Food Simply Simple

I've been traveling a lot, so cooking has been a non-issue.  But two recipes were intriguing me: a vegetarian moussaka, and a white bean and chard ragout.  So when I finally had a chance this week to be home and cook, I decided to merge the concepts, and we loved the result!  We like to "cook once and eat twice" -- and making the larger amount allows us to get two or maybe even three meals out of the one effort.

One of the great discoveries of this past summer is that I can gather Swiss chard, fold it gently in half, and wrap it in a big plastic bag.  It freezes beautifully, and then when I go to use it now, frozen, I use a very sharp knife and slice it, stems and all.  So far, each time I've used Swiss chard this way, it has been excellent.  Of course, substituting a big bag of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, always works as a replacement for Swiss chard.

Squash Somehow

(Serves 8-10)

This recipe is easy to cut in half to serve 4-6

1-2 lb. winter squash (Uchiki Kuri, Buttercup, Kabocha, Butternut), seeded, peeled, diced and pan roasted (4-6 cups before roasting)

1 lb. dry white beans (cannellini, navy), soaked, drained, cooked, cooled

2 medium onions, halved and then sliced thinly

3 large cloves garlic, sliced or chopped

1 bunch Swiss chard, cleaned

          Separate stems from leaves; Slice stems ½”, Slice leaves thinly

½ - 1 tsp. dried rosemary

½ - 1 tsp. dried marjoram

Olive oil

Topping:

3 cups plain, no fat yogurt or 1 ½ c. yogurt + 1 ½ c. cottage cheese

4 eggs (large)

½ - ¾ c. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Oil a 9x13 pan.  Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Sauté onions and garlic in some olive oil.  When the onions are soft, add herbs and Swiss chard leaves and stems.  Sauté 1-2 minutes and add cooked, partially drained white beans.  Sauté/Simmer until there is not much water left (3-5 minutes).  Mix in the squash.

Pour mixture into the 9x13 pan.  Stir together the topping ingredients, distributing the eggs thoroughly.  Put spoonfuls on top of the bean mixture and spread to cover.

Bake 45-60 minutes until the topping is browned.

This is excellent with a salad. 

While we were waiting for the Squash Somehow to cook, the smells were wonderful -- preparing us for the comfort food needed as the temperature keeps dropping in to the teens and twenties.

Enjoy!

Lin K