Cozy Fall Salad

Cozy and salad are hardly words that one thinks of in the same phrase, but this salad is just that. It has roasted sweet potatoes, tangy cranberries, and a kick of chipotles with a crunch from pepitas. We paired this wonderful fall salad with a bed of spinach and a veggie sausage for an easy and fulfilling meal. One suggestion: put a little more water into the cranberry-chipotle dressing to allow the dressing to coat the potatoes more.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberry-Chipotle Dressing (Cooking Light, October 2011, Mark Bittman)

2 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

3 Tbs. olive oil, divided

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 cup water

2 tsp. honey

1 (7-oz.) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkinseeds)

3/4 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Place sweet potatoes on a large jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with 2 Tbs. oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes or until tender, turning after 15 minutes.

3. Place remaining 1 Tbs. oil, cranberries, water, and honey in a saucepan. Remove 1 or 2 chiles from can; finely chop to equal 1 Tbs. Add chopped chipotle and 1 tsp. adobo sauce to pan (reserve remaining chiles and sauce for another use). Place pan over medium-low heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 10 minutes or until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Mash with a potato masher or fork until chunky.

4. Place pepitas in a medium skillet; cook over medium heat 4 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan frequently.

5. Combine potatoes, pepitas, onions, and cilantro in a bowl. Add cranberry mixture to bowl; toss gently to coat.

Overcoming Fears

The thought of making a soufflé has always terrified me. But once you make one, you realize that they really aren't that difficult! In fact, they are quite easy. The only even slightly difficult part is beating the egg whites to a stiff peak. And once you get that part down, you are good to go. This soufflé recipe took about 15 minutes to put together and 45 to bake, so it can definitely be done for a special weeknight dinner. We paired it with a salad and homemade bread.

Ricotta and Pesto Souffle (The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Mollie Katzen)

a little melted butter and grated parmesan for the soufflé dish

1 lb. (2 cups) ricotta cheese

6 eggs, separated and at room temperature

2 Tbs. unbleached white flour

1/2 tsp. salt

lots of fresh black pepper

1/3 cup grated parmesan

1 cup pesto [homemade or store-bought]

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly brush a 2-quart souffle dish with melted butter, and sprinkle it with grated parmesan.

2. Place the ricotta in a large mixing bowl. Add all, some, or none of the egg yolks, the flour, salt, pepper, 1/3 cup parmesan, and the pesto. Beat with a whisk until well combined.

3. Place the egg whites in a separate large bowl, and beat until they form stiff peaks. Gently but persuasively fold the beaten whites into the ricotta mixture. Use a firm rubber spatula, and turn the bowl as you fold. Transfer the batter into the prepared soufflé dish.

4. Without a moment's hesitation, place the soufflé into the oven, and reduce the temperature to 350. Let it bake undisturbed for 45 minutes. Serve immediately.

Ragin' Cajun

Cajun food is probably my Dad's favorite genre of food. He has certainly passed that love on to me. The only problem is that it tends to be very heavy on butter, meats, and seafoods. Paul Prudhomme is especially known as a butter, oil, and lard-heavy chef. Here is his version of Crawfish (or Shrimp) Étouffée, which is absolutely delectable. When we made it, we used veggie sausage and mushrooms instead of the shrimp and cut the butter to about 1/2 a stick. The étouffée was still incredibly rich and satisfying, but I didn't feel quite so terrible about eating it. I hope you enjoy this Cajun meal as much as I did.

Crawfish (or Shrimp) Étouffée (Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, Paul Prudhomme)

Seasoning mix:

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)

1 tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. dried sweet basil leaves

1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers

7 Tbs. vegetable oil

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups, in all, Basic Seafood Stock [or vegetable stock]

1/4 lbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, in all

2 lbs. peeled crawfish tails or medium shrimp

1 cup very finely chopped green onions

4 cups hot Basic Cooked Rice

1. Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl combine the onions, celery, and bell peppers.

2. In a large heavy skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke, about 4 minutes. With a long-handled metal whisk, gradually mix in the flour, stirring until smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until roux is dark red-brown, about 3 to 5 minutes (be careful not to let it scorch in the pan or splash on your skin). Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vegetables and 1 Tbs. of the seasoning mix with a wooden spoon; continue stirring until cooled, about 5 minutes.

3. In a 2-quart saucepan bring 2 cups of the stock to a boil over high heat. Gradually add the roux and whisk until thoroughly dissolved. Reduce heat to low and cook until flour taste is gone, about 2 minutes, whisking almost constantly (if any of the mixture scorches, don't continue to scrape that part of the pan bottom). Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Heat the serving plates to 250 in an oven.

5. In a 4-quart saucepan melt 1 stick of the butter over medium heat. Stir in the crawfish (or shrimp) and the green onions; sauté about 1 minute, stirring almost constantly. Add the remaining stick of butter, the stock mixture and the remaining 1 cup stock; cook until butter melts and is mixed into the sauce, about 4 to 6 minutes, constantly shaking the pan in a back-and-forth motion (versus stirring). Add the remaining seasoning mix; stir well and remove from heat (if sauce starts separating, add about 2 Tbs. more of stock or water and shake pan until it combines). Serve immediately.

6. To serve, mound 1/2 cup rice on each heated serving plate. Surround the rice with 3/4 cup of the étouffée.