Crockpot Moroccan Turkey Stew

This one is originally from the foodnetwork. It is a great fall stew with a cilantro-parsley sauce to include. I made the sauce, but I think it is optional. It is really delicious with or without it.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• salt
• 4 skinless bone-in turkey thighs (about 4 pounds)
• 1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
• Two 15 ounce cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with juices
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 8 medium carrots, cut into 1.5 inch pieces
• 3 medium red onions, halved and cut into wedges
• 2 whole dried red chiles
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 cups cilantro
• 1 cup fresh parsley
• 1 close garlic, smashed
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Combine the allspice and 3 tsp salt in a small bowl. Season the turkey thighs with half the salt mixture in a 5-quart slow cooker.
2. Toss the squash, chickpeas, tomatoes, apricots, raisins, carrots, onions, and chiles with the remaining spiced salt.
3. Pour the vegetables over the turkey. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
4. Spoon the vegetables and broth into bowls. Remove and discard the turkey bones and place meat on top of the vegetables.
5. Juice the lemon and pulse with the cilantro, parsley, garlic, cumin and 1 tsp salt in a food processor.
6. Add the oil and process until smooth. Serve the stew in bowls and drizzle with the cilantro-parsley sauce.

Raspberry-Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

This recipe is absolutely amazing. I can’t think of anything more delicious. I found this recipe on recipeboy.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter at room temp
• 2 large eggs
• 1.5 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
• 1 cup halved raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended.
5. Stir in the flour mixture, just until moist.
6. Stir in the chocolate chunks and then gently stir in the raspberries. If you want, you can sprinkle a few additional chocolate chunks and raspberries on the top to make it look pretty.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Eggplant Parmigiana

This is a great recipe to have on the site because it is easy and is just a great comfort meal in my opinion. This one is originally a Mario Batali recipe.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 2 large eggplants
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups tomato sauce of your choice
• 1 bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Slice the eggplants into 6 pieces each, about 1-1.5 inches thick. Lightly season each disk with salt and pepper and place on the oiled sheet.
3. Bake the eggplant until the slices begin to turn deep brown on top, about 12-15 minutes.
4. Remove the eggplants from the oven and let them cool.
5. Lower the oven temp to 350 degrees. In a brownie pan or casserole dish, place the largest 4 eggplant slices evenly spaced apart.
6. Over each slice, spread 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce and sprinkle with a teaspoon of the chopped basil.
7. Place one slice of mozzarella over each and sprinkle with 1 tsp of grated parmigiano.
8. Place the smaller slices of eggplant over each of the disks and repeat with the tomato sauce, basil, and 2 cheeses. Repeat again until all the ingredients are used.
9. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the eggplant dish and bake until the cheese melts and the tops are a little brown, about 20 minutes.
10. Enjoy!

Squash and Spinach Pasta Rotolo

This turned out to be a really really good dish, originally based off a recipe from Jamie Oliver (with some slight alterations).

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 red onion
• olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
• about 2-2.5 cups spinach
• ground nutmeg
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 jar of tomato sauce (pick your favorite)
• 6 large fresh sheets of pasta (I ended up making my own because I found this hard to find)
• about 1/2 cup of feta cheese
• about a 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut the squash in half and cook OR poke some holes in it and cook whole for about an hour or until soft.
3. Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the onion and put it into a medium pan on medium-low with some olive oil, thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the spinach and allow it to cook until the spinach is cooked down. Remove from heat.
5. Remove the squash and cut in half if not already done. Remove the seeds and skin and mash up with a fork.
6. Peel and finely slice the garlic and put it into a frying pan with some oil and saute for a few minutes.
7. Transfer to a glass baking dish and pour in the tomato sauce. Add a little water to the tomato sauce and swirl around to get any remaining sauce and pour into the baking dish.
8. Lay out the pasta sheets, brush with a little water and then divide and spread the squash over the sheets.
9. Next, add the spinach mixture and then crumbled feta.
10. Roll up the sheets and cut into about 4 inch chunks. Place these side by side in the tomato sauce.
11. Grate some parmesan cheese over top and sprinkle some olive oil.
12. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden and crisp.