Last night I made my first (of at least 10…see Goals for 2010 post) dish from Terry Walters’ book, Clean Food. I love everything that this book is about: simple recipes, whole & minimally processed foods, eating in-season and close-to-home, vegan, nourishing our bodies and spirits with clean food….
BUT this recipe was just okay. It sounded perfect for me: winter squash and chestnuts = two of my absolute favorite foods, apple cider, cinnamon nutmeg, almonds. vanilla…..what’s not to love??
- Well, the first thing that I wasn’t crazy about was the consistency. I followed the recipe to a T and the end result was too wet for my taste. I think next time I would use less liquid and not completely puree it. I think leaving some chunks of squash and chestnuts would make for a more interesting dish.
- The second was the sweetness. Now, you may never hear me say this again about any food item EVER, but this was too sweet for my taste. It would be fine as a small side dish, but for a main dish the apple cider was overwhelming. Next time I would cut the cider to 1 cup and then add another 1-1.5 cups of broth (either veggie or chicken) or wine to give it a more savory flair.
Am I glad I tried this?
- Absolutely. Its a great base recipe which provides you the basis for multiple variations. You can easily switch up spices or the liquid (as I intend to do).
Winter Squash & Chestnut Casserole
from Clean Food by Terry Walters
Ingredients –
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded and cubed (any winter squash will work)
- 2 cups cooked chestnuts (look for this now – right after the holidays. They will be on clearance so you can stock up!)
- 3 cups apple cider or juice (I think broth, wine, or water would work well.)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- Pinch of ground cloves
- 1/2 cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped (I used a mixture of various leftover nuts from holiday baking.)
- 3 tbsp brown rice syrup (I found it in the baking isle at Whole Foods)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions –
1. Place squash, chestnuts, apple cider and spices in a large pot. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes until squash is soft. Remove from heat and puree with handheld blender until smooth. (I would leave some chunks.) Spoon into an 8×8 inch baking dish and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
2. Set oven to broil.
3. In a small pan over low heat, stir rice syrup to heat and thin. (Just a minute or two.) Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and drizzle over nut topping.
4. Place baking dish under broiler for 3 minutes. Keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. (I actually had to leave mine under the broiler for about 8 minutes to get it browning.) Remove from oven and serve.
UPDATE:
I added some lightly steamed green beans and crumbled Wheat Thins to my casserole at lunch today and it did wonders for it! NUMM! I think I was right in saying that this dish just needs a little more substance (maybe I’ll throw in some black beans next time?) and a tish more salty/savory goodness. Now this is most certainly a Make Again. 
