what I’m trying to say is I used what I had on hand.  I had heirlooms, so I used them.  I don’t have a food mill, so I didn’t use the food mill I do not have.  It’s back to my ever-lazy, but resourceful, philosophy: make do in the kitchen! (wow… now that I’ve read that over, I’m going to admit that that’s not the note I wanted to end on… I’ll choose better words next time haha)

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Fall Vegetable Galette

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Ashley| 1 Comment
Butter

So it’s officially fall and I am officially in the mood for warm drinks, warm sweaters, warm food, and sick days.

I don’t mean that I want to actually get sick.  No thank you, the reality of being sick is terrible, and that’s definitely not what I’m wishing for.  However, there is something nice about having sick days.  Those days when you’re sort of under the weather; enough to not feel good enough to get out of bed for school or work, but still feeling good enough to eat soup in bed and catch up on mindless television or read.

Crust

And, yes, I know that I’m being romantic about sick days.  I know that it’s actually stressful to miss school and work and that most of the time I just feel crappy enough to be dissatisfied with the bad television.  But I can’t help but wish for one of those romantic, perfect, pajama pants kind of sick days.  I want to nap on the couch and eat soup!  I want to watch movies and sleep during the time when I’m usually sitting in class or making glitter art at work.

And I guess I can do that without actually being sick or taking a sick day.  I could turn a cold, blustery Saturday into a pseudo-sick day.  And maybe I will.  Maybe I’ll convert a Saturday into a bum-on-the-couch-urday.   But if it stays so sunny and beautiful here there’s little chance that I’ll give up a perfectly lovely Saturday outside for a blanket based tv fest inside… I’ll keep you all updated.

Veg

In the meantime, while I’m busy mind-warring between my inner introvert and inner extrovert, I’m going to share this tasty vegetable galette.  It’s the kind of dish that tastes warm and fresh just out of the oven, and then again flaky and comforting the next morning right out of the fridge.  It’s the kind of dish that helps me transition happily (who am I kidding, I love this season) into fall.  I’m not one to pass up a flaky crust any time of the year, but I think galettes are especially perfect during the fall.  I don’t have any reasons to back up that assertion, I’m just a sucker for fall and a sucker for pie.

We got a big beautiful bunch of vegetables this past week.  I didn’t post anything for The Thursday Stash, though, because I was feeling self-conscious about the fact that I’ve posted a lot of Thursday Stash updates without any recipes lately.  So I skipped the stash, I gave you the Baba Ghanoush, and now I’m moving right into another recipe.  But trust me when I say that this past week’s box was deee-vine.  And I really wanted to take advantage of the bounty for a family dinner with my friends.

Pie

So I found this recipe for the crust and then pre-cooked some veggies and cooked it all up to create a galette that is rustic, simple, and tasty.  Without further ado, here it is:

Galette

Fall Vegetable Galette
Print
Recipe type: Main
Author: Ashley @ The Drunk Squash, crust by Once Upon a Cutting Board
What Do You Need?
  • Dough
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup cold butter in small pieces
  • 1/4 cup ice water (or a little more)
  • Innards
  • 1 small summer squash, chopped (or about 1 cup chopped squash-any kind)
  • olive oil
  • 3 small radishes, chopped
  • 1 small turnip, chopped
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • about 1/3 cup finely chopped head of broccoli
  • 2 tbsp goat cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • dried basil
Make it Happen
Dough
  1. Pulse flour and salt briefly in food processor.
  2. Add butter and process, mixture should look coarse and the butter should be smaller than pea-sized.
  3. Add water slowly while processing. It should begin to come together and you should be able to press the dough into a solid ball. (add more water as needed to reach this state)
  4. Shape dough into a disc and store in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Galette
  1. Take dough out of the oven and let it warm up enough that it is pliable.
  2. Preheat oven to 400F.
  3. Toss chopped squash, radishes, and turnip with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper, then put in a dish or on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about ten minutes or until the pieces soften.
  4. Heat up a pan on medium heat and add a little bit of olive oil and then the onion slices. Add salt and pepper. You want to cook the onion until translucent.
  5. In the meantime, roll out the dough until you have a large circle. You want it to be about 1/4 of an inch thick.
  6. Spread the goat cheese onto the center of the dough in a circle. If you want, add a little dried basil at this point.
  7. Then, layer the vegetables on in your favorite order. I went with squash, radishes and turnip, broccoli, and then onion.
  8. Then you want to fold your edges over. Galettes are fun because they are supposed to look imperfect. If the dough tears, just pinch it back together.
  9. Turn the oven down to 375F and then plop the galette in there. Let it cook for about forty-five minutes to an hour, depending on how done your crust looks.
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Slice

Yes, it looks like a long recipe, but if you make the crust the day beforehand it’s really not bad.  Just some chopping and pre-cooking and then the long wait for the galette to finally be ready for chow time.  Whether or not you’re in a sick day mood, this makes a beautiful meal to share or to keep all to your selfish self.  This time I shared it, but next time it’s all mine, baby.

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Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Ashley| 4 Comments
Ingredients

I want to make a promise right here and right now: no more laziness.  If there are any of you out there who are still reading this, I owe you a big one, because I have been a terrible poster lately.  But it ends here and now.  No longer will I be the “maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next month” Drunk Squash.  Nope, I’m going to make a concerted effort to get back into SOME KIND of groove.  I’m going to make the food, I’m going to take those pictures, and then I’m going to write those jovial, clever, effervescent blog posts.

I find that if I announce a goal I’m more likely to follow through with it.  When I decided that I was going to run a half-marathon, I told everybody I knew (you too, dear reader) so that I’d be accountable.  And, lo and behold, I ran that half-marathon.

Sliced

So here’s my newest goal:  AT LEAST 1 Drunk Squash post per week from now until mid-December.  And I know that one post a week is hardly a concerted effort to some people (I’m looking at you, hourly blog posters.  If only I could be so verbose.), however, what with my thesis and education classes underway I’m just attempting to be realistic.  Plus, one post a week is a lot better than what I’ve been doing lately, so get excited folks.

Anyways, I decided to turn over this new bright and shiny leaf with an old red sauce.  That sounds weird, but go with it.

So I don’t know if you remember those turmeric polenta fries of yore?  I wrote about them, oh, about sixty-five years ago.  Or, if you’d rather scroll down, a mere two posts below this one.  Isn’t that sad?  I posted that recipe on September 19th.  Oh well, though, let’s move into the future.  Back to the polenta fries.

Lineup

So I told you about those lovely polenta fries but didn’t get a chance to write about their equally enchanting and saucy partner, The Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush.

I’d never eaten or made Baba Ghanoush before, but I was intensely interested in the mushy, roastey spread.  I learned that it basically consists of eggplant, olive oil, and some other stuff.  The other stuff, apparently, is seasoning and other vegetables.  Obviously I am not the Baba Ghanoush expert, so I would take this recipe with a grain of salt and not introduce it to your friends as a “classic Baba Ghanoush,” however, I can testify to its smokey spiciness and the pleasure it brings accompanied with polenta fries.  And I’m completely positive that it would make an amazing spread inside a wrap, on top of rice or beans, mixed into quinoa, or pretty much in any other creative combo you can imagine.

Perdy

Surprisingly, this Baba Ghanoush was not made with vegetables from my CSA box.  As I was planning to make polenta fries, the genius idea of pairing them with a roasted red pepper sauce popped into my head and then refused to get out.  And then the idea of adding eggplant attached itself to this sauce-plan.  Don’t ask me why I became obsessed with this idea, sometimes my tastebuds take over my brain.

But anyway, I had neither red pepper nor eggplant, so I decided to make a trip to ye olde Farmer Joe’s.  Whilst there I grabbed a spicy pepper as well to give the sauce some heat.  I also grabbed a shallot because I’m obsessed with onion-breath.  The total for this recipe was about three dollars I think.  It definitely fit within my cheapo student budget.

Although it isn’t technically a “CSA recipe,” these were some fresh, taste-bud-pleasing vegetables.  If you don’t have/can’t access a CSA program I highly recommend farmer’s markets and local grocery stores that specialize in local and organic foods.  This isn’t a commercial, I’m just one of those vegetarians that really really like vegetables.  This affinity is made easier by eating fresh vegetables that have all that good earth flavor on lock, and by being lucky enough to have ACCESS to that good food.  (Urban farms are also great for those who have low budgets or difficulty with access to healthy produce-that too is a privilege!)

But anyways, instead of waxing poetic about my vegetable dreams, I’ll just give you the recipe.  You should know that it’s going to be hard to start eating this without stopping.  I’m just preparing you.

Food Processed

Red Pepper Baba Ghanoush
5.0 from 1 reviews
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Recipe type: Sauce
Author: Ashley @ The Drunk Squash
Prep time: 3 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 28 mins
What Do You Need?
  • 1 medium-sized eggplant
  • 2 red bell peppers
  • 1 spicy pepper (serranos are good)
  • 1 shallot
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • black pepper
Make it Happen
  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Cut open bell peppers and spicy pepper, remove seeds (save spicy seeds if you want to add some kick to the spread).
  3. Place all peppers (skin side up) and the full, uncut eggplant on a sheet in the oven.
  4. Let all roast until the pepper skins have blackened and the eggplant is starting to collapse.
  5. Remove peppers and eggplant from oven and place inside a plastic bag.
  6. Close the bag and let them marinate in their own heat for ten minutes or until cool.
  7. Remove peppers and eggplant from bag, de-skin, and chop into chunks of appropriate size for your blender or food processor.
  8. Pre-chop your shallot (doesn’t have to be too precise).
  9. Blend or food-process the chunks of pepper, eggplant, and shallot with at least 1 tablespoon of olive oil (add more to your own liking). This would be a good time to throw in those spicy seeds, as well.
  10. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  11. You’re going to end up with a mushy, soft spread. It shouldn’t be runny, but also not too chunky. Use as dip or spread!
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Spread

Go forth, dear readers, spread the love and devour that Baba Ghanoush!

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Garlic and Turmeric Polenta Fries

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Ashley| 4 Comments
Cook

Life!  It gets in the way sometimes, don’t you know?

I thought I’d share a recipe that, on top of being experimental and fun, is easy enough to be done during those in-between moments when you’re procrastinating or have found a second to breath.  I saw on Foodgawker that somebody posted a picture of polenta fries and I was immediately intrigued.  As you may remember from this summer, I’ve had a lot of fun with fries in the past.  In fact, I got a little bit obsessed with them.  But I didn’t venture far into the wide wide world of fries.  In fact, I’ve never even made sweet potato fries, which seem to be the most oft-adored fry substitute.  (Don’t worry, next time I get my hands on one of those babies it’s fry-time).

pan

But anyway, I saw this bizarre thing that looked like a rustic, tasty fry, but was apparently in a wholly different realm than I had ever experienced before.  Basically, it was polenta that had been formed into a rough fry shape and then baked.  And that’s it!  Just make polenta, give it a fry shape, and then bake the little sucker.  I didn’t follow a specific recipe, just went with what seemed to work, and boy oh boy did it work.  I’ve also seen that they can be fried (I suppose making them truly fries), but I decided to go the healthierish route.

cut

So what’s the point, you may be asking?  Well, for me initially it was just curiosity.  What is that and can it be made in my oven?  Then there was my general interest in polenta- it’s always seemed like a great meal option, I just never know what to do with it to spice it up.  But once I got started, I was amazed at all the polenta fry options that could be out there… polenta is basically a blank slate that can soak up all the tasty flavors that tickle your fancy.  I went with garlic and turmeric polenta fries this time, but I want to try curry ones, barbecue ones, sweet cinnamon ones… the list goes on.

Here’s the recipe.  If you’re feeling curious or creative, here’s a blank canvas and a seal of approval from me at the Drunk Squash.  Officially Drunk Squash approved. Go make some and snack away!

Linep

Garlic and Turmeric Polenta Fries
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Recipe type: Snack/Appetiser
Author: Ashley @ The Drunk Squash
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 40 mins
What Do You Need?
  • 3/4 cup polenta
  • 3 cup water
  • 3 tsp turmeric
  • 3 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
Make it Happen
  1. Bring water to a boil.
  2. Stir polenta into boiling water in a steady stream.
  3. Add spices.
  4. Bring heat down to simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Butter or oil or Pam a pan, then spoon polenta into it.
  6. Let the polenta cool and then place in fridge for at least an hour.
  7. After an hour (or more) remove polenta from the pan and then slice it into fry-shapes.
  8. Heat oven to 400F and bake polenta fries for 20 minutes, turning them over halfway through.
Notes

Can start them one day and finish the next!

Also, the turmeric helps spice up (haha) that pretty yellow color.

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Fries

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