Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash and Air Fried Bacon Brussel Sprouts – Just Yum!!!

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acorn squash, Air fryer, Bacon, brussel sprouts, healthy, recipe, Thanksgiving, vegetarian, wild rice

So I had never tried acorn squash and I have never met a brussel sprout I’ve liked, but this has all changed now! This squash dish will likely be taking the place of my Southwest Chorizo Dressing on our Thanksgiving table. That says a lot, if I’m willing to go without chorizo!!! LOL! And the fact that I ate more than one brussel sprout said a lot for that dish! They were really good!!!

These two dishes went really well together. The acorn squash is pretty sweet and the sprouts are bitter, so they compliment one another. Not to mention when you cook the bacon, you can use it for both dishes. Or you could leave out the bacon and have a great vegetarian dish!

Now I faked the brussel sprout recipe, but I cannot take credit for the squash recipe. I got this from the Food Network app after seeing Katie Lee make it on The Kitchen. She described the acorn squash flavor as a mix of butternut squash and sweet potato. I would say that is right on!

Basically, I will say this acorn squash recipe is one of the most delicious dishes I’ve made in a very long time and my hubby was in agreement on that. So give it a try!

Step one: Both recipes are going to use bacon, so dice up an entire 1 pound package of bacon. Cook bacon in a skillet on the stove top over medium heat until crispy. When done, use a slotted spoon to transfer bacon to a plate covered with a paper towel. Retain the bacon grease for the brussel sprouts.

Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 acorn squash

3 tbsp olive or avocado oil

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

1 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1/4 tsp garlic salt

3 1/2 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (I actually used my favorite type of mushroom, maitake)

1/2 cup thinly sliced leeks, white and light green part only

1 1/2 cups cooked forbidden or wild rice (I cooked with homemade chicken stock for more flavor)

1/4 cup dried currents (I couldn’t find these at the store, so I used dried cranberries)

2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and discard. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on the lined baking sheet and bake until tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Leave the oven on at 400 degrees F.

3. Heat the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Add the breadcrumbs, increase the heat to medium high and cook, stirring constantly, until the breadcrumbs begin to turn golden brown. Stir in the parsley and garlic salt. Transfer to a dish.

4. Wipe the skillet clean. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms and leeks until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the kale and garlic and cook until the kale wilts, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice, currants, soy sauce, honey, 1/3 of the cooked bacon and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Scoop some of the mixture into the cavity of each acorn squash half and top with the reserved breadcrumbs. Bake until heated through, 25 to 30 minutes.

Air Fried Bacon Brussel Sprouts

1 pound brussel sprouts, trimmed and cut in half

1/2 thickly sliced leeks, white and light green part only

1/2 cup mushrooms, thickly sliced (again I used the maitake’s here)

Bacon and grease

Salt and pepper

Toss the brussel sprouts, leeks and mushrooms in the reserved bacon grease. Add the remaining bacon and season with salt and pepper. Put all ingredients in the basket of your air fryer and cook on high for 15-18 minutes until as crispy and/or charred as you like. Stir once or twice during cooking time.

Hope you love it as much as we did!!!

Broccoli with Garlic, Bacon, and Parmesan – Even the Picky Eaters Can’t Resist This Veggie!

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Bacon, Broccoli, garlic, parmesan, side dish, taste of home, vegetable

I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of broccoli. My husband loves the stuff, so I try to cook it on a regular basis. My youngest daughter, who is a lover of all things bacon,found this recipe in one of my Taste of Home cookbooks. It is packed with flavor and is absolutely delicious! The title of the recipe says it all! Broccoli, garlic, BACON and Parmesan. It’s all good!!! This is a broccoli recipe that even I enjoy! We have made it a few times at our house. If you’re looking for a way to get your picky eaters to eat some broccoli, give this recipe a try!

Broccoli With Garlic, Bacon and Parmesan

1 teaspoon salt

2 bunches broccoli (about 3 pounds), stems removed, cut into florets

6 thick-sliced bacon strips, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 to 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

Fill a 6-qt. stockpot two-thirds full with water; add salt and bring to a boil over high heat. In batches, add broccoli and cook 2-3 minutes or until broccoli turns bright green; remove with a slotted spoon.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Discard drippings, reserving 1 tablespoon in pan.

Add oil to drippings; heat over medium heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until garlic is fragrant (do not allow to brown). Add broccoli; cook until broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in bacon; sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Enjoy!

Sautéed Spinach with Bacon, Shallots and Mushrooms – Even Picky Eaters Will Like This Veggie!!!

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Bacon, Cooking, Food, healthy, mushroom, recipe, shallots, spinach

  
It’s true!!! Everything is better with Bacon!!! I’m not into the slimy cooked greens, but this fresh sauteed spinach was delicious and the texture was great! The bacon, mushrooms and shallots added some wonderful flavor and the touch of balsamic vinegar didn’t hurt either!

I know you’re thinking that the bacon adds a bunch of fat and kind of ruins the point of eating your veggies, but it really isn’t too bad. This recipe only used 1 1/2 slices of bacon for 4 servings and that was the only added fat. It’s not too bad considering the amount of flavor you get from that little bit of bacon.

You will see that I had a little Gorgonzola cheese sprinkled on mine in the photo. I served this spinach with the Chicken Marsala with Gorgonzola cheese that I blogged about yesterday. I couldn’t resist sprinkling the cheese over everything! These two dishes were great together!

Sauteed Spinach With Bacon, Shallots and Mushrooms

1 1/2 slices of bacon

1 bunch of fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped

4 oz fresh mushrooms sliced

1 shallot, minced

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

In frying pan cook bacon until just crispy, remove bacon and drain on paper towels. Keep your bacon grease in the pan and add your mushrooms and shallots,sauté until tender. Add spinach and saute until softened but not too long! Finally, add basaltic vinegar and stir until all ingredients are well mixed and coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

The Goal is Scrumptious: Zuppa Toscana

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Bacon, Cooking, potatoes, recipe, sausage, soup, spinach, the goal is scrumptious

  

When I saw this post I knew it was something I would have to try. It sounds fabulous and I have been all about the good soups this winter!

Recently we sampled a version of zuppa toscana, a type of Italian cream soup, at a friend’s house.  One of our hosts was the first to taste it.  After one bite he apologized.  “Oh, sorry guys.  It’s a little spicy.” Still crunching away on my salad, my reply was, “No worries!  We like spicy.”  This is true.  My husband, […]

https://quirkyandwonderful.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/the-goal-is-scrumptious-zuppa-toscana/

The TABLE – Tomato, Avocado, BACON, Lettuce and Egg

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avocado, Bacon, BLT, BLTA, Cooking, Food, Sandwich

  
My husband swears he invented this sandwich and has ben trying to get our local Black Bear Diner to put it on their menu. I’ll just admit it is a yummy sandwich! Bacon – yes, please! Tomato – yummy! Lettuce – like the crunch! Egg – substance, I like that too! Avocado – Don’t be stupid! Of course, I want that!

I had leftover bacon from my boeuf Bourguignon  and avocado and lettuce from my organic produce shipment. These ingredients were just dying to be made into a fantastic sandwich, so we had the TABLE for dinner last night. Of course, this would be good at breakfast or lunch too. Let’s face it! It’s just good and can be eaten anytime you want!!!

It’s not complicated and you can jazz it up or down as you please. Here is what we did:

Toasted wheat bread spread with low-fat mayo

Bacon strips cut in half and cooked until crispy – We put about 2 slices on each sandwich

Sliced Avocado

Sliced Tomaoto

Lettuce Leaf

One egg over easy or sunnyside up, depending on how runny you like your egg

Optional: jalapeno, hot sauce, mustard, ketchup, etc.

Enjoy the TABLE!

Tahoe Barbecue Chicken Portobello Sandwiches and Bacon Cashew Green Beans – Eating In While On Vacation

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Bacon, barbecue, Barbecuing, Cashew, Chicken, Cooking, Food, Green Bean, grill, Grilling, Portobello, Sandwich

  

My husband and I are back from our vacation in Tahoe. It was wonderful! I ate WAY too much, and wasn’t as active as I would have liked. I recently had surgery and am still somewhat in recovery mode, so I have to watch my activity levels. This meant we had plenty of time to find and dine at wonderful restaurants, because I’m not ready to handle the kayaking and horseback riding that we longed to do. Oh well! Someone had to eat all that great food and blog to you good people about it! As we all know though, eating out too much gets really expensive, especially when you’re in a very touristy area. One of my vacation tricks, is we usually try to get a room or rent a house with a kitchen instead of regular hotel room. This allows us to eat in some and not have to eat all of our meals out. This is especially helpful when you add a few kids to the vacation mix! I have always felt that the little more we paid for the room/house with a kitchen was made up for by spending less money on eating out.

This trip was just my husband and I, but we still ate some meals in and I wanted to share one of those with you. We were fortunate enough to have a kitchen and an outdoor barbecue available to us in Tahoe, so we made good use of it! We have this one sandwich that my husband came up with on a previous Tahoe trip and it has become one of our “go-to” meals when we’re up there! You know how certain foods or drinks remind you of a certain place and they just seem to taste better when you have them there?

So I would like to share with you a couple of recipes that we made while in Tahoe! My husband’s Tahoe Barbecue Chicken Portobello Sandwiches and my Bacon Cashew Greenbeans.

Tahoe Barbecue Chicken Portobello Sandwiches

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, butterflied if too thick

Italian Salad Dressing (Use fat free if trying to reduce the fat)

Sandwich Roll (We found some really soft whole wheat rolls that were wonderful!)

Portobello Mushrooms, sliced

Balsamic Vinegar

Sliced Pepper Jack Cheese

Bottled Ceasar Dressing (We used a lite version)

Tomato, sliced

Red Onion, sliced

These are sandwiches now, so I didn’t give you exact amounts. I’ll let you figure it out based on how many people you’re feeding and how much stuff you like on your sandwiches. We marinated the chicken in the Italian dressing for a few hours. We also marinated the Portobello mushroom slices in balsamic vinegar (Or you could use more Italian dressing, but I wanted to incorporate another flavor). My husband grilled the chicken until cooked through and then briefly grilled the Portobellos and put the sandwich rolls on the top rack to give them a little texture. While you’re cooking the mushrooms and rolls, you can melt the pepper jack cheese over the chicken breasts (You can always use a different type of cheese too.) Once everything is cooked, bring it all back in the house because you’re ready to assemble! Instead of mayo, we decided to use the Ceasar dressing as a spread. It just adds an extra yummy, tangy-ness to the sandwich. Then top your sandwich with whatever fresh veggies sound good. We used tomato and onion. Viola! You have our family’s bite of Lake Tahoe!

  

Bacon Cashew Greenbeans

1 pound green beans, with ends snapped off and broken into bite size pieces

½ pound bacon, cut into bite size pieces (You can use regular or turkey bacon)

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

½ cup roasted cashews (salted or unsalted can be used)

Put beans in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes. I like beans to still have a little crunch, but you can always cook them longer, if you wish. They will cook a little more once they get in the bacon. While the beans are boiling, cook the bacon in a frying pan on medium-high heat. When bacon is done cooking, remove from pan and keep warm. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Drain off some of the bacon grease from the pan, but not all of it. You want a little left in there to coat the beans with. Add the garlic to the remaining bacon grease in the frying pan and cook until fragrant, but not crispy. Once the beans are done boiling, drain and then add them to the frying pan. Add the cashews and stir. Add the bacon back in and continue to stir. Season with salt and pepper. If you used salted cashews, you won’t need as much salt. Cook all ingredients for about 5 minutes.