Links: Brussels sprouts, cauliflower cakes, butternut squash risotto, and dessert

We had Brussels sprouts in the box this past week, so I spent a little time searching for recipes. Here are some that look good:

• Basic recipe for roasting Brussels sprouts
• Roasted Brussels sprouts with pears and pistachios
• Roasted Brussels sprouts with pecorino and almonds
• Brussels sprouts recipe from David Chang (all things David Chang are good)

Pan-fried cauliflower cakes, a link sent by the husband. Another reason I would like to see more cauliflower in the boxes. Perhaps I should go buy some to try some of the many cauliflower recipes that I've seen recently.

Butternut squash and saffron risotto. I have a large butternut squash and a couple of smaller honeynut squash, so I'll likely make this recipe in the next week or two.

Playing with your food:

• Sculpting animals with grated daikon radish. Not much instruction on the page; they want you to buy their book. However, it's worth looking at the photos.
• Totoro pancakes. Unlikely that I'd make them, as it seems too fussy to have to frost pancakes.
• Totoro cake. I am more likely to try to make this, as it's a single Totoro, not a bunch of little pancake Totoros.

Finally, dessert: Food52's Banana butterscotch pudding. Sounds like a good cold weather dessert.

Roasted oyster mushrooms

I bought some oyster mushrooms at the store last week.

I decided to roast them with some onion. I set the oven for 375, then prepared the mushrooms. I washed them, then cut them into their individual mushroom pieces. (I saved the thick core in a container in the freezer for later use as veggie stock.) I added sliced onions, salt, pepper, thyme, and olive oil, then stirred.

I roasted them for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes for the first two times, then every 5 after the first 20 minutes. They probably were fine to eat after 20 minutes, but I wanted the onions to cook more.

These roasted mushrooms make an easy side dish. Any type of fresh mushroom should be good roasted, although cooking times are likely to vary.

Salad bar: pomegranate seeds and raw beets

I bought Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi as a present for someone. (I think that the recipient can guess who she is. Surprise....) I had to skim it before sending it. (Yup, you're getting a pre-read book.) One of the first recipes is for a tomato and pomegranate salad, which can also be found online.

I changed the recipe in two ways. First, I used chopped raw sweet onion instead of chopped raw red onion, partly because I had a sweet onion but no red onion and partly because I can't look at a raw red onion in a salad now without hearing Scott Conant, a frequent judge on Chopped, whining about raw red onion. (Yes, I do watch too much television.) Second, I put chopped parsley on the salad instead of oregano. The salad was great. It sounded like it'd be odd, but it really worked.

Next up, Oregon salad with a few modifications. I didn't have any red cabbage, so I used a mix of kale and red oak leaf lettuce. I also added pomegranate seeds to the salad. (I had bought a couple of pomegranates. If you don't know about getting seeds out in water, which is easy and will leave your hands unstained, check out this video from Saveur.)

Verdict: The red oak leaf lettuce did not hold up as well as the red cabbage does, but the pomegranate seeds were a nice addition.

I had read in several places that you could use raw beets in salads. I had also read that you could use raw Brussels sprouts. So I made a salad that incorporated both. This salad had romaine lettuce, thinly sliced raw beets, thinly sliced brussel sprouts, julienned raw kohlrabi, and pepitas. I made a warm dressing by sautéing a couple of shallots in olive oil, then adding a heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard and some white wine vinegar.

I'll admit that I was worried that this salad could end up being horrible. But it wasn't. It turned out really well. I'd definitely make this salad again.

What's in the box, 10/30/14 edition

In this week's box: romaine lettuce, Brussels sprouts, daikon radish, dill, leeks, fennel, kohlrabi, potatoes and kale.

I've seen quite a few recipes for Brussels sprouts that have them shaved into thin slices, raw, for salads. As we have lots of Brussels sprouts, maybe I'll try some raw in a salad and sauté the rest.

I will likely stuff the acorn squash, as I really enjoyed it that way. The fennel will likely be roasted with carrots, perhaps apples too. I'll make a quick pickle of the kohlrabi. And I should freeze the dill, as well as some of the bunches of herbs from prior weeks. It should come as no surprise that the kale will be made into pesto.

The daikon might be destined for daikon cakes, although I'll likely wait to make those until we have more daikon radishes in the box. This first one will be good in stir fries, fancy ramen, and Momofuku vinegar pickles.

Links: recipes for fall veggies

Anyone else find themselves needing extra caffeine as we head into the dark season?

Latte at the Book & Bar in Portsmouth, NH,
which sells used books and good coffee

Many links this week, mostly for fall veggies:

• Farro with acorn squash and kale from Sean Brock's new cookbook, Heritage (which I haven't bought, but we did eat at Husk in Charleston, SC, last spring).

• Food52 has a collection of potato recipes. The potato dominos look good, but I wonder if they're too fussy to make.

• Spicy pumpkin soup with bittersweet chocolate. Intriguing.

• The Crepes of Wrath has a recipe for cauliflower fried rice, in which a head of cauliflower is pulsed in the food processor to a rice-like texture. I either need more cauliflower to come in the box or to go to a farm stand to buy some. I've been enjoying roasted cauliflower, but I want to try other cauliflower recipes too.

• Roasted pear and chard salad from Food52. I've been making chard oshitashi with every bunch of chard we receive in the boxes. Although I really enjoy the chard oshitashi, perhaps it's time to try something new.

• It's almost time to start thinking about Christmas cookies. I usually make the same types every year, but this cookie made with almond meal might be a good one to add to the list.

• Finally, husband sent this link to "zucchini made to look good." Zucchini season is over, but I'll have to remember to make him these zucchini bars with browned butter frosting next year.

Roasted broccoli

Just as I've been roasting cauliflower, I've also been roasting broccoli.

Unlike the cauliflower, I cut the head of broccoli in half. I suppose you could cut off the stem to make the head of broccoli look more like a head of cauliflower, then roast it whole, florets up.

I brush olive oil on both sides, then sprinkle on salt and pepper. I roast with the cut side down. If the broccoli is on its own, I set the oven for 400 degrees. It'll take about a half hour to roast (longer is fine too as it adds more charring and flavor). With something else in the oven, roast it at the temperature for the other recipe. Test the broccoli after the first 20 minutes, then every 5-10 until it reaches the tenderness that you like.

I have been enjoying the roasted broccoli and cauliflower much more than their steamed counterparts. It's good cold as well, if you have leftovers.

Stuffed acorn squash

A few weeks ago, there was an acorn squash in the box. I decided to try making a stuffed acorn squash. I set the over to 400 degrees, then cut open the squash.

I took out the seeds and put the halves on a baking sheet covered with foil. I then brushed each half with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.

I put the squash into the oven to roast while I made the filling. I also roasted endive and broccoli at the same time.

For the filling, I first sautéed a shallot in olive oil, then added some chopped sage to cook for a minute. At the same time, I was boiling some mushroom orzo. (Other grains would work well, I think. You could try couscous, plain orzo, quinoa, rice, etc.)

Once the orzo was done, I mixed it with the sage and shallots.

I had a piece of wensleydale with cranberries leftover from a party.

I chopped it into small pieces and added it to the filling.

By now, the squash halves had been roasting for about a half hour. I took them out to add the filling.

Then roasted them for another half hour or so, until the squash was tender.

The filling developed a nice crunch on top. The whole dish turned out well.

I had thought about mixing in some nuts as well, which I think would have been good too. Overall, I think you could try many combinations. I'd have an onion, leek, scallion, or shallot base, then add some herbs. Use whatever grain you have. Add some dried fruit and/or nuts. And you know what I think about adding cheese. If you come up with good combinations, please leave them in the comments.