I leave you in the tail end of 2010 with a recipe to warm you through. It's inspired by a vegan recipe I came across recently. The problem, no offense, is that most "vegan" dishes are horribly bland. I threaten regularly to write a cookbook entitled Modified vegan recipes for those of us with taste buds. Anyway, there she blows:
Carmelized leeks with butternut squash and toasted pecans
3 tbsp olive oil
3 large leeks
2 medium sized yams
1 medium sized butternut squash
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp nutmeg (fresh if you can)
1 tsp cinnamon
sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
2/3 cup toasted pecans
Preheat oven to 475
Peel and cube to 1 inch squares your squash and yams. Finely chop fresh garlic. Toss in bowl with 2 tbsp oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt & pepper. Pour ingredients into baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes.
While baking: trim leeks at either end. Cut in half lengthwise, fan and rinse well to get rid of all dirt and grit. Chop into 1/2 inch slices. On medium, heat saute leeks in 1 tbsp olive oil until golden brown, about 15- 20 minutes.
In a dry pan toast yer own pecans. It's way cheaper and more satisfying.
Check squash and yams, cook until tender. When ready take out of oven, stir in leeks and pecans. Enjoy!
I was planning on this being a side dish, but I got too tired to make anything else. Pleasantly surprised to find it made a most satisfying meal and paired well with a hearty zinfandel.
Tomorrow I bring you a kick ass mulled wine recipe.
Ciao.
