It’s transition time. After weeks of summer veggie stars like zucchini, eggplant, peppers and summer squash, I welcome the autumn vegetables: lettuces, dark leafy greens and particularly winter squash.
Winter squash are mildly sweet, great for breaking a sugar habit. They are rich is vitamins A and C, potassium, dietary fiber and manganese. Manganese is best known its role in energy production. It is required for the function of superoxide dismutase, an antioxidant enzyme that neutralizes free radicals produced during energy production. It has many other roles including hormone production, building nerve tissue, keeping skin wrinkle free and our bones strong.
So this week's menu is a blend of summer and fall. We’ve been enjoying a “pile-up” of spaghetti squash, the bitter green arugula and Sicilian Caponata. The sweetness of the spaghetti squash and the caponata cuts the bitterness of the arugula. It’s a truly tasty and colorful combination.
Spaghetti squash is yellow and oblong shaped, 6 to 12 inches in length. An 8-inch squash serves four. I cook it by baking it. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Pierce the skin several times with a fork. Place the squash in a baking dish and bake for 30 – 45 minutes. The skin will dimple when the squash is done. Allow to cool enough to touch and then slice it in half lengthwise. Using a fork, scrape the pulp from the sides. It will be stringy like spaghetti.
Caponata Pile-Up
One Spaghetti Squash (about two inches of length per person)
A fist size serving of arugula per person
Sicilian Caponata
To make the pile-up, place a fist size serving of spaghetti squash on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Then add a fist size serving of arugula. Top it with a fist size serving of caponata. Voila! It could not be easier or more delicious. Enjoy with apple crisp for dessert, another gift of autumn.
Apple Crisp
6 small apples, preferable local, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Juice of ½ lemon
Rind of ½ lemon chopped finely
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour or brown rice flour
1/3 cup turbinado sugar or 3 TBSP turbinado sugar plus 3 TBSP rapadura sugar
Small pinch of salt
1/3 cup coconut oil (vegan), ghee or butter.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the apples in a 9 x 9 inch square pan. Add the lemon juice, peel and nutmeg and mix. Set aside. Mix the flour, sugar(s) and salt together in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the coconut oil, ghee or butter. The mixture will be crumbly. Spread the mixture over the berries. Bake for 40 minutes or until the topping is golden. Serve warm. Makes nine 3 x 3 inch servings.
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