Escarole, Bacon and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Dried Apricots and Pepitas

Roasted Squash:

2-3 cups butternut squash (or pumpkin), peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces

3 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt

Salad:

1 head escarole, or Romaine Lettuce, roughly chopped

2-3 slices cooked bacon, chopped

½ cup dried apricots, thinly sliced

¼ cup roasted and salted pepitas

Vinaigrette:

1 shallot minced

2 tablespoons grainy mustard

2 tablespoons honey

¼ cup Balsamic vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

kosher salt

· Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the squash with the olive oil and sprinkle it with kosher salt. Roast the squash for 15-18 minutes until golden browned on the edges and fork tender. Set aside to cool.

· In a small bowl whisk together the vinaigrette and season to taste with kosher salt.

· In a large bowl combine the escarole, bacon, apricots and pepitas with the butternut squash. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the top and gently toss to coat. Season to taste with kosher salt and serve immediately.

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

On the Menu for delivery Week after next. I love shortbread cookies!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons baking cocoa

Directions

1. In a small bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar and cocoa; add to creamed mixture. Beat until dough holds together, about 3 minutes.

2. Pat into a 9×4-in. rectangle. Cut into 2×1-1/2-in. strips. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork.

3. Bake at 300° for 20-25 minutes or until set. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Easy Dairy Free Key Lime Pie that’s Very Low in Sugar!

1 can (13.5 ounces) organic coconut milk

1 banana

1 tablespoon arrowroot

3 organic  eggs

1/8 teaspoon unrefined sea salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice (NO substitutions!)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 Tablespoon Lime zest

1 prepared pie crusts (gluten free pie crusts are available at the health food store.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Prebake pie crusts about 14 minutes, using a pie crust guard.

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Pour filling into prepared crust and bake in middle of oven for 50 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools), then chill, covered, at least 4 hours before serving. Serve cold

Passion fruit Glazed Shrimp

photo by; Becky Luigart-Stayner

Original recipe on My Recipes (although I have changed the recipe)

Passion fruit Glazed Shrimp

Serves 4

1/2 cup passion fruit nectar or Pomegranate juice and Tamarind juice (if you can’t find nectar)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 lime wedges

1. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add passion fruit pulp, stirring well, and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; cool 15 minutes.

2. Strain passion fruit mixture through a sieve into a large bowl; discard seeds. Add lime juice, soy sauce, red pepper, and salt, stirring well. Set 1/2 cup passion fruit mixture aside. Add shrimp to remaining passion fruit mixture, and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate 15 minutes.

3. Preheat broiler to medium.

4. Thread 4 shrimp on each of 8 (10-inch) skewers. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Broil under broiler 2 minutes on each side or until done, basting with reserved 1/2 cup passion fruit mixture. Serve with lime wedges.

Bacon BBQ Chicken Bombs

A delightful bite sized chicken wrapped around (dairy free) Cream Cheese with Jalapenos wrapped in bacon and baked dipped in BBQ Sauce (very mild as I use only a small amount of jalapeno). Baked until the chicken is done and the bacon is crispy, then coated in BBQ sauce and baked a little bit more.

Serves 5

10 boneless skinless chicken fillets
5 jalapenos, de-seeded, sliced in half lengthwise
4 ounces soy cream cheese, softened
salt and pepper to taste
20 slices bacon
1 cup barbecue sauce

1) Wash jalapenos, cut stem off, slice lengthwise, remove seeds and clean out center. Rinse jalapenos a second time.

2) In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese until well blended. Fill each jalapeno half with about 1 Tbs or little more of cheese mixture.

3) Place filled jalapeno half, cheese side down on chicken fillets and roll chicken around jalapeno. It doesn’t always close the way you think it should. No worries! The bacon will pull it all together.

4) Wrap 2 pieces of bacon (one at a time) tightly around the rolled chicken, start at one end, wrap half the fillet and finish the 2nd half with the other piece of bacon, and tuck bacon into itself to seal ends closed. You do not need toothpicks, because it all comes together in the cooking process.

5) Preheat oven to 400 degree and place chicken bombs on a foil lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, turning once to help cook the bacon. Reduce heat to 375 degree, line another baking sheet or pan, and place chicken bombs in
a new one.

6) Brush each chicken bomb with barbecue sauce, then use a spatula to flip them over to the other side, and brush the tops with more sauce and return to the oven for 5-6 minutes.

7) Remove from oven, brush on more sauce, and place under broil setting for a few
minutes so bacon can crisp completely, and the chicken is totally cooked through. 
Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

1 ¼ cups Bisquick Gluten Free mix or Bob’s Redmill Baking Mix

½ cup packed light brown sugar

¾ cup fat-free (skim) milk

½ cup butter, melted

½ teaspoon lemon extract

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla

2 eggs

¼ cup diced fresh or frozen blueberries

1 teaspoon Bisquick Gluten Free mix

10 fresh strawberry slices

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 10 regular-size muffin cups.

2. In medium bowl, stir 1 1/4 cups Bisquick mix and the brown sugar with whisk. Mix blueberries with dried ingredients (this keeps them, from sinking in the dough as they bake). In small bowl, stir milk, butter, vanilla and egg with whisk until well blended. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.

3. Bake 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Serve warm.