Healthy fall dishes?

I always check out Food Wishes for fall food inspiration and I check the site "eat the seasons" before I go grocery shopping to help me decide what I will get that week. Right now I'm loving butternut squash roasted in sage butter. Peel and cube the squash, melt the butter and stir in freshly chopped sage. Toss sage butter with squash, salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees F for 40 min, stirring halfway through. So tasty!

I just bought a butternut squash at the store this past weekend - going to try it w/ the sage butter!

DIY Affordable Hot Apple Cider

(Instead of driving to the store and paying $6 for a half gallon jug of cider I decided to make my own and it worked with simple supplies. One jar of applebutter makes more than a gallon of hot apple cider for me.)

Ingredients:

· 1 Jar (16oz./454g) of pure unsweetened Apple Butter

· Granulated Sugar

· Ground Allspice

· Hot water/kettle

· Mug

Directions:

Select your favorite hot drink mug. Boil water as if you were preparing tea/coffee.
While water heats up, mix approximately two tablespoons of unsweetened applebutter with a dash of allspice and mix. You can add a teaspoon (or more) of sugar if you desire a sweeter apple drink. Add hot water and stir. Tah dah! You have delicious, hot, affordable apple cider!

http://juliasalbum.com/2014/11/butternut-squash-and-spinach-lasagna/

I made this last night and loved it!

Lentil, potato, pumpkin, and tomato curry

I made this yesterday (those serving sizes are huge, by the way; I think most people would be happy with a serving more in the 250 to 300 gram range).

Cook the lentils in the water at a simmer with the bay leaf according to the package directions (different types of lentils take different cooking times). I used red lentils, which cook fairly quickly, and most of them ended up fairly mushy, so I think another time I would try a longer-cooking lentil.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in the oil until it starts to soften and get translucent; dice the ginger and garlic and add with all the spices to the onion, and cook until the spices start to get fragrant (the original recipe, which came from Crescent Dragonwagon's "Passionate Vegetarian," also called for black or brown mustard seeds, but I didn't have any). Add to the simmering lentils when they're just barely cooked, along with the diced potatoes and carrots (carrots were not in the original recipe, but I decided to throw some in).

While the potatoes and carrots are cooking (I'd check them after about 10 minutes, depending on how large or small you dice them), the original recipe called for combining the stock (I used beef because that's what I had on hand, but the original recipe called for veggie stock -- 1 1/2 cups is not enough in this recipe, with all these spices, for the beef flavor to really come through), canned tomatoes with chilies, and canned pumpkins in a food processor, but I really didn't see the point -- the lentils had cooked down so much that I felt like a little chunkiness from the tomatoes would be nice. Anyway, I just added the last three ingredients directly to the soup pot when the potatoes and carrots were done, without dirtying the food processor. The original recipe also called for processing honey or maple syrup with the stock, pumpkin, and tomatoes, but I just forgot about. I swirled a little maple syrup on one bowl and a little molasses on the other, and it was a nice way to tame the heat a little.



Lentil, potato, pumpkin, and tomato curry (srvg = 489 g)
Servings 7
calories per serving
329


2 cup, Lentils
6 cup (8 fl oz), Water - Municipal
1.00 g, Spices, bay leaf

126.00 g, Onions, raw
0.67 tbsp, Oil - Vegetable, canola
6.00 g, Ginger root - Raw
2.01 cloves, Garlic, raw
0.50 pepper, Peppers, hot chili, green, raw (this was from a batch of hatch peppers I roasted, peeled, and froze last month - not in the original recipe)
3.00 g, Spices, cumin seed
2.00 g, Spices, coriander seed
0.25 tsp(s), Spices, cinnamon, ground
pinch of cayenne
0.50 tsp, Table Salt
0.50 tsp, ground, Spices, pepper, black

495.00 g, Potatoes, flesh and skin, raw, cut in small cubes
57.00 g, Carrots, raw, cut in small cubes

1.50 cup, Soup, stock, beef, home-prepared
1.13 Cup, Rotel Chunky Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (full 10 oz can)
1.74 cup (122 g), Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin (full 15 oz can)

Nutrition Facts
Servings 7.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 329
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 2 g 3 %
Saturated Fat 0 g 1 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %
Sodium 412 mg 17 %
Potassium 549 mg 16 %
Total Carbohydrate 59 g 20 %
Dietary Fiber 15 g 58 %
Sugars 7 g
Protein 19 g 37 %
Vitamin A 155 %
Vitamin C 45 %
Calcium 7 %
Iron 28 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

I love a combo of roasted sweet potatoes and black beans. You can make enchiladas or skip the tortillas. Serve with avocado slices, salsa and sour cream. I season canned beans with cumin, sauteed onion and jalapeno.

This week I made a lentil/mushroom meatloaf that is delicious. I got the recipe on Pinterest.

I love soups.. butternut squash soup, black bean soup and red lentil with coconut milk.

In the fall, I make a huge pot of French onion soup base. Basically, about 10 lbs of onions sliced and simmered for a long time with a little sugar, salt, and 3 tsp dried thyme. Simmer till carmelized Then add ab 1-1 1/2 c dry sherry and let it cook off some. I freeze in ice cube trays and store in a baggies. A couple cubes plus broth makes fast french onion soup. Some sour cream, garlic powder, pepper, and salt make the best homemade dip, I add a few to flavor mashed potatoes, or to mixed soups.

Also, calling it a "recipe" is a stretch, but I absolutely adore plain roasted butternut squash.

1) poke holes in the squash and microwave 1 minute
2) peel and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
3) toss in a bowl with a tablespoon of canola oil, salt, and pepper
4) place on a sheet pan, leaving space between the squash pieces (very important!), and roast at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until browned

I love this thread!! And I second Kayt2206's Spaghetti Squash idea (I didn't know you could microwave it so I've been roasting for 45 mins every time lol - Will DEFINITELY be using that idea in the future). I just made some "pasta" with shrimp I found the other day:

Spaghetti Squash
Olive Oil
Butter (optional but tasty)
Garlic
Shrimp - I use frozen precooked
Lemon
Dijon Mustard
Red pepper flakes
Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350 F, line baking sheet with foil
Cut a spaghetti squash in half (its a workout) and scrape out the seeds, then place squash face down on baking sheet (I spray sheet with pam first too)
Cook squash for 45 minutes. When it's ready, scrape with a spoon and set "spaghetti" aside

On the stove-top, get a BIG frying pan over medium heat
Chop 3+ cloves garlic, fry in 1tbs butter and 2 glugs oil (might seem like a lot, but this will become sauce for the whole dish)
When fragrant, add your shrimp and heat it all up/mix.
Add your spaghetti squash to the frying pan
Add the juice of 1 lemon, red pepper and dijon mustard to taste, and mix it all up again
Then you're pretty much done. you can mess around with herbs/spices if you want to make it fancier. When serving, I like to add shredded parmesan on top.