Grilled Winter Squash

Adapted from Food.com, with sauce suggestions adapted from New York Times and How Sweet Eats

Ingredients: 

• 1 winter squash, such as pumpkin or delicata
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh aromatic herb, such as rosemary or sage, chopped
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Heat grill to medium-high.
2. Cut the squash vertically into ¾ inch slices. Remove the seeds and stringy parts.
3. Brush both sides of each slice liberally with olive oil.
4. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh herbs.
5. Place the slices on the grill for about 5 minutes a side or until dark grill marks appear. Turn and grill the other side until you can easily pierce the squash with a fork.
6. Since some of the salt tends to fall off during the grilling process, serve with a small dish of additional sea salt.

Bonus! Two sauces you can try for your nutrient-dense yet tender grilled squash: 

1. Tahini yogurt drizzle: combine ¼ cup room temperature and stirred tahini, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, pinch of ground cayenne, 2 grated garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 cup plain yogurt, and salt, to taste. Drizzle over your grilled squash!
2. Sage brown butter bean dip: Melt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat. Whisk constantly. Add in 10-12 sage leaves and continue to whisk until brown crystals form and the mixture smells deep and nutty. Remove from heat, take out sage leaves and set the browned butter aside to cool. Next, purée 2 cans of cannellini beans in a food processor with 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Stream in the brown butter while blending, reserving some for topping. Stream in 2 tablespoons of ice water and blend, then blend with the sage leaves. Put in serving dish and drizzle remaining brown butter on top. Enjoy as a dip for your grilled squash!

Grilled Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients:

• 4 poblano peppers
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• ¼ cup pepita seeds
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1 cup yellow rice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
• ½ cup plain greek yogurt (optional)

Instructions:

1. Prepare your rice: Boil 2 cups salted water. Add yellow rice, cover and lower heat. Cook for about 15 minutes. Fluff with fork when done.
2. On a preheated grill roast your poblanos for about 10 minutes or until the skins begin to blister and char.
3. Place peppers into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes.
4. In a medium skillet add the butter and saute the onion and red bell pepper until soft for about 5 minutes. Once cooked place into a medium bowl.
5. In the same skillet toast the pepita seeds for about 3 minutes.
6. Place into bowl with onions, peppers, diced tomato, cooked rice, salt, pepper and cilantro. Mix well.
7. Carefully remove skins from poblanos.
8. With a paring knife or your fingernail (the poblano with be tender), make a slit in the poblano from bottom to top. Pull and discard the seeds and inner membranes, being careful not to tear the rest of the poblano.
9. With a spoon stuff poblanos with rice mixture. Top with cheese.
10. Cover a section of the grill with foil and place the poblanos back on the grill for about 5 to 10 minutes until cheese melts.
11. Top with a dollop of yogurt and cilantro, to taste.

Southern-Style Slow Cooker Collard Greens

Ingredients:  Instructions:

1. Fill up a clean sink halfway with cool water. Add 2 Tbsp of white vinegar. Put the whole collard leaves into the water, stir them for a couple minutes with your hands or a big spoon - this removes any of the sand or dirt that may have stuck to the leaves.
2. Once the leaves are clean, take them out and remove the thick central stem: stack a few leaves on top of each other with stems aligned, then cut it out with a sharp knife.
3. After the stems are removed, chop all of the leaves into 1-inch squares or strips. Collards will wilt quite a bit during cooking, so there's no need to cut them smaller.
4. Spray the bowl of your slow cooker lightly with cooking spray, add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the liquid smoke, soy sauce, and black pepper. Lightly mix and cover with a lid.
5. Set the slow cooker on low for 3-4 hours. Ideally, you might need to stir the greens once or twice during this time, but if you can't, they will cook just fine without stirring.
6. About 10 minutes before the end, add the liquid smoke, soy sauce, and black pepper, adjusting the flavors to taste.