During Christmas break Kristine, Chloe, Shawna, Juniper, and Satchel came over and we made a variety of delicious food for lunch. I was itching to make this Butternut Squash Mac and Cheeze recipe from OhSheGlows.com and Kristine was itching to make California rolls, and Shawna had a bunch of deliciously ripe pears so we made a triple batch of this Pear Cardamom Crisp Recipe for dessert.
For dairy-free folks the Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese is just delicious. It doesn’t really taste like cheese, but is a really nice way of eating cashews and butternut squash purée. This recipe makes a large batch, and I found with the leftovers I would sauté up a pound of ground beef with my Italian Spice Blend and add a can of tomatoes and then toss that with pasta and dollop a huge scoop of the Butternut Squash Cheese on top for the most delicious meal.
For the California Rolls, we used frozen red peppers from York Farm that we thawed and sliced thinly, York Farm Parsnips, and Prairie Drifter Farm Carrots. Topped the rolls with sesame seeds. Perfectly ripe avocados would have been a delicious addition as well. You can use whatever veggies you prefer. For a rough outline of how to make the rolls, click here.
Here is the sushi rice recipe:
4 cups freshly prepared cooked white rice (still warm)
2/3 cup rice vinegar
2 TB sugar (I probably used a little less)
1 tsp salt
1 piece kombu (1-inch square)
Combine all of the ingredients for the seasoned vinegar and simmer until sugar and salt is dissolved. Then, toss the rice lightly with a wooden spoon or paddle in a wooden bowl over and over to cool the rice down until it is no longer steaming. Then, add 1 TB of the vinegar mixture, stir, and repeat.
On top of the Pear Cardamom Crisp I dolloped some vegan cashew honey dipping sauce that Shawna had on hand. She used it for a fruit dipping sauce. It tasted great as a part of the crisp. We also included a few apricots that I had frozen from this past season with the ripe pears.