For a family that loves camping and the outdoors, there’s pretty much no better holiday than Sukkos. Despite the anticipation of 12 (!) upcoming meals, all the size of a typical American’s Thanksgiving dinner, I can’t wait.
To manage the cooking and eating of all that food, read the following posts.
Cheaper, easier and healthier Sukkos
And then, when you start cooking, consider a few of these fall favorites. There are so many types of fall squash, you could pretty much just live on that! Chag sameach!
PUMPKIN SOUP
1 pie pumpkin, made for cooking (these are smaller than the ones sold for decorating)
1 can coconut milk
8oz. soy milk
32 oz. water or stock
T salt
t cinnamon
t ginger
freshly ground pepper to taste
Cut the top off the pumpkin and save it for the lid. Scoop out the seeds and save them for roasting. Place the pumpkin in a tin large enough to hold it. Fill the pumpkin with the stock or water, soy milk, salt and coconut milk. Cover the hole with a piece of tin foil and replace the lid. Bake the pumpkin at 375° for 1-2 hours, depending on its thickness. Occasionally open lid and check with a spoon, carefully scraping some inside flesh into the hot liquid.
Now here’s the tricky part. The pumpkin tends to collapse after an hour or so, which won’t ruin the soup, but will ruin the cool container! As a precaution, I pour the liquid into a pot and carefully scrape some of the insides of the pumpkin into the pot as well. I continue cooking the soup in the pot, so that the total cooking time adds up to about an hour. Add the spices and puree once the pumpkin flesh in the soup is soft. To serve, reheat the soup in the pot (and the pumpkin separately in the oven–the soup will take forever to heat if you try to heat it in the pumpkin in the oven), pour the soup into the pumpkin and serve with a ladle. Good luck!
And now for those seeds…
ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS
Toss the seeds with 2T melted butter and t salt. Roast for 45 minutes on 300 degrees, until golden brown.
WILD RICE WITH CHESTNUTS
1 cup of wild rice
T olive oil or Earth Balance
For the chestnuts:
1 package of chestnuts, already peeled
T olive oil
t salt
freshly ground pepper
t chili pepper
t cocoa powder
t paprika
t garlic
Prepare the rice according to the package and mix in a T of olive oil or Earth Balance and salt and pepper when it’s done. Crush the chestnuts into smaller pieces. Mix the spices, olive oil and chestnuts together in a bowl. Roast at 350 for 20 minutes and stir them into the rice. (Note: You can use fresh chestnuts in the shell. They’ll taste better if you do it right, but it’s easy to overcook them. Here are instructions.)
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Peel and dice any of the following root vegetables:
sweet potatoes
potatoes
beets
rutebega
squash
parsnips
carrots
whole crushed garlic
red onion
Toss them all into a large pan and drizzle with olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Add some sprigs of rosemary too, if you like. Roast, stirring once or twice, at 375 for at least 45 minutes. (If you’re using rutebega, start roasting that first, as it needs extra time to soften.)
ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS
1/2 a stalk of brussel sprouts
sea salt
2T olive oil
1T real maple syrup OR balsamic vinegar
Turn oven onto 375 degrees. Cut the sprouts off the stalk and cut off the bottom. Cut them in half. Check them according to the instructions below. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Lay all the sprouts face down in the pan and let them sit, stirring occasionally, until the bottoms turn light brown (3-5 minutes). Transfer the sprouts to a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and drizzle maple syrup, if you’re using it. Roast sprouts in the oven until the outside gets crispy, about 20 minutes. Drizzle with balsamic, if you’re using it. Serve immediately.
Kashrut note: Major Kashrut organizations recommend not eating fresh brussel sprouts. I can tell you how I check them, but you should ask your LOR. Cut the sprouts in half and rinse them and soak them in water. Leave them in a colander a few minutes to drain. Peel a few outside layers of each sprout to check for white bugs. If you seen even one, toss that sprout. If you peel the few loose outer leaves and see no bugs, the tight inner ones will not have them either. Don’t be deterred! This process takes much less time than it sounds. You can make this recipe with frozen sprouts, and it will still taste decent.
STUFFED WINTER SQUASH, TWO WAYS
1 medium winter squash of choice
3 cups fresh spinach, kale or swiss chard leaves
4 cloves garlic
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg
1t salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
mozzarella cheese (optional)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise or in 1.5-in. slices, according to your preferred recipe. Place slices or the the halves upside down in a pan of shallow water and bake until soft (25 minutes for slices and more for larger halves). You should be able to easily pierce the squash with a fork.
Puree greens and garlic in a food processor. Combine greens mixture, egg, panko, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Remove the squash from the oven and drain water. Add greens mixture to the center of the squash (if you’re using halves, they should be face up. Cover greens with cheese if desired. Return to oven and bake for another 12 minutes.
You can also try one of these squash recipes from previous posts:
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
1 butternut squash, peeled and roughly chopped
1 can coconut milk
8oz. soy milk
32 oz. water or stock
T salt
t cinnamon
t ginger
1/4 cup cashews (optional)
freshly ground pepper to taste
Simmer all the ingredients for 40 minutes, until the squash can be easily pierced with a fork. Blend it with an immersion blender and serve (If you’re using the cashews, blend the soup in the blender).
‘GREATED’ ROOT VEGETABLES
2T butter or olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
3 cups any combination of grated root vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, celery root, beets, parsnips, carrots, etc. (zucchini is good too)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Grate all vegetables and onion and garlic in a food processor. Heat oil or butter over medium-high heat. Add vegetables and stir for a few minutes. Spread veggies evenly in pan and let it sit for 5 minutes. Flip it to brown the other side for another 5 minutes. Continue until desired crispiness. Add salt and pepper.
(This recipe works best with a Teflon pan. If you don’t have a non-stick pan, stir it more so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.)
PUMPKIN COOKIES
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
t baking soda
t baking powder
t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Beat honey, Earth Balance, pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Let mixture cool in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. Cool completely.
Drizzle Glaze over cookies: 1 cup powdered sugar, 2t soy milk, 1t melted Earth Balance and 1/2t vanilla.
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