Holiday Cooking with Friends: Vichy Carrots

Vichy carrots have recently become a staple of the Gabler family Thanksgiving celebration.  They were made on a whim a couple of years ago but are consistently requested and will probably be a part of our dinners for years to come.  So, what better way to share a great meal than with great friends:

Please excuse the phantom hand.

Grown-Up Grilled Cheese: Brie and Pear

My grown up grilled cheese dish was actually served with the butternut squash soup recipe and a side salad.  Of course, the little kid in me craved an exact replication of the grilled cheese I enjoyed at Friendly's years ago.  I still, to this day, have no idea why their grilled cheese was so delish yet so simple, but I decided to switch up the classic American soul food with a more grown up option:  brie cheese, pear slices, arugula, and red onion.  Even steered clear of the plain ol' white bread...go me.

Butternut Squash Soup

There's nothing like coming home from work on a rainy, cold Thursday and warming up to a bowl of homemade butternut squash soup.  It was my first time making this type of soup and it's pretty easy, although I have a question for my SEVEN readers out there:

How the heck do you efficiently peel a butternut squash?

It seems to take an unnecessary amount of time...almost putting it in the same category as beets (effort vs. output; i.e. something to leave to the professionals).  Once you finish the excessive peeling and chopping, this soup is pretty easy to make.  Patience is a virtue.

Farm Fresh: Roasted Chicken with Winter Veggies and Lemon Mustard Tatsoi

Ahhh...it's that time of year...winter veggies.  My neighbor, Lisa, is the recipient of a weekly half share of fresh fruits and vegetables from a local farm.  However, she went out of town and I was the lucky recipient of last weeks share.  It was fantastic - purple turnips, French radishes, broccoli, tatsoi, kale, everything.   With all those options, it's pretty easy to turn this:

Into this:

Vegetarian Chili Sin Chili

Okay, I'll admit that making a dish that completely forgoes its namesake is a bit off kilter, but I'm a bit off kilter with my dislike of spicy food.  I'm getting there; a few years ago, I would have never considered making chili.  I've come a long way and this dish still packs enough flavor to satisfy the most daring of palettes.

In any case, try it - you can always play with the spices to pack more of a punch than a beginner like me.

I Gave In.

In a moment of slight despair, I caved to my one true love that is the antithesis of this blog:  mac and cheese.  To my credit, it's organic...whole wheat...no trans fat...and I added vegetables.  No harm no foul, right?  On to the next meal...

Lentils with Sage, Roasted Garlic, and Winter Vegetables

Looking for a warm, hearty fall meal that is as healthy as it is delicious?  Definitely try out this lentil dish.  It may not look very appetizing in the photo (yes, I'm still mastering the art of food photography with an iPhone, if that even exists) but my boyfriend and I both ate very slowly just to thoroughly enjoy all of the flavor of the dish.

At first I wanted to qualify this post as a "No Meat Monday" option, but it has a bit of bacon that purely adds flavor rather than crunch.  I'm considering trying a bacon substitute, something I've never done before, to see if it still packs the same flavor without removing it from the vegetarian realm.  However, the fresh roasted garlic is an absolute must.