Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Do you ever see a beautiful photo of food and want to make that dish? That happened to me when I saw Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole with Pastured Bacon, Garlic and Sage (Dairy Free) on Foodgawker posted by Jody Engstrom from her blog, Living Nutrition. It made me think of the Japanese word "oishisou" (that looks delicious). Go ahead, click through to her post and see what I mean. Doesn't that look delicious?!

I've had a spaghetti squash sitting in a wire basket in my kitchen for about...ah...two months. They last a long time. When I saw the photo--that's when I finally decided what I was going to make with it. It's a simple recipe, doesn't have a lot of ingredients--and resist the temptation to add butter or parmesan cheese--it doesn't need it. Really!

Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

adapted from Jody Engstrom at mylivingnutrition.com

Serves 4-6

1 spaghetti squash, seeded and halved
4-6 slices bacon (Jody uses pastured bacon)
1/2 diced sweet onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds using a spoon, scraping out most of the fine strings.

Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and put into a 400ºF oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the squash is tender.

While the squash is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. I like to chop the bacon first, then fry it. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease to cook the onions and garlic.

This is fresh sage. Remove the leaves and mince enough to measure 1 tablespoon.

I've got sage growing on a mound of dirt in my front yard under my pine tree. Looking at this photo reminds me I need to get out there and clean up my herb garden. I've got paperwhite narcissus growing there amongst the herbs and I've been trying to weed them out--but they keep coming back.

When the squash is tender and it has cooled a bit, scoop the meat of the squash into a large bowl. I first used a fork to separate the strings of the squash to turn them into 'spaghetti'.

This is why they call it spaghetti squash!

This is the coconut milk I bought. I like to have some in the pantry--it comes in handy. I think it's best to find one without a lot of extra added ingredients. This one just listed coconut and water.

Pour the coconut milk into the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well. I added a little more coconut milk to moisten the mixture because I thought it was a little dry, but I think it would be just fine to add a little water since the coconut milk is so rich. No sense in opening another can/box like I did--this time.

Mix well and pour into a baking dish (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) and bake at 400 for 50 min-1 hour, or until browned on top.

I saved a little bit of the bacon to sprinkle on top and so my bacon lovers can add a little bit more to their serving.

I have to say--this dish was delicious! I too, have just had spaghetti squash with marinara--not something I get excited about--but I really liked it in this casserole. Take a look at the other recipes on mylivingnutrition.com. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the breakfast frittata in a jar that I've been wanting to try is from the same website. I'm excited to try something else--there's so much that looks delicious as well as being healthy!

Itadakimasu!

***

When I was making this dish, I thought of my friend Jen, thinking--she's really going to like this! She likes to eat healthy and clean. She has a spaghetti squash recipe she cooks in the crock pot.

Jen's also an athlete. She recently ran a half-marathon!

Remember Jen & Bobby? You saw them in my Takikomi Brown Rice post--they're part of my friend Sue's family.

Last year, at about this time, they were visiting from North Carolina for Rick & Jessica's wedding. Bobby was coaching football at a college there, and now their family is back here living in Southern California. We're all happy to have them back! 

Look how much Payton & Avery have grown!

Now Bobby is coaching football and basketball at Victor Valley College. It doesn't seem so long ago that Bobby was playing basketball with my son Rick.

Take a lot of pictures--they grow up fast!

***

Creamy Spaghetti Squash Casserole

adapted from Jody Engstrom at mylivingnutrition.com

Serves 4-6

1 spaghetti squash, seeded and halved

4-6 slices bacon (Jody uses pastured bacon)

1/2 diced sweet onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk

1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds using a spoon. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and put into a 400ºF oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the squash is tender.

2. While the squash is baking, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease to cook the onions and garlic. Cook the onions and garlic until translucent.

3. Chop bacon and set aside. (Omit if you chopped your bacon before cooking.)

4. When squash has cooled, using a fork, string the spaghetti squash and put into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

5. Bake at 400ºF for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until browned on top.

Spicy Sashimi with Umeboshi on Crispy Renkon

Have you ever had renkon chips? Renkon is lotus root. The only time I remember eating renkon when I was little was on New Year's Day--my grandmother said it was traditional--you ate it "so you can see the future". Renkon is also in nishime and umani--but I've never had it fried and crispy. Namiko Chen over at Just One Cookbook has a great tutorial on making renkon chips. If you want to cook anything Japanese, you can most likely find it on Just One Cookbook.

My daughter sent me this photo of a dish she was eating at the restaurant Nobu, in the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, and wanted me to try to make. I had no idea of what it tasted like--which was probably a good thing--it made me use my imagination. What would I WANT it to taste like?

My imagination led me to shiso and umeboshi, my favorite Japanese flavors and another favorite flavor, jalapeños--the result is this Spicy Sashimi with Umeboshi on Crispy Renkon.

You might remember this package of Butsugiri (cut in pieces) Wild, USA Sashimi--like the one I bought at Marukai for my Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice post. The cost was under $5 for less than a quarter of a pound. Be sure to ask the man behind the counter which packages are ahi tuna.

Spicy Sashimi with Umeboshi on Crispy Renkon

Makes approximately 20 pieces

Ingredients:

1/4 lb. ahi butsugiri tuna, diced

1/2 to 1 teaspoon umeboshi paste

1 teaspoon to 1/2 finely minced jalapeño pepper

20 shiso leaves

1 teaspoon shoyu

1 piece fresh renkon

1 teaspoon vinegar

oil for frying

optional: kaiware (daikon sprouts) for garnish

If you have umeboshi at home, you can finely mince into a paste 1 whole umeboshi. If you don't, my suggestion is to buy the umeboshi paste in the red tube--it's a lot smaller portion than the umeboshi paste in the larger, clear bottle. In my Stuffed Chicken Rolls with Shiso and Umeboshi post, I explain umeboshi a bit further.

If you don't care for the umeboshi taste, you can simply mix the jalapeño with some thinly sliced green onions, sesame seeds and a teaspoon of sesame oil and shoyu.

I diced the butsugiri tuna pretty small and mixed it with 1/4 teaspoon umeboshi paste and 1 teaspoon finely minced jalapeño. The ume taste wasn't apparent (to me) with such a small amount, even though the umeboshi paste is strong, so I added another 1/4 teaspoon of umeboshi paste and then added 1 teaspoon of shoyu (soy sauce). 1/2 teaspoon umeboshi paste gives it a subtle ume taste--if you like umeboshi, I'd add 1 teaspoon total. 

My husband doesn't like too much heat, so I took the seeds and veins out of the jalapeño and only added 1 teaspoon, but if I was making it for my parents who love jalapeños, I'd add half a jalapeño, seeds & all.

Refrigerate the sashimi until ready to use.

This is fresh renkon.

I bought this at Marukai market, and this is how it was packaged. 

If you can only find this poached, processed renkon, it works too, but it doesn't come out quite as crispy.

I peeled the renkon, but Nami doesn't. I peeled it because that's how I was taught, but you really don't need to peel them when you're frying them.

Slice the renkon thinly, about 1/8 of an inch, put the slices into a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes, adding 1 teaspoon vinegar to keep the renkon from turning brown. I tried slicing them with a mandolin kitchen tool, but the slices came out broken. I'm going to have to work on my technique.

If you buy the processed renkon, there's no need to soak them.

Drain and blot the excess water from the renkon slices with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.

Heat oil over medium heat until about 350ºF and fry renkon slices until crisp.

Fry them until they're hardly bubbling, that's when they're crispy--like making tortilla chips. The fresh renkon will turn a golden color and the packaged renkon will come out more white. Be sure to try one--so you can tell if you're frying them until they're crispy.

These are the fresh, fried renkon chips, sprinkled with furikake nori. They make a great snack.

This is the difference between the fresh on the left, and the packaged renkon, on the right. This one I sprinkled with himalayan salt--skip the kelp granules--I thought it was my bottle of aonori!

Back to the sashimi--Take the sashimi mixture out of the refrigerator, taste and adjust seasoning--I added a little bit more shoyu. Put the crispy renkon slices on a shiso leaf and put a generous teaspoon or two of the sashimi mixture on the renkon--dividing the sashimi mixture amongst the 20 pieces. Garnish with daikon sprout tops.

Itadakimasu!

***

Remember the vegetables I planted in my Maple Miso Dijon Salmon post? They're growing--and I've planted more. This is cabbage. It's small, but I think it's ready to pick.

We've been eating the kale--picking off the leaves as needed. We did that with the romaine, too. The romaine is finished--it grew really fast since we've been having such hot weather for winter, but we still ate a good amount of romaine.

I didn't have a lot of success with my cauliflower. I was expecting to get big, nice heads--like I see in the grocery store--but they were small. The hot weather made some of them look like they blew up!

I've got some new vegetables going--this is swiss chard.

 Arugula. It's got a nice, spicy peppery flavor--delicious!

I just planted some broccoli. Maybe we'll get some cooler weather and it will grow nicely. My mom grew broccoli and she said the taste was incredible.

This one is collards. I wonder if it will get HUGE like the collard greens in the store.

We planted this little tree last year. I was afraid it had died--it's never a good idea to plant fruit trees in the grass, they'll get too much water--but there didn't seem to be a place in the non-grassy areas, so it got planted there. It bloomed! I was worried that the flowers wouldn't get pollinated--the person that helped me at San Gabriel Nursery where I bought it said that it needs an apricot tree nearby for pollination--but my apricot tree still isn't even budding. NONE of my other fruit trees are budding yet. I kept thinking I should have gone to the nursery to get some branches of apricot trees that are blooming to put next to my little tree for pollination like they advised. But I didn't.

But look! There are 5 small fruits! HOORAY!

There must have been an apricot tree blooming somewhere in my neighborhood. This tree is a Japanese UME tree--someday I'm going to be able to make my own umeboshi!

***

Spicy Sashimi with Umeboshi on Crispy Renkon

Makes approximately 20 pieces

Ingredients:

1/4 lb. ahi butsugiri tuna, diced

1/2 to 1 teaspoon umeboshi paste

1 teaspoon to 1/2 finely minced jalapeño pepper

 20 shiso leaves

1 teaspoon shoyu

1 piece fresh renkon

1 teaspoon vinegar

oil for frying

optional: kaiware (daikon sprouts) for garnish

1. Dice butsugiri tuna and place into a bowl. Add umeboshi paste, jalapeño and shoyu. Mix gently. Refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Slice renkon and put into a bowl of cold water with 1 teaspoon vinegar if you are using fresh--skip this step if you are using poached renkon. Pat slices dry with paper towels.

3. Fry in 350ºF hot oil until crisp, drain on wire rack.

4. Take tuna mixture out of the refrigerator. Taste and adjust seasonings. Place crispy renkon on a shiso leaf and top with a generous teaspoonful of tuna mixture. Garnish with kaiware (daikon) sprout tops if desired.

Chicken Pot Pie

I love chicken pot pie. I grew up eating frozen chicken pot pie--we only got to have it when my parents went out for the evening. My brothers, sister and I thought it  was a real treat. The real treat is the chicken pot pie you make at home--it tastes the best.

If you use a rotisserie or leftover chicken and a prepared, purchased pie crust, you can save a lot of time and energy. Or, make them the day ahead.

Chicken Pot Pie

serves 6 to 8

2 Tablespoons olive oil (or butter), plus 1 T butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium sweet onion, diced

3 cups diced celery

3 cups chopped carrots

1 cup diced potatoes

1 cup peas

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4-6 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

4 cups cooked chicken, cut or shredded into bite-sized pieces

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons corn starch, if needed

1 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

2 prepared pie crusts

1 egg plus 1 Tablespoon milk

Chop all vegetables. I think it's a good idea to use any vegetables you might have as leftovers too.

Saute the vegetables, minus the peas, in 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter until softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside. Then saute the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter until lightly browned. Return vegetables to the pot and add 1/4 cup flour and stir until well-combined, about 1 minute over medium heat. 

Add chicken broth, stirring constantly, and bring to simmer. Add bay leaf, dried thyme and season with salt and pepper.

Add cooked chicken, peas and cream, return pot to simmer. Adjust thickness of broth if necessary--in a cup, mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water--add a little at a time to pot, while stirring, to thicken gravy. Cook for a few minutes more to cook the cornstarch. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Next, the pie crust. My friend Laura gave me a recipe for pie crust years and years ago and I'm still using it. I make it in the food processor so it's easy. Put 3 cups all-purpose flour into the processor bowl with 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 1/3 cups shortening. Pulse, sparingly, until shortening is cut into the flour--it only takes a few short pulses. Transfer dough into another bowl and add 1 egg, 5 tablespoons of ice-cold water and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Mix gently until combined. Divide into three balls and refrigerate.

Using prepared or homemade pie crust, roll out dough between two pieces of waxed or parchment paper to about 1/4 inch. I found an ochawan (a rice bowl) that was about the right size for the ramekins--with a little bit of crust draping over the edge.

Cut pie crust to size of ramekins plus about 1-inch. Make 1 pie crust for each ramekin.

Fill ramekins. Moisten edge of ramekins and place pie crust on top, pressing gently to seal. Cut 4 slits into crust and garnish with thyme leaves. In a small bowl, beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon milk. Lightly brush over crusts. This will give the crusts a golden-brown color.

Place ramekins on baking sheet and bake in 400ºF oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and filling is bubbling.

While the chicken pot pies are baking, I clean up the kitchen.

Itadakimasu!

***

Meet Kelly and Erik. They're friends--and also relatives. Kelly must be in about 1st grade in this photo, and Erik in 3rd.

It's been a lot of fun watching them grow into adults. You might remember Kelly from my Beef Dip Sandwiches post. Kelly is talented at thrifting. She combs the thrift stores for items she can modify into things she can use.

Erik is an artist. He has always loved drawing and worked for a company doing marketing and designs for clothing. Now he's started a business called Cloud Kicker Society--a lifestyle brand for the Vapers. The website is coming soon.

He also loves music and used to be a DJ. Erik is soft-spoken and funny. He can cook, too.

Erik and Kelly's mother, Meg, recently retired and the whole family celebrated her retirement and birthday at a gathering over the weekend.

Every month, this part of our family has a gathering. The get-togethers  are so much fun and insure that the family will all know one another and stay close.

The parties have a theme for the pot-luck dinners--which adds more fun seeing and tasting what everyone makes. You might remember the Cajun-themed dinner featured on my Easy Oven Roux Gumbo post.

That's Mako on the left. He's the one that notifies everyone of the parties and themes. Every family needs a person willing to be one that keeps everyone in-touch. Thank you, Mako, for being that person!

Nancy, Jessica, Rick and Maria are enjoying the festivities.

Lena, Garrett, Meg (and I) are talking about wedding preparations. Lena and Garrett and getting married later this year--I'm so excited!

I finally got the opportunity to meet David, Brianna's boyfriend. Brianna is working on a dietetic internship and has a blog! You can find Instant B Play filled with lots of good information on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.

Sriracha chicken wings and Easy Oven Baked Chipotle Wings were appetizers I brought. I am working on a recipe for the sriracha wings.

My other appetizer was this Homesyle Sushi Bar. This time I added some spam spears and tempura shrimp. The tempura makes for a nice and crunchy temaki--handroll sushi. Serve the sushi bar with a half-sheet of nori so people can make their own sushi the way they like it.

I wonder what the theme of next month's gathering will be!

***

Chicken Pot Pie

serves 6 to 8

2 Tablespoons olive oil (or butter), plus 1 T butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium sweet onion, diced

3 cups diced celery

3 cups chopped carrots

1 cup diced potatoes

1 cup peas

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4-6 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

4 cups cooked chicken, cut or shredded into bite-sized pieces

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons corn starch, if needed

1 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

2 prepared pie crusts

1 egg plus 1 Tablespoon milk

In a heavy pot, saute vegetables with 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter over medium heat until vegetables are softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside.

In the same pot, add 1 tablespoon butter and saute the sliced mushrooms until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the vegetable mixture, add 1/4 cup flour and mix over medium heat until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth, stirring constantly, and bring to simmer. Add bay leaf, dried thyme and season with salt and pepper.

Add cooked chicken and cream, return pot to simmer. Adjust thickness of broth if necessary--in a cup, mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water--add a little at a time to pot, while stirring, to thicken gravy. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Using prepared or homemade pie crust, cut pie crust to size of ramekins plus about 1-inch. Fill ramekins. Moisten edge of ramekins and place pie crust on top, pressing gently to seal. Cut 4 slits into crust and garnish with thyme leaves. Place ramekins on baking sheet and bake in 400ºF oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and filling is bubbling.