Chipotle Roasted Butternut Squash Puree

Today's weather reached a high of 57° and everyone was running around soaking up the sunshine and making up for a season of vitamin D deficiency. The return of the warmth and the sunshine has only increased my desire for spring vegetables, I have almost fallen for the lure of the California asparagus on sale at the co-op on several occasions. However I have stood firm and slunk home to the last of my winter CSA.

One of the CSA vegetables that I have the most trouble with is butternut squash. I can use it up without a problem by roasting it and then making soup, waffles and muffins. However I long for a savory vegetable use for it. Somehow adding it to baked goods does not feel like I am fully utilizing it. The other day I had a sudden inspiration of a sweet potato recipe we love where I could substitute the butternut squash. Lewis and I both loved the end result, if my boys ate spicy food they also would have loved it. Although I am thinking I can do a little better on their rendition next time with some smoked spanish paprika.

I made this happy discovery because I was craving Alton Brown's Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes and also feeling really poor and unable to buy any sweet potatoes. So I decided to make it with butternut squash. The smokiness and heat of the chipotles in adobo made the butternut squash richer and creamier while enhancing their sweetness. At first Sebastian liked the tame version I made for them by only adding the adobo sauce, but then he didn't eat anymore. After trying a bite of the mild one I realized I was not aggressive enough with the seasoning.

Chipotle Roasted Butternut Squash Puree 2 ways

1 butternut squash

approximately 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp adobo sauce

1/2 tsp salt or more to taste

smoked spanish paprika to taste (only is making a mild version)

1 1/2 whole chipotle pepper in adobo chopped fine (this comes in a small can and is available at most grocery stores. The unused portion can be transfered to a jar and stored in the fridge)

Turn the oven on to preheat to 350°, the oven does not have to be fully preheated before adding the squash. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and strings (I find a grapefruit spoon does a great job of scooping out the seeds). Brush the cut sides with extra virgin olive oil and place cut side down on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven until a fork can easily slide into the skin and flesh. It should be really tender. This will take approximately 40 minutes. When the squash is tender either scoop the flesh out of the skin or peel of the skin. Either place the flesh in a blender, bowl of a food processor or if you have an immersion blender in a bowl. Puree the squash until smooth. If you have extra time before eating it is nice to put the bowl back in the oven to thicken the puree for about 15 minutes, if you don't have time just proceed.

Add butter, adobo sauce and salt and mix well. If you have anyone who does not like spicy food remove a portion to another bowl and add smoked paprika to taste. Add chopped chile to main portion of squash puree and mix well.

Black Bean Burgers

Last spring in preparation for going to hear Michael Pollan speak, I read, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto I realized that many of the veggie meat substitutes we ate were highly processed, with all the implications to the planet and our health as a Twinkie. So while it may be lower in fat then the real thing, the ingredients are shipped all over the country and many of the ingredients are not possible to make in your home kitchen. You can make them but you need chemicals and chemical reactions to produce them. So gone are the veggie bacon, veggie sausage and veggie burgers from my freezer. Sigh. We aren't vegetarians but these products were so convenient.

I tried to make veggie burgers last spring. My 6 year old was so excited for a "homemade veggie burger", right up until the moment he tasted them. Well this months Gourmet has a black bean burger recipe. It looked so appetizing in the photo and the recipe was easy, so I decided to try again to make veggie burgers.

The recipe called for 2 cans of black beans, however I used dried. Dried beans are cheaper, tastier, lower in sodium and are not mushy. I have figured out 2 tricks to make cooking with dried beans easier. The first one is, just go ahead and soak and cook up some beans. Once they are done look up recipes and cook with the beans now residing in your fridge. Cooked beans in the fridge are like beautiful produce you found at the farmer's market that you bought on a whim. (No, this doesn't mean you should leave them there until they become compost). Once it is lounging in the fridge you have to be creative and use it.

The second and often harder approach for me, is plan ahead. Cooking dried beans is really not that time consuming in a hands on way. So if you want to cook with beans for dinner, remember to soak the beans the night before.

So for these burgers I rinsed, sorted and began soaking the beans before going to bed the night before. Cooking them for dinner took about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. If you cannot do that the night you need them soak them overnight and while making dinner on the second night cook them until tender. Then put them in the fridge for the next nights dinner prep. You can also just used canned beans, I give you permission.

The first time I made the Black Bean Burgers my 3 year old was in the kitchen watching, snacking on black beans. His brother was not much of a bean eater so I swore him to secrecy, and went ahead and prepared the burgers. At dinner that night 3 out of 4 of my family members loved them. Surprisingly the 3 year old bean lover is the one who would not eat them. However I think that is related to the 3 bowls of beans he had snacked on during dinner preparation.

I prepared them again last night, making even more changes to the recipe based on the first attempt. One of the changes is because of my new jar of Smoked Spanish Paprika that I got from a Penzy's order that Cheryl of Cranky Cakes and I split. They were even better last night with the new additions and are now firmly part of my repertoire. Last night my 6 year old even figured out they were made with beans and now says he loves beans because "they are so yummy". The 3 year old again opted for the bowl of plain beans, because now he remembers refusing them the first time. If I come up with any other great changes I will let you know.

Black Bean Burgers

Adapted from Gourmet, February 2009

1 cup dried beans

1 bay leaf

1 onion chopped

1 tsp butter

2 garlic cloves, germ removed if any, and minced

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp smoked paprika (If you don't have smoked use regular sweet paprika)

1 tsp dried mixed herbs (I used a mix of thyme, marjoram, and basil. Oregano would also work well, stay away from dill, and sage).

1 tsp tomato paste

2/3 cups bread crumbs lightly toasted in a 350° oven or toaster oven, divided use

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

addition 8-19-09

(adding tsp of powdered egg whites to the mix makes the burgers hold together better)

Pick over and rinse the dried beans and then soak in 6 cups water at least 6 hours. Drain and rinse the beans and place in a large pot with 6 - 8 cups water and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. After about 45 minutes add salt to taste, continue simmering beans until they are tender. Cooking time varies based on the type of bean, their age and quality. In this case total cooking time was approximately 1 1/2 hours. While the beans cook melt the butter in a pan and add the onion. Stir the onion to coat with the butter and sprinkle lightly with salt. Lower the heat to low and cook stirring occasionally until light golden brown. When the onion has reached the desired color add the garlic and cook briefly.

After beans are tender put 1 1/4 cups drained beans in a food processor with mayonnaise, cumin, soy sauce, paprika, dried herbs, tomato paste, 1/3 cup toasted bread crumbs and pulse until a coarse purée forms. Empty into a bowl and stir until well combined with the cilantro and 1 1/2 cup cooked black beans. It is helpful but not essential to place in the fridge for 30 minutes before forming. To form burgers place remaining bread crumbs on a plate. Form mixture into 4 - 6 burgers with wet hands. When shaped coat both sides of patty with bread crumbs.

To cook, heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large non stick skillet until hot but not smoking and cook until golden brown on each side. If desired put sliced cheese on the top after flipping.