Margherita Pasta Salad

Whenever I am fortunate to be eating in a restaurant that has a wood-fired oven, I like to order a Margherita pizza. In my opinion, this simple and classic combination of tomato, fresh mozarella, and basil is the perfect way to enjoy a good quality pie. I haven't had one in a while, but, for some reason, as I was dreaming up a pasta salad for tonight's supper, the image of a Margherita pizza popped into my head. Once it did, it wasn't going anywhere! So, I decided to just roll with it.

I kept the salad very simple, just like the original concept. I tossed some cold fusilli, halved grape tomatoes, and quartered bocconcini in a homemade garlic-infused olive oil and let the mixture marinate for a few hours. In order to keep the basil as fresh as possible, I waited until I was ready to serve the salad before tearing the leaves and adding them in. I sprinkled a little bit of asiago on top as a garnish, and I was good to go!

Sometimes, simple is best. Tomato, fresh mozarella, and basil are a classic for a reason; the combination of the three just tastes right! (A little garlic in the background never hurt anyone, either.) The Margherita pasta salad was very refreshing, and I think it will be perfect for warm weather cooking, alongside just about anything. Why not borrow flavours from one dish to create another? I'm glad I did!

Margherita Pasta Salad: The Recipe
Amanda's notes: When cooking pasta, make sure your water is very salty--like the ocean! This is your one chance to add flavour to the pasta itself. If you do it right, you won't even have to add salt to the final dish before serving.


Ingredients
1 pkg fusilli pasta
1 container bocconcini (200 g), quartered (or whole baby bocconcini)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup garlic-infused olive oil*
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 bouquet fresh basil leaves
grated asiago, to garnish

Directions
Cook pasta to al dente in plenty of boiling, salted water; drain, rinse under cold water until cool. Toss with bocconcini and tomatoes, add olive oil and toss to coat. Add plenty of freshly cracked black pepper, stir, and set in fridge for at least a couple of hours. Stir occasionally.
When ready to serve, tear basil leaves and fold into pasta. Taste and season if necessary. Garnish salad with grated asiago, serve immediately. Enjoy!

*To make your own garlic-infused olive oil, pour 3/4 cup of olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add 2 or 3 peeled and smashed cloves of garlic. Once oil heats and bubbles for 5 minutes, strain and cool.

Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Ah, it’s finally beginning to feel like Spring. Even though it’s fairly likely that we’ll see snow again before (or even after) the season changes, it’s been sunny for the past week or so; therefore, desperate to welcome any shred of nice weather, I’ve found myself craving warm flavours. Enter this spicy sweet potato dish.

When I roast sweet potatoes, I don’t want to sweeten them one bit. No brown sugar or maple syrup (gasp!) here, no sir; I want to balance them with some fiery spice. I usually accomplish this by serving my simple roasted sweet potatoes with some chipotle mayonnaise for dipping, but this week I created a warm salad that went just as well with our first barbecued burgers of the season. (Oh, charcoal! I missed you dearly.)

I coated chunks of sweet potato with my own mixture of spices (chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, chipotle, and a bit of cayenne pepper) then roasted them with some red onion and a few smashed cloves of garlic. Once everything was soft and caramelized, I tossed it with a homemade lemon dressing.

I loved this dish! The end result had a good amount of spice that acted as a perfect contrast to the sweet potatoes and the red onions; meanwhile, the mellow, roasted garlic was a nutty taste in the background, and the acidic lemon dressing really brightened up the flavour of the salad. I couldn’t be happier; along with the warm(ish) weather we’ve been having lately, this new spicy roasted sweet potato salad is leading me, skipping, to Spring.

Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato Salad: The Recipe
Amanda's notes: There's nothing lacking, but if you'd like to add some cheese to this salad, I think feta or goat cheese would be a great match. Also, if I had had a can of corn on hand, I might have tossed it with the roasted veggies before dressing the salad.

Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp spice mixture*


1 red onion, chopped into small wedges
4-6 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled


olive oil
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste


lemon dressing* at room temperature, to taste
1 green onion, sliced, to garnish


Directions
Preheat oven to 400F.
Toss the sweet potato with the olive oil in a large bowl. Sprinkle with spice mixture, toss to coat. Spread in a roasting pan; add red onion and garlic cloves. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and stir gently to coat. Roast for 40 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender, stirring halfway through.


Once the potatoes are tender, transfer the contents of the pan to a bowl. Drizzle with lemon dressing a few tablespoons at a time, tossing to coat, until the vegetables are coated to your liking. Taste and season if necessary. Garnish with green onion. Serve immediately.


Enjoy!


*Spice mixture
Mix the following together:
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chipotle chili powder
pinch cayenne


*Lemon Dressing
Ingredients
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
¾ cup olive oil
1 tsp whole grain dijon mustard
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste


Directions
Whisk first three ingredients together. Season to taste. Store leftovers in an air-tight container, and use as you would any dressing.

Green Beans with Balsamic Vinegar, Toasted Walnuts, and Goat Cheese

I absolutely love green beans and eat them as a side dish all the time. Normally, I boil them for just a few minutes before tossing them with some butter and salt and pepper. Simple and delicious! This weekend, though, I had an idea and was ready to try something a little different.

I sauteed my fresh green beans in olive oil until they were lightly browned, then glazed them with a bit of balsamic vinegar. I tossed in some walnuts that I had toasted earlier to concentrate their flavour, and, once the nuts were warmed through, I sprinkled in some goat cheese crumbles. The aromas coming out of the pan were incredible.

Well, it turns out that I have a new favourite way to enjoy green beans! I loved the combination of the acidic balsamic glaze, the meaty walnuts, and the tangy, slightly melting goat cheese with the crisp-tender green beans. There were so many flavours present, but they all came together in a way that made perfect sense to my taste buds.

This dish brought a little bit of fancy to a comforting meal of (Jeff's epic) meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I'm not saying that I'm going to give up on my usual boil-and-butter method; rather, I'm just excited to have yet another great way to enjoy delicious green beans.

Green Beans with Balsamic Vinegar, Toasted Walnuts, and Goat Cheese: The Recipe
Amanda's notes: I made this on the fly, so keep in mind that the amounts listed in this recipe are very approximate! Just trust your instincts with this dish, because you can't go wrong.


Ingredients
1 lb fresh green beans, ends trimmed
olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1-2 cups toasted walnuts*, roughly chopped
1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles
kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Directions
Saute green beans in olive oil over medium to medium-high heat, 6-8 minutes. A couple of minutes before the green beans are cooked to your liking, drizzle them with balsamic vinegar, tossing to coat. Add toasted walnuts, stirring until they are heated through. Sprinkle with goat cheese; reduce heat to low, cover pan for a few minutes until the cheese is slightly melted. Season to taste; serve immediately. Enjoy!

*To toast walnuts: Spread nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Toast in a 400F oven until lightly golden, about 5-7 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through.
Alternatively, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add nuts, shake continuously until lightly golden, about 5-7 minutes.
Allow nuts to cool before chopping.

Butternut Squash Lasagna with a Garlic and Rosemary Bechamel Sauce

This morning, when Jeff questioned me about what I wanted to make for dinner, nothing appealed to me. Did I want to cook the roast that we have in the freezer? No. Did I want chili? Nah. Chicken? Blah. Then, it dawned on me that I was feeling crummy because I had eaten out three nights in a row; instantly, I knew what I wanted. "Vegetables!," I cried out. "My body's saying it wants vegetables!" And right then, I knew it was time to make my butternut squash lasagna.

I'd never made my butternut squash lasagna until today, but I've been creating the recipe in my head for quite some time. Today was the perfect day to make it, too; Jeff was going to be out for the afternoon and I hadn't made any plans, it was snowing again so a heavier dish was in order, and, as I mentioned before, I had eaten out so much that I was happy to spend a couple of hours cooking. It was simply meant to be.

I roasted my butternut squash, gently mashed it, then mixed it with some spinach. Inspired by my zucchini boat recipe, I folded the vegetables into a mixture of ricotta and Parmesan cheese.

I wanted to add complementary flavours to my bechamel sauce, but I didn't want to overwhelm my star ingredient, the squash; therefore, I decided on an infusion: I added full sprigs of fresh rosemary and some smashed cloves of garlic to the simmering milk, straining the sauce before using it in the lasagna.

Having finished the filling and the sauce, I was ready to layer them with fresh pasta sheets.

Finally, I topped the lasagna with a layer of fresh mozarella, set it into the oven to bake, and proceeded to wash what seemed like every single dish I own. Oh well, at least it's a good way to pass the time when you're looking forward to your meal (three cheers for thinking positively! Hip hip hooray!).

This lasagna was everything I imagined it would be. I loved the sweet taste of the squash, the creaminess of the ricotta, the saltiness of the parmesan, and the subtle taste of garlic and rosemary in the smooth, nutty bechamel. The fresh and tasty mozarella was the perfect topping, stretching into long ribbons with every forkful of pasta.

By the time dinner was ready, Jeff was home and glued to my side, sticking his nose two inches away from the fragrant dish as I began slicing. I set a big square on each of our plates, adding a giant pile of lightly dressed greens alongside. As we sat down to eat our homemade meal, I could feel my body thanking me profusely for such delicious vegetables.

Butternut Squash Lasagna with a Garlic and Rosemary Bechamel Sauce: The recipe
Amanda's notes: When it comes to lasagna, I'm more interested in the filling than the pasta, which is why I have a small number of layers. If you want to use more layers of pasta, scale up the amounts of the filling a bit, and make as many thinner layers of filling between pasta as you like. Or, use the recipe as written but make the lasagna in a smaller pan.
This dish is time consuming, but not at all difficult. Try it this weekend!

Ingredients: filling
1.5 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 container ricotta cheee
1 cup Parmesan cheese
olive oil
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F. Toss squash with olive oil and salt and pepper, roast on a cookie sheet for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mix parmesan and ricotta cheee. Allow roasted squash to cool slightly, then mash lightly, mix with spinach, and fold into the ricotta and parmesan cheese mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Set aside.

Ingredients: Garlic and Rosemary Bechamel Sauce
Basic bechamel sauce adapted from Iron Chef Mario Batali
5 tbsp butter
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
4 sprigs rosemary
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 to 1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, whisk until completely smooth. Cook mixture, whisking constantly until golden, about 5-6 minutes. Meanwhile, add milk, garlic, and rosemary to a saucepan and heat to just below the boil. Add the heated milk mixture to the butter and flour mixture gradually, a cup at a time, whisking constantly to keep smooth. Bring the milk to a gentle boil, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes.
Remove sauce from heat. Strain into another saucepan. Add nutmeg, and salt to taste.

Ingredients: Assembly
1 pkg oven ready fresh pasta sheets (such as Olivieri)
fresh mozarella, sliced or grated

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spread 1 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 in baking dish. Add a layer of noodles, cutting the sheets to cover the surface, overlapping slightly. Spread half of the filling into an even layer on the noodles. Pour 1 cup of sauce over the filling, spreading evenly. Top with another layer of noodles. Press with your hands to tighten the layers. Repeat layering, ending with a 3rd layer of noodles. Poor remaining sauce over top layer, top with mozzarella, cover with foil, and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil, bake 5 minutes more. Broil cheese for 5 minutes.
Remove lasagna from oven, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!

Grown Up Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Are you looking to update your favourite childhood meal to your sophisticated, adult tastes? Simple!

Start with a homemade bowl of tomato soup. No need to put too much effort into it; just mix some canned crushed tomatoes with some broth (we had homemade chicken broth in the freezer, but a good store bought brand is just fine) and some flavouring agents and spices, and let it simmer for a little while.

Onto the sandwich. The foodie's secret to a phenomenal grilled cheese is quality ingredients. Choose wisely, keeping in mind that there are a few easy ways to sneak in extra flavour. For example, this fresh loaf we bought at the farmers market is a rye bread with caraway seeds. I love how fragrant it is!

Of utmost importance, of course, is the cheese. My suggestion is to go with either something that is flavoured (like an herbed Gouda, Havarti, or Monteray Jack) or something smoked. Pictured here is one of my favourites, apple wood smoked Cheddar cheese. The beauty of using it in a grilled cheese (or in just about anything, really) is that it tastes a bit like bacon. The taste of bacon in your grilled cheese without having to bother frying any? Yes, please!


Are you ready for this?

Oh, yes.

Mmmmmmm! Although reminiscent of everyone's familiar childhood meal, this gourmet version takes the concept of tomato soup and grilled cheese to a whole new level. Homemade soup, even a quick one such as this, always has a lot more depth and flavour than what comes out of a can, and the sandwich, when made with quality bread and cheese, is a little taste of happiness. I guarantee that this meal will put a smile on anyone's face. Personally, my inner child jumped for joy while my matured taste buds savoured every element.

Lastly, I think you all know what to do: dip that baby!

Quick Homemade Tomato Soup: The Recipe

Amanda's notes: If you would like to make a heartier meal out of your soup, add a handful of macaroni and a drained and rinsed can of beans.

Ingredients

olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups broth (chicken, beef, or veggie)

2 large cans crushed tomatoes, plain

1 tsp crushed red pepper

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

about a palm full each of basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion, saute a few minutes. Add garlic, saute a few minutes more. Add broth and tomatoes, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Stormy Eats

We've been hit by a storm. A lot of snow has fallen, and we're expecting even more over the next 24 hours. It is extremely messy outside, what with the blowing snow, uncleared sidewalks, and icy conditions. My walk to work this morning wasn't too bad, but as the morning progressed, conditions worsened.

Even though I wouldn't recommend that anyone go walking outside unless absolutely necessary, I still had to make the trek home for lunch. Why not just buy my lunch at work, you ask? Well, there's this furry little guy that depends on me to let him outside in the middle of the day. Oh, the things we do for little creatures.

By the time I made it home and waded through knee-deep snow to get to my front door, I was a wreck. My jeans and boots were soaked, my glasses were fogged up, my hair was a mess, and I was shivering. There was no way that I was going to eat my usual cold salad for lunch; I needed a serious pick-me-up. Omelette time!

So, I sauteed some sliced cremini mushrooms in butter, wilted some fresh spinach into the pan, and poured in a couple of beaten eggs with cream. I then folded the omelette over some grated provolone cheese. For fun, I added a few dashes of Sriracha hot sauce (which I've recently discovered and adore!)

Yum! After a couple of bites, I forgot all about my miserable walk home and how I would have to head right back out into the storm once I was done eating. The omelette was a nice change from my usual lunch, and I found it very comforting. It's amazing how even a quick little dish can really improve your mood!

Suddenly, as I was enjoying my creation, Mortie C called to tell me that our workplace had decided to close for the rest of the day. Yay! So now I'm sitting at home in a warm change of clothes, with a full belly and a snuggly puppy, while a storm rages outside. It's finally the weekend, and I couldn't be happier.

One Pot Meal

Sometimes, I just want to throw a bunch of ingredients in a pot and have them magically turn into dinner. Last Sunday was one of those days, and, while I didn't want to put a whole lot of effort into it, I still wanted a quality meal. Ladies and gentlemen, enter a roast with root vegetables.

This meal is so easy! Just chop up a bunch of root vegetables (in this case, onions, carrots, red and fingerling potatoes, and parsnips,) smash a few cloves of garlic, and toss them in olive oil with kosher salt, rosemary, and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper.
Bring your roast to room temperature. Make up a mixture of olive oil, whole-grain mustard, herbs and spices (Jeff used garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and herbes de provence) and salt and pepper, pour it into a shallow dish, and roll your roast around in it. Use a choice cut roast such as top sirloin (pictured here,) rib-eye, or striploin for this method, since you won't be braising it. (Use cheaper cuts for stews, etc., because the liquid will tenderize the roast.)

And now, for a tip: the day before Jeff and I made this roast, we were watching Secrets of a Restaurant Chef on the Food Network, a new show that I like. The host was roasting a leg of lamb, and she shared one of her tricks with the viewer: after she had the bones removed from the leg, she used them as a roasting rack. Genius!
Inspired, we went to the grocery store and told the butcher about our plan; his eyes lit up and he said he had just the thing for us to use. A couple of minutes later, we had two rib bones all wrapped up to use as a rack. They only cost a few dollars, were very effective at keeping the roast off the bottom of the pan, and added a lot of flavour to the vegetables. I'm sold on this method!
We put the roast in the oven to cook on its own for about 30 minutes before adding the vegetables, but in the end the roast was done before the vegetables were. I recommend either roasting everything at the same time, or chopping the veggies into smaller pieces before adding them to the browned roast.
Anyway, put the whole thing in the oven, and forget about it for a couple of hours. Once it's cooked to your liking (when the sun has set and you have no more natural light for nice pictures, of course,) remove the roast and let it rest under a tent of foil. If your vegetables aren't done, continue to roast them; you can leave the "rack" in for flavour.
When the meat is done resting and the veggies are fork-tender, serve yourself a big plate of comfort. The meat will be tender and juicy, and the vegetables will be done to perfection and bursting with flavour. You will be very happy.
So, next time you're feeling a little lazy but have some time to spare, consider making a roast with root vegetables. A delicious, homemade meal without all the work? That's what I call a success!
Notes: Leftovers from this meal make a wonderful hash. Chop up the meat into small pieces and sautee everything in a skillet, mashing the vegetables into the pan as they cook. Top with some sharp cheddar, cover to melt the cheese, and serve. Enjoy your reinvented meal!

Potatoes au Gratin with Onions, Mushrooms, and Bacon

After spending a couple of weeks without cooking anything more substantial than finger foods, I was looking forward to this weekend so that I could try something a little more labour intensive. Since I wanted something really comforting (which, for me, usually translates into a liberal use of dairy products), and as I'm always on a mission to jazz up potatoes, my choice was to try potatoes au gratin. Jeff bought me some Russet potatoes from the farmer's market, and I started to hatch my plan.

While researching recipes, I couldn't believe the variation. Some people parboil their sliced potatoes before baking them, and some use them raw; some people put cheese between each layer of potatoes, some only put it on top, some make a cheese sauce, and some don't use cheese at all (I don't quite understand that last one). Cheddar or gruyere? Heavy cream or whole milk? Would you like to add onions, turnips, or go pure potato? Choices, choices!

Since it was obvious that there was no set formula to follow, I figured that I couldn't possibly mess up that much; so, I decided to wing it. I sauteed sliced onions and cremini mushrooms with some chopped garlic in olive oil, and fried and crumbled a few slices of bacon. Then, I layered this mixture with the potato slices in a buttered baking dish.

To some heavy cream, I added kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, and, since I love what it does to alfedo sauce, a little bit of ground nutmeg. I heated it to a simmer in a sauce pan to thicken it a bit, and poured it gently over the potatoes, until they were just covered.

I covered the dish with foil and baked it until the potatoes were cooked through; then, I added plenty of aged cheddar cheese and dried thyme on top before baking it uncovered.

Once it was beautifully browned, it was time for the hardest part: letting the dish rest before digging in.

As usual with labours of foodie love, it was worth the wait. Decadently creamy and full of flavour, the potatoes au gratin were just what I wanted on a cozy Sunday evening. They would make a great side dish to just about anything, but since we were eating them as a main dish, I served them with a simple salad. I'm so glad I made much more than I needed (I can't wait to eat them with tomorrow night's salmon!)

I think this dish is elegant enough to serve at a nice dinner party. A convenient bonus is that you could assemble the entire thing the day before, and just throw it in the oven while you get everything else ready. I know I'll be serving it with pride very soon!

Potatoes au Gratin with Onions, Mushrooms, and Bacon: The Recipe

Ingredients

3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

1 lb sliced cremini mushrooms

1 large onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

3-4 cups heavy cream

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

pinch nutmeg

2 cups shredded aged cheddar

dried thyme

Directions

Preheat oven to 375C. Saute onions, mushrooms, and garlic in olive oil with kosher salt and fresh pepper, until softened. Place a layer of potato slices in the bottom of a buttered 9x13 in baking dish, overlapping slightly. Spread half of onion and mushroom mixture and half of bacon over the potatoes, top with another layer of potatoes; repeat.

Add kosher salt, fresh pepper, and nutmeg to the heavy cream; bring to a simmer. Pour over potatoes until just covered. Cover baking dish with foil, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until potatoes are tender (pierce with a fork.) Remove foil and top with cheese, and sprinkle with thyme. Bake for another 30-35 minutes to brown. Broil for a few minutes, if desired. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Glazed Butternut Squash with Brown Rice and Feta

I just love roasted butternut squash. When the weather turns cooler, I eat it at least twice per week. It's so simple and delicious: cube it, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper, and roast it for about 45 minutes. The result is a deep, sweet squash flavour that makes the perfect side dish.

However, what to do when you want to eat squash, but the oven is busy cooking your main dish? Recently, I decided to find a way to make killer stove-top squash. I'm not a huge fan of boiled and mashed squash, so I went with a sauté. When I roast squash I leave the skin on and it becomes edible, but since sautéing is a gentler method, I decided to peel it before seeding and cubing it.

I sautéed the squash pieces in a few tablespoons of butter, with salt and pepper, stirring occasionally until they were cooked through.

After about 15 minutes or so, I was eager to taste it. The result was...eh. Kind of boring. I missed the punch of flavour that I'm used to after roasting. I didn't want to settle, so I did a quick search to get some inspiration; as always, Martha Stewart to the rescue!

Inspired by Martha's website, I added chicken broth and water to the pan, and replaced her brown sugar with (what else?) maple syrup. After a few minutes, the liquid boiled away, and the squash was nicely glazed. (As you can see, I ran out of natural light at this point. Damn shorter days!)

Phenomenal! I cannot tell you how well the salty-sweet combination of broth and maple works. The best part was that it really brought out the flavour of the squash, just like roasting does.

Now, it's a fantastic side dish on its own. You really don't need to do anything more to it. However, just to try something different, I decided to take the salty-sweet idea to the next level, and combined the glazed squash with some brown rice and feta cheese. I just mixed everything up in the pan on low heat, and put the lid on for a few minutes to slightly melt the cheese.

Yum!! It looked and smelled so good, that even Bullet the puppy couldn't resist trying to get a glimpse of the leftovers.

Serve this with a simple main, because it will steal the show. I think this is substantial enough for a vegetarian main dish (made with vegetable broth, of course), perhaps with some sauteed spinach thrown in for a green. I just love this combination, and I think it will show up in my dinner rotation as often as roasted squash.

Try making glazed butternut squash with brown rice and feta tonight. Trust this squash lover when she says your tastebuds will thank you.

Glazed Butternut Squash with Brown Rice and Feta: The Recipe

I followed this recipe from Martha Stewart, except I used maple syrup instead of brown sugar.

Once squash is glazed, set heat to low and add 2 cups cooked brown rice and a few handfuls of cubed feta cheese to the pan. Stir to distribute, then cover for 5 minutes until cheese is slightly melted.

Enjoy!