A Few of My Favorite Fall Recipes Under 30 Minutes....and they are goooood!!

Alright, seriously, these recipes are so good. So good that I could probably rotate between the soup, bisque and lasagna as all I eat throughout the Fall and be so happy about my decision in the end that I'd do the same thing next Fall. :) Okay, well maybe that's pushing it, but these recipes are great...Reasons? Tasty. Healthy. Homemade. Low money cost. Under 30 minutes of hands on time. Yummy Fall fruits and veggies included. And anyone who sees and tastes your work will be thoroughly impressed! Hooray!

Okay, so here they are: Black Bean Soup (with Soda Bread), Apple Cake (with a browned butter frosting...mmm!), Butternut Squash Bisque, Pumpkin Muffins (no butter or oil), Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna (with easy semi-homemade garlic bread)

BLACK BEAN SOUP (an amazing, low-cost meal of soup and bread to stun your friends, and under 30 minutes!)

This calls for you to have fun, and make up your own recipe.  Here is my made up recipe you can use as a guide to make up yours.

(Feeds and fills four adults, I'd say.)

6-10 slices of bacon, depends on how many slices you have on hand & how bacony you want it
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 garlic cloves chopped/minced, I have jarred chopped garlic - I do about 5 small scoops
2 cups of chicken broth/stock
1-2 tablespoons of ketchup, to taste
1-2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce (we have Jack Stack), to taste
some chili powder
some cumin
4 cans of black beans, drained but not rinsed (.89/can at Trader Joes!)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Additions/Substitutes: Add tomatoes (freshly chopped or canned) and/or green or red pepper for taste and color, and you can substitue great northern beans or navy beans if you don't have enough cans of black beans (I've done half and half before)

Fry bacon in large skillet or big pot. Set aside on papertowel. (Or you could cut up bacon into small pieces before frying and leave them in the pan). Put onion in bacon fat in pan. Cut up bacon into small pieces and add back to pot. Once onions translucent, add garlic. When you can smell the garlic, add broth, ketchup, bbq sauce, chili powder, cumin, and tomatoes and/or peppers if you are using. Stir in the beans, and bring to a boil. Adjust heat so soup is bubbling, but not boiling, for ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, prepare toppings! Cilantro, wash it and chop it. Shredded cheese. Sour Cream.

For a thicker, creamy soup (which I really like!) put half of soup in blender or food processor and pulse a few times for a chunky puree.  Pour back into pot, stir and serve with toppings.


IRISH SODA BREAD (great with soup, and no yeast involved so no rise time! Get in the oven before beginning soup) original recipe from Love Food soup cookbook

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Dust a cookie sheet with flour.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 3/4 cup buttermilk (I never have buttermilk on hand, so pour milk into a tablespoon or so of vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes - a buttermilk substitute)

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl together. Add sugar. Make a well, pour in buttermilk slowly - you want it soft, but not too wet or sticky. Turn dough onto a well floured surface (sometimes I use wax paper for easy clean up) and knead very briefly into a large circle, 2 inches thick.

Put onto flour dusted cookie sheet. Cut a deep cross into loaf, sprinkle with flour, and into the oven for 22-25 minutes, or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.  Transfer to wire rack.


FRESH APPLE CAKE

I'm going to leave you with the link to the recipe on Southern Living's website.

My adjustments: HALF the sugar.  I also used red Gala apples because I did not have Granny Smiths, and walnuts because I did not have pecans. I didn't have enough walnuts to put into batter (and I have some nut allergy friends), so I just put them on top of frosting. The browned-butter frosting is sooooo delicious. You must use it.  The toasted walnut/pecan on top is also such a good added taste and crunch as well.  This is very apple-y!

Recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-apple-cake-10000002012760/


BUTTERNUT SQUASH BISQUE

(Feeds and fills 3-4 adults, I'd say)

I get a butternut squash at our farmer's market each weekend for a dollar and a quarter, so that makes this dish very low-cost!  We actually had this last night.  I served the bisque with a simple spinach & strawberry salad sprinkled with shredded mozzarella cheese and apple cinnamon muffins.

I also sprinkled the bisque with nutmeg before serving.

Recipe: http://www.oprah.com/food/Butternut-Squash-Bisque

PUMPKIN MUFFINS (a healthier version)

For these, I roasted a pumpkin and made my own pumpkin puree. I bought a pie pumpkin at Trader Joe's for $1.69.  After cutting off the top, I cut it in quarters and put in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 50 minutesish. The peel comes off pretty easy, but have a knife handy for scraping.  Put in blender or food processor with a bit of water and pulse - fresh pumpkin puree!

My changes to recipe below: I used all purpose flour (unbleached, whole grain) for all of flour because I didn't have whole wheat flour. I don't have cloves. I HALFED the sugar - I always do this for muffin recipes. I used a whole fat greek yogurt. And I didn't put in the raisins - sounded weird; in my mind's taste, pumpkin and golden raisins didn't mesh well together. I also sprinkled cinnamon & sugar on top before baking. Mmmmm, they were sooooo good! Makes 12 regular size muffins.

Recipe: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/1219/Healthy-Pumpkin-Muffins87167.shtml


EGGPLANT PARMESAN LASAGNA (sooooo good, yum yum!) original recipe from Rachael Ray

Feed and fills four adults, I reckon. Plan ahead on this dish! Eggplant will need to be baked for 30 minutes or so before lasagna layering. Once eggplant baked, you will layer lasagna and put dish in oven for 40 minutes. So plan on at least 1.5 hours or so before dinner to begin this dish.

Ingredients:
olive oil
1 large eggplant (we get ours at the farmer's market for a dollar!)
garlic (chopped/minced/smashed - however you like your garlic!)
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes (or fresh)
salt and pepper
6 no-boil lasagna noodles (I use whole grain)
8 ounces(ish) of cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, and some for sprinkling
6 ounces(ish) of mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut eggplant into 1/3 inch thick slices. Drizzle olive oil onto parchment paper and coat eggplant slices in oil on baking sheet. Arrange in single layer and bake for 30 minutes or so, until lightly browned.

While eggplant in oven, in a large deep skillet, heat some olive oil over medium heat, adding a couple scoops of garlic (I confess I used the jarred kind, I just don't like my fingers smelling garlicy all night!). After a couple minutes, add tomatoes. Bring to a boil then lower heat and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes(ish). Add salt and pepper.

Line an 8x11 or 9x9 baking dish (I used glass) with parchment paper. Overhang is okay.

In a blender or food processor, puree the cottage cheese (I used a little more than half a 16 oz. tub). Add egg and 1/4 cup parmesan, and some salt and pepper. Pulse to combine.

Layers!
Spread third of tomato sauce on bottom of dish.
Three noodles.
Half of cottage cheese mixture.
Half of eggplant slices.
Third of mozzarella.
Tomato sauce.
Rest of noodles.
Rest of cottage cheese mix.
Rest of eggplant.
Third of Mozzarella. (Save rest for sprinkle at end)
Tomato sauce

Cover dish tightly with foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle rest of mozzarella and some parmesan on lasagna. Bake for 8-10 minutes more, until bubbly. Let cool for a bit then serve!

 GARLIC BREAD (semi-homemade using sandwich sliced loaf bread) :)

For four slices of sandwich bread. Preheat oven to 350 F (or keep at 400 if you are making lasagna above). Mix a couple teaspoons of garlic (2 cloves minced) and some dried or fresh parsley in with a 1/4 cup of softened butter.  Spread on bread slices.  Put in oven for 10 minutes then broil for a minute or two until lightly browned. Ta-da, garlic bread!