You won’t Miss the Turkey with this Stuffed Squash

By Jennifer Knapp
A new video for Video Friday

I love Thanksgiving, because it’s the one holiday where the entire country comes together to prepare a meal with friends and family. Many people have their own ways to cook the turkey and make the mashed potatoes and stuffing, but sometimes, it’s fun to mix it up and add in a new recipe that complements your traditional standbys.

Roasted Delicata Squash with Quinoa, Feta and Apple is an impressive and beautiful addition to your Thanksgiving table. It’s a side dish that features fall ingredients such as winter squash, crunchy apples, juicy pomegranate seeds and freshly-harvested walnuts. And if you are hosting some non-meat eaters at your table, this delicious recipe is hearty enough to serve as a vegetarian main course.

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Crazy for Quinoa

By Colleen Boyd

Like most people with a tight schedule and long work days, the last thing I want to do when I come home is spend a lot of time in the kitchen making dinner. Recently I’ve rediscovered the versatility of quinoa; a delicious, quick cooking, and easy to prepare grain-like edible seed.

Quinoa is packed with protein, and is a good source of iron and other minerals, making it a great addition to salads, soups, veggie burgers, breads, and all sorts of baked goods. My favorite way to use leftover quinoa is to add it to a whole wheat waffle batter, a special breakfast to enjoy on my days off.

This ancient grain isn’t only a side dish anymore! Here I’ve mixed quinoa with a few simple ingredients and spices to make a quick and satisfying weeknight meal. You can customize this recipe by adding or omitting as many vegetables as you like, or even throw in leftovers from yesterday’s dinner.

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Get Scrappy!

By Katie Barreira

One of the cardinal sins of professional cooking is waste. A restaurant doesn’t stand a chance if it doesn’t scrimp, save and make the most of every last scrap. In these lean economic times, home cooks can take a page out of the restaurateur’s book in order to stay out of the red.

Cheese rinds are among the most expensive of scraps. At about 20 bucks a pound, chucking a few ounces of Parmigiano Reggiano is like lining your garbage with dollar bills. It may look like the dregs, but the hard exoskeleton of that cheese could be the backbone of your next meal.

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Quinoa, Melon, Chorizo and Raisins Make a Simply Delicious Salad

By Sandy Hu

Summer is a time to celebrate the bounty of luscious fresh fruits. While we tend to think of them as a snack for eating out of hand or in desserts, one of the best ways to enjoy fruits is in salads.

California Golden Raisin, Quinoa and Melon Salad features fragrant cantaloupes, which are at their peak from June to September. This salad brings together a variety of flavors in perfect balance: the fruitiness of melon balls with the spicy and savory chorizo, the zest of sherry vinegar, and bursts of concentrated tangy-sweetness from golden raisins. Mint and green onions add freshness. And the South American grain-like quinoa is the perfect foil for the bright flavors and colors.

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