Instant Pot Fall Harvest Minestone Soup

While we were on vacation, we made this Minestrone recipe, originally from Ina Garten. It was super satisfying, especially because the weather was cold up north! The day we arrived back at home, we harvested all of the remaining veggies from our own yard—snow was on the way. Our crop this year included over 20 winter squash, and a giant pile of swiss chard. With Ina’s recipe fresh on my mind, I knew one way to put those veggies to work. After a few adaptions, we had a pot full of perfectly fall minestrone. Cozy, but also chock-full of veggies, which is just want I look for right after vacation.

Instant Pot Fall Harvest Minestone Soup

Published October 17, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

2 ounces diced pancetta or diced thick-cut bacon (optional)

1 tablespoon coconut oil or other cooking oil

1 yellow onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 large carrots, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

2 cups diced butternut squash (peeled and seeds removed)

1 16-ounce can cannellini beans, strained and rinsed

1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes

5 cups chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 dried bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

3-4 swiss chard leaves

1/2 cup basil (optional)

Salt to taste

Optional: 2 cups cooked small-sized pasta, such as ditalini, orecchiette, or gnocchetti (Use chickpea pasta for gluten-free)

For serving: grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. Turn Instant Pot to Sauté setting. If using pancetta, place in pot and cook for a few minutes, browning on each side.
2. If pot is dry, add coconut oil. This can be skipped if there is a good amount of oil in the pot from the pancetta. Place onion, celery, carrots, and garlic in pot, and stir to combine. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent.
3. Using a knife, remove the stems from the swiss chard leaves. Place the green parts aside (reserve for later) and dice the stems. Add the stems to the pot.
4. Pour wine into pot. Using a wooden spatula, scrape the bottom of the pot, releasing any brown bits as the wine simmers (this adds flavor to the soup).
5. Add butternut squash, beans, diced tomatoes, broth, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme to pot. Stir. Place lid on Instant Pot and set to “Bean/Chili” setting. Set timer to 1 minute with vent in the sealed position.
6. When timer goes off, release the pressure and open the pot.
7. Chop the reserved swiss chard leaves into bite-sized pieces, and roughly chop the basil. Stir both into the soup. Taste, and season with salt to your preferences (note: store bought broth will likely already have salt in it, so you may not need much. Homemade broth usually doesn’t already have salt, so more will need to be added).
8. Divide pasta among serving bowls. Ladle soup into bowls, and stir to incorporate pasta. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve hot. Great with a side of garlic bread or crostini!
9. Note: We stir the pasta into each serving bowl, rather than the whole pot, because if you put all of the pasta into the soup, it will absorb much of the broth, and the next day, you’ll find your leftovers are not very soup-like.

Kale Salad with Sage Roasted Butternut Squash

It is noon-ish here in McCall, Idaho—our stomping grounds for the week—and the thermometer on the porch has yet to reach the 40°F mark. We roasted a full chicken (maple butter chicken, to be exact), made enchilada soup (adapted this recipe), and even ate freshly baked pumpkin pie in front of the fireplace… for most of the US though, I know, it is not winter yet. This sage-butter butternut squash salad is what I was making while still at home, and will probably return to making when we get back.

I forgot one key ingredient for the photoshoot of this recipe: parmesan cheese! It went on shortly after. Butternut squash, pecans, and parm make this salad quite hearty. Capers might seem like a curve ball ingredient, but since butternut squash, pecans, and currants are all a tad sweet, the capers add a necessary salty, brine-y pop.

Kale Salad with Sage Roasted Butternut Squash

Published October 2, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 2 (as a meal) or 4 (as a side)   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the butternut squash:

2 cups peeled, seeded, and cubed (1/2-inch cubes) butternut squash

2 tablespoons butter

10 sage leaves

A few cracks black pepper

1-2 three-finger pinches of salt

For the salad:

1 bunch green curly kale, chopped (optionally, remove stems)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 three-finger pinch of salt

1/3 cup currants

1/3 cup toasted pecans

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano

2-3 tablespoons capers, strained

Additional ground black pepper to taste

For the vinaigrette:

1 clove minced garlic

1 tablespoon white balsamic

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon maple syrup

Directions:

1. Cook the squash: heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a 10-inch skillet. Swirl the pan to coat the bottom in butter. When butter is melted and starts to bubble, place butternut squash in pan. Cook, without stirring, for about 7 minutes. Add sage, and stir gently. Cook for 7-10 more minutes, stirring very occasionally, until butternut squash is golden on the edges and tender all the way through. Season with black pepper and salt to taste. Remove from heat.
2. Meanwhile, prep the salad. Place chopped kale in large salad bowl and drizzle very lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Using your hands, rub the oil and salt into the kale leaves until they are tender and bright green (this makes them softer—better for eating). Divide kale among serving bowls, if using. Top with currants, toasted pecans, capers, and parmesan. Add butternut squash.
3. Make vinaigrette: place all vinaigrette in a jar with a lid and shake to emulsify. Drizzle dressing to taste over salad.
4. Serve salad immediately, season with black pepper to taste, and toss.

Grain-Free Sandwich Cookies With Pumpkin Butter

I have been on a kick, going back to old Foraged Dish recipes and taking new photos. It is insanely satisfying to compare the old ones to the new. Progress is difficult to measure day-by-day, but all of those days add up! I’m sure, in three years, I’ll look back at my photos from 2018 and roll my eyes. C'est la vie.

These sandwich cookies were one of my recent victims, and since it is the season for baking and pumpkin, I thought it would be a good opportunity to update the whole post. That means a few updates to the recipe, too:

• Simplified. The original asked for both almond flour and coconut flour, but since 2015 I’ve discovered a much simpler grain-free shortbread cookie using just almond flour. I quite like the texture of the cookies, too! They are a bit chewy, stay together well, and have great almond and honey flavor.

• Drizzled with chocolate. How can you make a boring cookie look a little fancier? Maybe you’re thinking frosting, which is true, but since this cookie is a sandwich I wanted the filling to shine. I drizzled each cookie with chocolate, which was just the right touch!

• Doubled it. More is better right? In this case, there’s no doubt: the original recipe made about 6 sandwich cookies… what was 2015-me thinking?!?! A dozen is much more reasonable (but you still may want to double that if you’re cooking for a crowd).

Once baked, these cookies are stuffed with pumpkin butter, so the end result tastes a bit like pumpkin pie. Perfect match with a cappuccino! But I also experimented with filling the cookies with salted caramel. Oh. My. Goodness. Now that’s a treat! A bit like an alfajore, if you are familiar. I am definitely going to need to make an alfajore recipe now (Foraged Dish style, of course!).

Grain-Free Sandwich Cookies with Pumpkin Butter

Published October 26, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yield: 12-24, depending on size   |    Active Time: 60 minutes

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Ingredients:

2 cups finely ground almond flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup pumpkin butter

1/4 cup dark chocolate

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk until incorporated. Add the melted butter or coconut oil, honey, and vanilla, and stir until a dough forms. Shape dough into a disc (about 1 inch thick), wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to chill.
2. Preheat oven to 325°F. After dough has chilled, remove from fridge. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit your baking pan.
3. On a separate piece of parchment, use a rolling pin to roll dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut circles out of dough and place on baking sheet, with at least 1/2 inch between each cookie. Bake for 9 minutes, until golden. Allow to cool.
4. Once cookies are fully cooled, spread pumpkin butter on one cookie, and then use another to create a sandwich. Set aside, and then continue until all of the cookies are sandwiched.
5. Heat the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl for 30-second intervals (string between each!) until chocolate is glossy and smooth. You can also do this in a double boiler (stir frequently). Drizzle melted chocolate over sandwich cookies. Allow chocolate to set before serving cookies.
6. Tip: You can use any sort of jam to fill these cookies! I also made a few with salted caramel sauce and they were SO. GOOD.