Eggplant and Squash Curry

4-6 servings - Prep time: 30 min - Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

3 or 4 plum tomatoes, or 1 can diced tomatoes

1-1 1/4 lbs kuri, pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

2 small red bell peppers, seeded, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

2 small onions, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 1-inch piece ginger root, peeled and grated

1-1 1/4 lb eggplant,  diced into bite-size pieces

2 Tbsp West Indian curry powder

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 cup mango chutney

2 cups chicken stock

Red rice

1 lime, zest and juice

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced on an angle

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For fresh tomatoes

• Score skin with a sharp knife in an X on the bottom of each tomato.
• Place tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds, then transfer to ice water bath to cool.
• Peel, halve and slice tomatoes and reserve. 

For the sauce

• Preheat the oven to 425 degree F.
• Toss the squash with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Arrange squash on baking sheet and roast 25-30 minutes, until tender and brown at edges. 

• Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in large skillet with tight fitting lid. 
• Add the peppers, onion, garlic, ginger and season with salt and pepper. 
• Sauté  vegetables for a few minutes.
• Add eggplant, curry, chili  powder and cardamom.
• Stir to combine, cover and cook 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until eggplant is tender.
• Stir in squash, tomatoes, chutney and stock.

Before serving

• Cook rice, adding lime zest to water.
• Add lime juice and scallions when rice is cooked. 

• Serve curry on rice with extra chutney if wanted.

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From www.foodnetwork.com

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

8-10 servings - Prep time: 60 min - Cook time: 90 min

Dough ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
about 6 Tbsp ice water

Filling ingredients:
1 fresh pumpkin or butternut squash or 1 can of pure pumpkin
3/4 cup golden brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt
1 pinch ground cloves
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

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Dough

• Mix flour, sugar and slat in a food processor.
• Add butter, pulse until coarse meal forms.
• Gradually add enough ice water to form moist clumps
• Gather dough into ball, divide in half, form 2 balls and flatten them into disks. 
• Wrap in plastic, chill for 2 hours or over night. 

Pumpkin puree

• Preheat over and 350ºF/175ºC.
• Cut the cleaned squash into quarters and place them rind down in a baking dish.
• Bake for 45-60 minutes until flesh is very soft. 
• Scrape of the flesh and whiz through a food processor until smooth.

Crust

• Preheat oven to 375ºF/190ºC.
• Cool dough on floured surface to the size of your glass pie dish.
• Transfer dough to dish, fold edges under and crimp. 
• Line crust with foil or parchment paper, fill with dry rice.
• Bake fo 15 minutes. 
• Remove foil or parchment paper and rice. 
• Bake until edges are light gold, about 7 minutes. 
• Reduce over temperature to 350ºF/175ºC.
• Cool for 10 minutes.

Pie

• Puree pumpkin in processor. Add sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and cloves.
• Add eggs, one at a time, pulsing after each addition. 
• Gradually add cream, processing just until blended, process 5 seconds longer.
• Pour filling into crust.
• Bake until edges are puffed and center is set about an hour. 
• Cool completely. Cover and chill.  

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From www.bonappetit.com and www.thekitchn.com

Mexican Style Black Beans

4 servings - Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 15 min

Ingredients:
12 oz black beans, canned or home cooked, drained
1 onion, minced
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp of your favorite hot sauce (cholula?)
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup water or broth
salt, to taste

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• Heat oil on medium heat in a sauce pan. Add onion and sauté until softened. Add garlic and cumin and saute until fragrant and soft. 
• Add black beans, hot sauce, water or broth and salt and add simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce thickens. 
• Serve topped with cilantro, onion, tomato and cheese. 

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Adapted from www.spicyspoonful.com

Grilled Moroccan Vegetable Skewers

10 skewers - Prep time: 15 min - Marinate time: 4 hours - Cook time: 15 min

Skewer ingredients:
2 medium zucchini, sliced in 1/3" rings
2 medium bell peppers, cut in 1" pieces
1 large yellow or sweet onion, sliced and separated in 1" pieces
1 lb small mushrooms, rinsed and dried
10 large wood skewers, soaked at least 30 minutes

Marinade ingredients:
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

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Marinade:

• Put all ingredients in food processor execpt for cilantro, parsley and veggies. Pulse 507 times to mince garlic. 
• Add cilantro, parsley then luse a few more times until cilantro and parsley are chopped.

Skewers:

• Rinse, dry and slice all the veggies. Transfer to large bowl. 
• Pour marinade over veggies, toss to combine and coat veggies evenly with marinade. Refrigerate for 4 hours. 
• Preheat grill. Skewer veggies on wet skewers so veggies aren't touching each other. 
• Use grill brush to oil grill. Grill over medium/low heat, turning every few minutes for even grilling. Grill until veggies are soft (about 15 minutes). 

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From natashaskitchen.com

Bulgogi beef

4 servings - Prep time: 10 minutes - Marinate time: 4 hours - Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
11 oz sliced beef sirloin, or other cut in 2mm slices.
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 sugar, brown sugar, pineapplejuice or honey
1 cup water
1/2 onion, sliced
1 green onion, cut in 2 inch pieces
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 pinch black pepper
1 tsp sesame seeds, optional
1 oz mushroom, optional

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• Ina large baowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, cold water. Add sliced onions, green onions, garlic, black pepper and sesame oil. Add half of sesame seeds, optional. Mix thoroughly until all sugar is dissolved.
• Add sliced meat making sure all the meat is immersed in the marinde. Cover and keep in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
• Remove meat from marinade and cook in frying pan on high heat for 5-10 minutes or until meat is just cooked. 
• Optional: wash and slice 2-3 mushrooms. Add the, to cooking meat. 
• Optional: Reduce the marinade in a pot until thickened. 
• Serve meat and reduced marinade. 

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Adapted from crazykoreancooking.com

Cajun Grilled Shrimp

6 servings - Prep time: 10 minutes - Marinate: Up to 24h - Cook time: 6 minutes

Ingredients:
2lbs shrimp, peeled, deveined
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp parley
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp paprika
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper (as needed)
3/4 tsp white pepper
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano

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• Mix together. 
• Marinade for up to 24 hours.
• Skewer and grill, 3 minutes per side or until tender. 
• Serve warm or refrigerate to serve later.

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From www.food.com

Asian Turkey Meatballs

• 4 servings - Prep time: 15 minutes - Cook time: 8 minutes

Ingredients: 
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 onion, finely chopped 
1 bunch cilantro finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten 
1 tablespoons sesame oil 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
Freshly ground black pepper 
Vegetable oil

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• Make meatballs: mix turkey, onion, cilantro, egg, sesame oil, soy sauce and several grindings of pepper in a bowl. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls.

• In a skillet over medium-high heat, generously cover bottom of pan with vegetable oil. Working in batches to avoid crowding, place meatballs in pan and cook, turning, until browned all over and cooked inside, about 8 minutes per batch. Arrange on a heated platter, spoon a little sauce over each meatball, and serve with toothpicks. If desired, keep warm in a 200-degree oven until ready to serve.

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Adapted from http://cooking.nytimes.com