Stir Fried Pea Shoots Recipe with Garlic and Chilies
(serves 2)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
a pinch chili flakes
4 cups packed pea shoots, roughly chopped

Heat a large skillet to medium and add olive oil, garlic and chili flakes. The oil should bubble around the garlic but not burn. Cook the garlic and chilies, stirring them for about 3 minutes, or until garlic softens and starts to turn golden. Add pea shoots and stir well to coat evenly in the oil and garlic. Stir them regularly as they will cook quickly and you want them to cook evenly. They will take about 2 minutes to wilt down. Serve immediately.

Cold Lemony Asparagus Salad

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends removed.

Lemon vinaigrette dressing:
1/3C vegetable oil
1/4C lemon juice
1/4C sliced green onions
1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

First blanche the asparagus. To blanche the asparagus put it in boiling water for 1 minute and then immerse in ice water to stop the cooking.

In a container with a tight lid combine all vinaigrette ingredients and shake to combine, asna asparagus and shake again to toss. Chill until you are ready to serve and you can serve it cold or at room temperature.

Parsnip Fries Recipe
(serves 2)
Adapted from Oh She Glows

2 large parsnips
1 tablespoon almond butter
2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400F. In a bowl, whisk together nut butters, oil and salt. Peel the parsnips and chop off the root at the end. Trim into ~1 cm square sticks 4-6″ in length. I discarded any really misshapen sticks or thin ends to encourage even cooking. Add parsnips to the bowl and massage with your hands to thoroughly coat each fry.

Cover a cooking sheet with parchment and line up parsnips on sheet. Bake for 35-50 minutes (mine took 40).

Creamy Baked Leeks
(Serves 3-4)

2 cups croutons
2 large leeks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided
2 tablespoon cream

Preheat oven to 375F. Chop all dark green away from leeks and cut into 1 cm rounds. Rinse well in water. If they are very dirty, soak in cold water and then drain. In a heavy dutch casserole or oven safe pot heat olive oil to medium low. Add leeks, thyme, butter and a heavy pinch of salt. Turn to medium and cover, stirring regularly. The leeks, should sweat, sweeten and soften, it will take about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 of the parmesan and the cream. There should still be some liquid, if there isn’t add a splash of water. Stir in croutons and sprinkle over remaining Parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes or until browned on top. Serve hot.

Baked Squash with Basil and Walnuts
(serves 4)

1 large buttercup squash
1/4 cup walnuts
1 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Cut squash in half. Scoop out seeds and stringy insides and discard. Place face down on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until very tender. Allow to cool enough to handle. Scoop out flesh into a bowl. (*Tip*: Roast it the night before, it will be perfectly fine cooling on your counter overnight and it will be much less prep work when you are ready for to put together the dish.)

Meanwhile put walnuts in a food processor and pulse until you have small walnut pieces. Add basil and salt and pepper and turn food processor on. Stream in olive oil slowly while machine is running. Once all the oil is incorporated stop the processor and scrape down the sides. Pulse a few more times to make sure you have an even pesto. It should be medium thick. Add to the bowl and stir into the squash. Scoop into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.

This can be made ahead and it reheats quite well.

Spicy Peanut Sauce Recipe
Adapted from the Joy of Cooking
(makes ~2 cups)

1 cup natural smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons ponzu sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons sriracha (or to taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup freshly brewed black tea

Combine peanut butter, vinegar, ponzu, soy, garlic, sriracha, sugar and salt in a food processor and combine. Move to a bowl and stir in tea and sesame oil.

Twice Baked Butternut Squash
(serves 2)
1 medium squash
3 heaping tablespoons sour cream
salt and pepper
two scallions, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
a pinch garam masala (optional)
1/2 lemon juiced

Preheat oven to 425F. Cut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and discard. Put squash, cut side up in a baking dish and add water to come up 1/4″ on the squash. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for ~40 minutes or until the squash is nice and tender when pierced by a fork.

Remove the pan from the oven, uncover and remove squash from water, let cool. Scoop flesh out of squash into a mixing bowl leaving 1/4″ in the bottom of each squash half. Add sour cream, scallions, parsley, lemon juice and curry if you are using it.  Taste and season as necessary, you will want lots of pepper and a healthy dash of salt. Scoop evenly into squash halves and bake for 30 more minutes at 425F. (If you find you don’t have enough filling to fill both squashes you can bake the remainder in a ramekin.)

Crispy Cauliflower with Lemon and Salt
(serves 2-3)

1 head of cauliflower
2 lemons
salt
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Wash and dry cauliflower and break into large florets. In a bowl toss cauliflower with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the zest of the two lemons and a healthy sprinkling of salt. Toss well. Distribute evenly on a cookie sheet and put in the oven. Check every ten minutes, when it starts to brown, flip cauliflower over and squeeze half a lemon worth of juice over top. Continue cooking cauliflower, flipping every ten minutes or so and adding lemon juice until it is crisp tender and slightly browned all over. Remove from oven and squeeze over remaining lemon juice. Serve hot.

Mashed Parsnip and Potatoes with Chives and Cream Cheese Recipe
(serves 3-4)

5 medium parsnips
3 medium red potatoes
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons cream cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Fill a pot with cold salted water. Peel the parsnips and chop into ~1 inch sized pieces and add to the pot as you go. Clean potatoes and peel if desired or leave unpeeled. Chop into pieces slightly smaller then the parsnip and add to the pot.

Bring to a simmer and cook until both parsnips and potatoes are tender, test both. (It took about 20 minutes for mine.) Drain the potatoes and put back in hot pan. Add a good helping of salt and pepper and mash roughly with a fork until more or a less even. Add cream cheese and chives and whip in.
If you are making slightly ahead of time, this keeps well in an oven pour into a baking dish, smooth the top and sprinkle with pepper. It will brown nicely, but if you are going to have it in for a long while then cover with tin foil so it doesn’t dry out.

Pea Puree Recipe
(makes ~3/4 cup)

1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon milk
1-2 tablespoons chicken stock, vegetable stock or water(as needed)
Salt and pepper

Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil. Add peas and cook for 4 minutes or until tender. Drain and add to blender along with butter, milk and salt and pepper. Blend and add stock or water to loosen as needed. Taste and correct for seasoning.