Fall Recipes

Great fall day, which started out with a trail run at Highbanks Park.   Fun group and beautiful run!  

While I was out running and then driving home, it gave me a chance to figure out what I wanted to do with the day.   It has been awhile since I have spent the day at home and done much cooking.   So I did just that.   I opened the windows to let the fall breeze and smells in, cleaned the whole place, and baked/cooked some new and wonderful recipes! 

The first thing I made was a repeat recipe.   I actually tried it last week and loved it!   I had some leftover pumpkin that needed to be used, so decided to repeat the recipe again. . .

(From:  PPK Blog)

Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Equipment:

2 baking sheets

2 mixing bowls

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 1/3 cups rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup canola oil

2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup canned pumpkin, or cooked pureed pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

optional ingredients: 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds and/or 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped or 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Have ready 2 greased baking sheets.

Mix together flour, oats, baking soda, salt and spices.

In a seperate bowl, mix together sugar, oil, molasses, pumpkin and vanilla (and flax seeds if using) until very well combined. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, folding to combine. (If using, fold in walnuts and raisins or chocolate chips).

Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets. They don’t spread very much so they can be placed only an inch apart. Flatten the tops of the cookies with a fork or with your fingers, to press into cookie shape. Bake for 16 minutes at 350. If you are using two sheets of cookies on 2 levels of your oven, rotate the sheets halfway through for even baking. You’ll have enough batter for 4 trays.

Remove from oven and get cookies onto a wire rack to cool. These taste best when they’ve had some time to cool and set. They taste even better the next day!

**I omitted the flax, walnuts, and raisins and made 1/2 the batch with chocolate chips added and 1/2 just "plain."  Both versions taste amazing!

After making the cookies I decided to try the following two recipes for my evening meal.   I am happy to report that they were both wonderful!

1) Butternut Squash Pizza with Blue Cheese and Fried Sage

2) Collard Greens with Bacon from Simply Recipes

Collard Greens with Bacon

*Chef's tip: don't overcook the bacon. It should be barely brown around the edges and still somewhat raw-looking in the middle.

Ingredients:

4 strips thick-sliced bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces

1 small yellow onion, chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Several dashes hot sauce

1/4 cup apple-cider vinegar

2 pounds collard greens, stems removed, sliced into 3-inch-wide strips (can substitute kale or chard)

1 cup chicken broth (or water)*

Method:

1) Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Cook the bacon in the skillet until it just begins to brown around the edges, stirring occasionally. Add the onions and cook until they have softened and are just starting to brown.

2) Add the garlic, salt, pepper, sugar and hot sauce. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, about a minute. Add the vinegar, bring to a simmer, and cook until the amount of liquid is reduced by half, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

3)  Add the collard greens and the chicken broth (or water) and bring to a simmer. Reduce the temp to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the collard greens have wilted and have lost their brightness. Season to taste with additional vinegar and hot sauce. Serve with some of the pan juices from the pan.

Serves 6 to 8.

**I didn't have a few ingredients and substitued instead:

1) Shallots for the yellow onion

2) Red Pepper Flakes instead of hot sauce

3) Garlic infused vinegar in place of apple cider vinegar