A Day from Scratch

Concierge cooking - Tailored nutrition

Smoked Butternut Squash Pasta

by Filed Under: Pasta, Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Heyyyy youuuu guyyssssss! Long time no see!

I know I haven’t been blogging and I’m sorry! But I am working on some new things for the site coming soon to include new fun opportunities to work with me, fun giveaways, etc. I may not be blogging but we are going to have a lot of fun!

In the meantime I am throwing it back to one of my favorite recipes of all time. At that time I think I was making this dish at least once a week for me and at least once a week for clients. It’s dang good!

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I could eat this sauce with anything. Like this as pasta, just over some grilled chicken, over some roasted greens, or by the spoonful on its own.

Maybe drink it out of a sippy cup?

Whichever way I eat it, I’ll tell you this… this is my new favorite recipe.

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Now if you’ll excuse me my pasta water is boiling.

Ingredients: serves 4-6

1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked

1 (3.5-4 pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced (or two (450g) packages chopped squash)

3/4 cup water

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (you can find this at Whole Paycheck)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 lb. package mini shell or macaroni pasta

Recipe:

Add cashews in a small bowl and cover with water. Soak overnight or for at least 3-4 hours, until soft and plump. Drain and rinse before use.

Preheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with foil. Spread out chopped squash on sheet and drizzle with oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt. Roast for 30-40 minutes, flipping once half way through baking, until squash is fork tender. Let cool for at least 5 minutes.

Add the soaked and drained cashews, water, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, and 2 cups of cooked squash into a high speed blender. Blend on high until smooth.

Now add the salt, and liquid smoke and blend again.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Add the drained pasta back into the pot. Pour on your desired amount of sauce and stir to combine.

Cook over medium until heated throughout and serve immediately.

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See you soon with some fun new stuff!

Corn and Thyme Pancakes

by Filed Under: Pizzas, Flatbreads, Savory tarts, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Weeee are the Pancaaakessssss, my frieeeeennds…

I don’t really fancy myself a sweets person. I’m never one to crave french toast or pancakes for breakfast, but these pancakes are take things to another level, they are INSANE I tell you.

Insanely good!

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These pancakes add substance to any meal and are a happy surprise. Serve them with a lightly green dressed salad, topped with a chicken breast or fish filet. They would be perfect for Easter brunch this weekend!

Now I would definitely skip the whole syrup step here because syrup, corn and thyme don’t really tickle my fancy; but hey I’m not here to stop you. You go on with your bad self if that’s what you dig.

IMG_4075One thing I will tell you is these suckers won’t last long in your house so make sure to shovel at least two into your mouth before sharing.

Ingredients: makes about 12 3inch pancakes

1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 large eggs

1 large yolk (OMG when I cracked my egg it had 2 yolks in it. TWO!) Gotta love farm fresh eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 Tablespoon canola oil

3/4 cup cooked corn kernels

1/2 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced, white and green parts

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

Recipe:

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper until evenly blended. You can also mix by hand.

Add the eggs, egg yolk, milk and canola oil and mix gently to form a batter.

Remove bowl from the mixer and add the corn, scallions and thyme.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat and when hot, ladle about 3 tablespoons of batter onto the pan into a cake. Cook for about 2 minutes, flip and cook another 2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Boom! Enjoy!

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Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

by Filed Under: Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Holy cow Batman, it is freaking cold outside!

It’s hard to believe that last week I was in sunny Cabo San Lucas sipping Piña Coladas by the beach, eating scrumptious sea food and frolicking in the beach.

Actually there was no frolicking, the ocean was red flagged due to a high tide and strong current; but I SO would have frolicked in the beach.

It was definitely a rude awakening to leave the sunny beach and come back to full on winter weather.

When you live in Texas and the temperature drops below 60 you might as well break out a parka, put snow chains on your tires, and cover your plants to prevent frost bite because below 60 is freezing! 

And what is better than wrapping up in a parka? Soup!

IMG_3968Not only did I make some tomato soup, but I took the grilled cheese pairing to the next level.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese go hand in hand and dipping is a favorite past time so why wouldn’t we top our soup with the grilled cheese. It just makes sense, doesn’t it?

Ingredients, serves 4

2 onions, peeled and chopped

1 carrot, peeled and diced finely

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 stick celery, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound fresh ripe tomatoes, halved

1 litre or 4 ½ cups vegetable stock

1 teaspoon raw sugar/coconut sugar/sucanat

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

handful fresh basil, shredded (optional)

Two Slices Multigrain bread

1 slice cheese

 

Recipe:

In a large pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onions, carrot, celery and garlic. Cover and cook for 10 minutes until soft.

Add the sugar, salt, pepper and tomatoes. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Transfer to a blender and blend the soup for about 1 minute until smooth, or if you have an immersion blender (produces much smoother results) blend until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, In a skillet, prepare grill cheese sandwich to your likening until very crisp. Cut into cubes and add a few to soup immediately before serving.

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Kale, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos

by Filed Under: Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetarian 3 Comments

Tap tap tap… hey, is this thing on?

Friends?

Are you still there?

I guess some of you may be wondering where the heck in all goodness gracious I have been lately and my answer to you is Busy. I’ve been busy busy busy.

Since my last post I have catered meals for over 526 people, picked up some shifts cooking at my friend’s restaurant, my amiga moved away to Denver, I went to an Ole Miss football game (Hotty Toddy!) attended my sister’s fabulous wedding and all of it’s festivities, recovered from my sister’s wedding, went on vacation to Mexico, and ran cross country.

OK, I didn’t do the last one; that was Forrest Gump, but you catch my drift.

And if I’m being honest here, being busy isn’t my only excuse. Sometimes when my days are continuously surrounded by food it burns out my inspiration candle. I just haven’t been very inspired to create new dishes; instead I’ve been eating turkey sandwiches, soups and eating out a bit.

But with the change of the season, I’m back!

To get us started back in the swing of things, I bring you…

Kale, black bean and sweet potato tacos.

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Disclaimer: my sour cream dollop would not stay in place. Oops.

Anyhoo, we can all agree that tacos are delicious. But oftentimes, it’s hard to ignore the fact that they just aren’t exactly good for you. Well, fear not, because I made over this Mexican dish to be both healthy and delicious! Made with superfoods kale and sweet potato, these nutrient-filled tacos pair perfectly with most fixings — so pile them on!

Top with avocado, sour cream, greek yogurt, pickled red onion, cilantro, siracha, fried egg or anything that blows your skirt up. They are good for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner and are sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients: makes 8 tacos

Ingredients 

1 medium sweet potato, shredded

1 onion, diced

3 tbs olive oil

4 large leaves of kale

1 can of black beans

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 tsp cumin

Sea salt, to taste

Corn tortillas

Toppings of your choice

Recipe:

Let’s begin. Start by shredded your sweet potato, draining and rinsing the black beans, wash and chop the kale, dice the onion and garlic.

In a skillet add the olive oil. Sauté the onion for about 4 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook 30 more seconds. Add the black beans and shredded sweet potato and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Kale, chili powder, cumin and salt and stir until the kale wilts a bit.

Roll the mix in some corn tortillas, top with your garnish of choice and ENJOY!

 

 

 

Watermelon Gazpacho

by Filed Under: Recipes, Vegetarian 2 Comments

The day before my junior year at Ole Miss, I met a girl named Casey through some mutual friends. It was as if fate stepped in and handed me a best friend on a perfect little platter. We were inseparable for the entire year, partners in crime if you will; before she decided to move home for family reasons.

Even though we only lived in the same city for one year, the following years did not waver our friendship. I graduated and moved to Houston and she was in Atlanta. I moved to Nashville and she moved to Denver. I stayed in Nashville and she moved back to Atlanta. I stayed in Nashville and she moved to Louisville. I moved to Austin and she stayed in Louisville. I stayed in Austin and she moved to Houston. Then I moved to Houston!

Did you follow that?

We were finally back in the same city after traveling around for years.

However, this past Sunday my P.I.C., Casey, left Houston and moved back to Denver.

Not before we had one more Tex-Mex feast, don’t worry.

When she arrived in Denver she sent me a text saying “It’s 72 degrees in Colorado right now!”

to which I replied “That sounds miserable! It’s a glorious 102 here today.”

and in celebrating the glorious 102 degrees that Houston continues to bless us with I decided to make some cold watermelon gazpacho.

IMG_3903Colorado may have beautiful mountains, crisp skies and Casey.

But Houston has heat, humidity and ME!

Well and now this soup, but that’s not really a thing considering I ate it and now it’s gone.

Just… oh whatever.

IMG_3904For all you Texas folks, this one’s for you!

And Casey, this is for you too!

Ingredients: Makes about 4-6 servings

6 cups seeded and cubed watermelon

1 large cucumber peeled and seeded

3 roma tomatoes: blanched, shocked and peeled

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Siracha to garnish

Avocado to garnish

Mozarella cheese to garnish.

Recipe:

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Using the tip of a knife, make two shallow 1 inch cuts through skin at bottom of tomato, forming an X. Blanch in water just until the skin at the X begins to lift, 40-60 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl of ice water; let cool until cold, about 5 minutes. Peel and halve tomato. Scoop out and discard seeds.

Meanwhile dice up the watermelon and peel and seed the cucumber.

In a mixing bowl add the tomato, watermelon, cucumber, lime juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Puree with an immersion blender until mixed well. (You can also use a blender.)

Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. Garnish with a little siracha, avocado and mozzarella cheese.

 

 

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Fritters with Siracha Cream

by Filed Under: Pizzas, Flatbreads, Savory tarts, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian 1 Comment

What are you guys doing with your Summer’s bounty?

In my finest British accent I ask you my friends, “what are you fixing with Summah’s boun-ti?”

I don’t really have an exact bountiful basket of Summer produce, but I do have some zucchini and yellow squash; and with that we can make some yummy fritters.

Fritters?

Sorry, I mean frit-tahs.

Oh whatever.

IMG_3901My darlings if you have having a spot of tea in the afternoon these frit-tahs are a delightful accompaniment.

But if you are like me and you are at a cocktail party sipping some champagne these would be perfect hors d’oeuvres.

Let’s be real, I’m at my house drinking wine out of a plastic cup while eating these off of a paper napkin.

Whatever your fancy, you’ll love these!

IMG_3898And they are Gluten Free to boot!

Ingredients: makes about 8 frit-tahs

1 cup grapeseed oil (depending on the size of your pan, just make sure the oil covers the bottom completely)

1 large zucchini, grated

1/2 large yellow squash, grated

1 small onion, diced small

2 Tablespoons diced hatch chili pepper

1 large garlic clove, mined

4 eggs

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 Tablespoons flax meal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup greek yogurt + 1 cup for sauce

2 Tablespoons siracha

1 Tablespoon chives, minced (If you don’t have chives no worries- add some scallion or skip it all together)

Salt and pepper

Recipe:

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Sauté the onion and hatch chili for 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic for 30 seconds, then set aside.

Place grated zucchini and squash in a colander, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and let it sit over the sink for 10 minutes. Use a clean paper towel and squeeze excess water from the zucchini *this is essential or it will not fry up properly.

In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs. Add the coconut flour, flax, baking powder and greek yogurt with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then add the onion and hatch mixture along with the zucchini and squash.

Place the remaining oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Drop the dough in heaping tablespoons, and lightly press down with the spoon so the fitters are even. Cook each side for 3 minutes or until golden brown.

For the sauce: in a small bowl add the remaining greek yogurt with the siracha and chives.

Serve the fritters with a dollop of the sauce on top.

Enjoy the heck out of them.

 

 

 

 

Peach and Basil Flatbread

by Filed Under: Pizzas, Flatbreads, Savory tarts, Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

If you’re wearing socks right now you better hold on to them, because I’m about to knock ’em off!

Oh geez, I’m so sorry; that’s just ridiculous.

What I meant to say was…

Dear friends, happy Thursday! Might you be interested in a lovely flatbread delight?

If that’s the case stay right here (insert a wink and a snap point)

IMG_3770A few years ago I was in Denver with my gal pal Casey for a little vacay. We hiked in Boulder, saw a mouse, visited the shining hotel, spent a day drinking brews and watching football, cooked dinner and just had a grand ole time.

I have to say though, in true Elizabeth fashion, a meal was the highlight of my trip. One night we went to a wine bar for dinner where I had a fig and prosciutto flatbread along with a glass of the best pinot noir I’ve ever had. It was at this meal that my love of flatbread with fruit was born.

It’s an ongoing love and I think after this recipe you may need to send help. The sweet peaches, basil and balsamic are the perfect pairing for goat cheese. All baked up on crispy flatbread….

Oh. My. GAH!

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Make one for yourself and then make one for someone you love!

Ingredients: for one flatbread

1 Naan flatbread

1 1/2 – 2 Tablespoons goat cheese

2 Tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 peach, sliced

4 large basil leaves, chiffonade

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced

Recipe:

Start by pouring the balsamic vinegar into a small sauce pot and simmer for about 20 minutes until reduced, cool. *Tip, the grocery store also sells bottled balsamic vinegar glaze that works perfect for this too.

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Assemble your flatbread: onto the naan smear the goat cheese, sprinkle the mozzarella, layer the peaches and top with half of the chiffonade basil. To chiffonade basil, place all four leaves on top of each other, roll them up and slice thinly into long strips.

Bake flatbread for 8-10 minutes.

Finish with the remaining basil and top with balsamic.

Ohhh you’re gonna enjoy this one!

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Southwest Quinoa Bowl

by Filed Under: Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Zzzzzz Zzzzz yawn Zzzzzz

I am going to try my absolute best to stay awake while I share this yummy recipe with y’all.

Why’s that you say? Welp my friends, I have the worst time sleeping. Some would call it insomnia, some say sleep anxiety, my mom has a hard time sleeping; so some call it genetics. Whatever you want to call it I have a horrible time getting in eight hours of sleep, or even six for that matter. Last night was one of the worst I’ve had in a while. After finally falling asleep a little before midnight, I woke up at 3:18 annnnnnd that was my morning.

I did everything I could to fall back to sleep. I took more melatonin, I tried to listen to my breathing; but my mind WOULD NOT SHUT OFF. So I read a book until about 5:15 before turning the light off and giving the whole sleeping thing another go. At 6:02 I finally called it. I was up.

This isn’t a typical night for me, but it’s not that off either.

Whenever I have a night like that, restless and draining; the only things that I like to eat are things I can throw together with minimal effort.

Enter the Southwest Quinoa Bowl!

IMG_3764A few weeks ago I went over to my friend, Julia’s, house for dinner.

*Sidenote: when your job is to cook food for other people, it’s really nice to have a friend cook for you! Thanks Jules!

Julia made the best vegetarian rice and black bean dish with homemade guacamole. It was simple yet SUPER delicious! So while shuffling my feet I dug through my kitchen to make my version of Jules’ dinner.

IMG_3762I was so happy to have this ready from start to finish in 20 minutes. Meals like this make life so much easier when running on empty.

Now if you’ll excuse me; I’m in a food coma and need a little cat nap.

Ingredients: makes 1 bowl

1/4 cup quinoa

1/2 cup water

2 Tablespoons of your favorite salsa

1/4 cup black beans

1 Tablespoon sour cream

Tortilla chips (as many as you please)

Guacamole:

1 avocado

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/4 red onion, diced

Pinch of cumin

Pinch of cayenne

1 garlic clove, minced

Splash of lime and a sprinkle of cilantro for garnish

Recipe:

Start by cooking the quinoa in a pan with the water for about 18 minutes. Stir in the salsa and cook another 2 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, whip up the guacamole, drain and rinse your black beans, chop the cilantro.

Once the quinoa is finished cooking assemble your bowl with the quinoa, black beans, a dollop of sour cream, tortilla chips, guacamole and garnish with a splash of lime juice and cilantro.

Then stir it all up in a big bowl mess and enjoy!

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Artichoke with Lemon Vinaigrette

by Filed Under: Home, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Holla back friends!

First I want to apologize to you guys. When I landed in Houston I spent some time redesigning my website; and as I was doing so I had to do some technical website mumbo jumbo. Without boring you with the gory details; when I moved over my host I lost y’all there for a bit. So basically I was just here talking writing to myself, but I’m used to talking writing to myself so it’s all good.

But I’m glad you’re back.

I’ve missed y’all!

Now hopefully everything is all squared away and we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Let’s chat about artichokes. I lurve me some artichokes! I love spinach and artichoke dip, I love baked artichokes, I love grilled artichokes, I love fried artichokes.

Ya dig? I love artichokes.

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So for a healthy and yummy snack I decided to make myself up a little ole artichoke with some lemon vinaigrette.

Then I got crazy and topped it with some parmesan cheese.

Oh yea!

I have a feeling I’m going to make this a lot in the coming weeks. It would be a great appetizer for happy hour!

And who doesn’t love a happy hour?

Am I right?

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Just don’t forget your toppings!

Ingredients:

1 artichoke

3 lemons

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

Recipe:

Start by cutting off the artichoke stem. Slice two lemons and add it to a large part of boiling water. Drop it to a simmer and add the artichoke.

Simmer lightly for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile in a bowl mix the juice of one lemon with the dijon and the olive oil.

Remove the artichoke from the water and open it up, the leaves will pull away easily. Then using a spoon remove the center.

Drizzle the lemon vinaigrette over the artichoke, top with parmesan cheese, and ENJOYYYYY

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Skillet Corn and Poblano Casserole

by Filed Under: Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Remember those old go-to recipes that our mom’s and grandmothers would make for easy weeknight meals? Chicken divan? Broccoli and cheese casserole? Those recipes take me straight back to my child hood.

This recipe reminds me of something I would find in a bound homemade cookbook from my grandma, something with a lot of cans tossed together, something not from scratch.

Dump a bunch of stuff together? That’s not usually my jam, but this casserole is so creamy and decadent that we should bend the rules a little bit here.

Trust me, I wouldn’t steer you wrong.

Unless we were talking about rap lyrics.

I could definitely steer you wrong in that arena.

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On another note, have you planned your Easter menu yet?

This casserole would be perfect for an Easter dinner side or part of a Sunday morning brunch. It’s creamy and comforting and just dang good.

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So do yourself a favor. Buy some stuff, dump it together, bake it and devour it!

Ingredients: serves 6-8

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can creamed corn

1 (8oz) package of Jiffy cornbread mix

1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 teaspoon paprika

pinch of salt and white pepper

 

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the two cans of corn, corn muffin mix, poblano pepper, sour cream, butter, paprika, salt and pepper.  Pour into a cast iron skillet or a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

See? Easy peasy!

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