Farro and winter squash salad with pepitas

This morning, for the first time in forever, I cooked something for myself for lunch--something healthy. I figured it'll magically offset all the candy I ate last night, feeling an obligation to make a dent in the overstock we were left with. It's our first year in a house (no one ever went trick-or-treating in the apartments), I was excited, and I didn't know how much to buy. On top of that, apparently ours is the kind of neighborhood where everyone has kids, puts up adorable Halloween decorations, and then takes the kids to another neighborhood to trick-or-treat. Cute. Thankfully we had a few small groups, including one with a boy who was actually excited to see "Stawbuhst!"  Knock yourself out, kid, there's a reason I put that one out for the first round...

Some time ago I had to swear off subscribing to food blogs as prolific and consistently tantalizing as Smitten Kitchen, finding myself even less capable than usual of making semi-frugal meal plans and then not changing my mind a thousand times... It was an unhealthy and inefficient pattern. So I wouldn't even call myself a regular reader of Smitten Kitchen, though I love her writing and her food and the cookbook is most definitely on my wishlist. Something about that blog transforms me from all-out recipe slave (thanks, Cook's Illustrated) to semi-imaginative, measurement-despising pseudo-chef. Probably it's a mix of the encouraging, amicable tone and the artsy small print (not to mention the photos!), but whatever it is, something akin to creativity is its invariable effect on me. So in that spirit I altered this recipe to use the delicata squash I picked up on a whim last week. I had never tried it but I've never met a winter squash I didn't love roasted, and this one proved no different. It's like candy, people. Healthy candy. What more can you ask for from a vegetable? The pairing with farro and pumpkin seeds is nothing short of inspired, so I didn't feel the need to mess with success. I did try adding rinsed canned black beans to mine for some protein and it worked quite well.

And as for the cheese---I might as well throw a real quick pity party and say that I've been reluctantly dairy-free for about two weeks, trying to solve some reflux issues with la bebita, and I think it's definitely helping her (mixed feelings---just kidding! Totally kidding.). I say this as a strong believer in the placebo effect, so I went into it quite suspiciously. I haven't been doing a total elimination diet; I just cut my inordinate dairy consumption by about 98%, I would say. So I guess the way to test this scientifically is to go another week as I have been, and then reintroduce one food at a time to look for a reaction... Seems kind of cruel when your test subject is a baby, but we're not suspecting a serious allergy here, just sensitivity. All that to say, I vacillated on whether to put a teeny tiny bit of feta in this salad (one of several opened cheeses languishing in my fridge...tragic). But guess what? It didn't need the cheese. I know, such a hypocrite---I just swore I would never trust a person who called the presence of any cheese in any dish "unnecessary." But all the other components of the salad are just that good--- and perhaps I am starting to reconcile myself to this dairy-free thing. Pity party over, though. Make this salad. With all the modifications your heart desires, because you were born to cook and know exactly what you're doing, you brilliant chef you. /unsuccessfully channeling Deb

(Oh hey, I remembered to take a photo. Bet you wish I hadn't. I should learn how to use a camera someday. Here it is sans the last-minute addition of black beans.) 

Farro and winter squash salad with pepitas
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Serves 2-3 as a main dish
Keeps a week

2 medium delicata squash, peeled (optional), halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into 1/2" half-moon pieces
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
3/4 cup farro
1/2 red onion, minced
1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
1 Tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. toasted pepitas, preferably salted
Feta cheese to taste (optional)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roast the squash pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet with 2 Tbsp of the oil and salt to taste until tender, 20-25 mins, turning pieces over halfway through. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, cook the farro according to package directions or, if you bought it in bulk like me and have no idea if it's pearled, semi-pearled, or what, try just dumping it in lots of boiling salted water for 25-30 minutes or so. You want it to be soft but still a bit chewy. Once done, drain and let cool slightly.

3. Also meanwhile, combine the onion, vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Let marinate about 30 minutes while the other stuff cooks.

4. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and toss with the remaining 2-3 Tbsp. of olive oil. Add more salt and pepper if desired, then serve at room temperature or chilled.

Chicken pocket pies

I was hooked on cream cheese pastry the first time I encountered it in a Cook's Country quiche Lorraine recipe. I have a very poor track record when it comes to successfully making "regular" pie crusts, whether all-butter, a mixture of butter and shortening, or (my most successful combination) butter and lard. I hate rolling out dough and I either add too much water or not enough--you would think this would be easy enough to recognize and rectify, but apparently I am missing some brain cells that help normal people deal with such things. So often I've ended up smushing the dough into the pie plate, which at best makes it shrink and at worst makes it tough. Sometimes it turns out passably, but it always tries my patience to the limit.

It is a much happier story when I use a combination of butter and cream cheese (and in this case, a little heavy cream), because the dough comes out uniformly moist, soft, and extremely forgiving of novice handling. How forgiving? Well, when I last made these pocket pies, I left out 1/2 cup of flour and didn't realize it until I had the two disks neatly wrapped and ready to chill in the fridge. I had to unwrap them, mix in the remaining flour, and rewrap them. Guess what? They were still perfect. Not a hint of toughness.

This recipe is adapted from Lucinda Scala Quinn's Mad Hungry. The last time I made them I tried using fennel leftover from the stuffed squash. It made the kitchen smell positively glorious and tasted terrific. I've also subbed blue cheese for the Parmesan, keeping the original carrot/onion/celery trio (just do about 1/3 cup of each, chopped). This is about as make-ahead as a recipe can get, designed to be kept on hand in the freezer, and it's a pretty quick process all told. They make the perfect fall lunch with a nice seasonal salad.

Chicken pocket pies with fennel and Parmesan
Yield: 10 mini-pies
adapted from Mad Hungry, by Lucinda Scala Quinn

For the filling:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 5 oz)
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/3 c. water
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 c. onion, minced
1/2 c. fennel, diced small
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. fresh thyme, minced, or a pinch dried
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/4 c. low-sodium chicken broth (if not low-sodium, reduce sea salt to 1/4 tsp)
1/4 c. fresh grated Parmesan
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1. In a small skillet, heat the oil over med-high until shimmering. Pat the chicken breast dry, season with salt and pepper, and place in the hot skillet. Cook til lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Flip chicken, add the water, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until chicken registers 160 on a thermometer, about 7-10 mins. Remove to a plate to cool, then shred into bite-size pieces with two forks and/or your hands. You should have 1 heaping cup of chicken.

2. Meanwhile, in a 10" skillet melt the butter. Add the onion and fennel and saute til softened and lightly browned, 4-5 mins. Stir in the salt, thyme, and flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Slowly stir or whisk in the broth. Bring to a simmer and cook til thickened, about 2 mins. Off heat, stir in the chicken, Parmesan, and lemon juice. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator at least til at room temperature.

For the pastry:
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
(for egg wash)
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl til combined. Add the cream and (this is why you want a large bowl, because it splatters) beat til combined. Add the flour and salt and beat on low until a ball of dough forms.

2. Divide the dough into two pieces and wrap in plastic, forming into disks as you do so. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight (if you have it in the fridge more than a few hours, let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes before trying to roll it out).

To assemble:
1. Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin. Working with one disk of dough at a time, roll out the disks to about 12" in diameter. Using an overturned bowl that measures about 5-6" across, cut out 3 circles per disk. Gather the scraps and re-roll once more, cutting out more circles.

2. Place a scant 1/4 cup of chicken filling off-center on a dough circle. Wet edges of dough and fold to form a half-moon shape, pinching the edges to seal and then crimping sealed edge with a fork. Repeat with remaining dough circles and filling.

3. If freezing for later use, place pocket pies in a single layer on a large plate or baking sheet, then transfer to freezer for several hours, until frozen solid. At this point you can dump them all into one freezer bag and keep them in the freezer up to a month or so. If serving immediately, place pocket pies on a large plate and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375. Brush the tops of the pocket pies with the egg wash and prick twice with the tines of a fork. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. If baking from the freezer, do not thaw; brush with egg wash and bake 25-30 minutes or til golden brown. (It's probably a good idea to prick them with a fork halfway through baking.)