Simple Pleasures: What I've Been Cooking

 

After being away last weekend and then heading straight into a busy work week, I can't tell you how nice it was to be home this weekend (and to sleep lots and lots!). And in thinking about the food that we ate this weekend, I realized that it's been a while since I shared much food around these part—so I'm going to do that today! Here are a few of the best things that I've made over the past month or so, in no particular order.

Above is baked apples. I know, sounds sort of boring, but there is something so lovely about this particular simplicity. I like to bake them with cinnamon, maple syrup, and a bit of apple juice at 350 for about an hour. They are delicious topped with a bit of vanilla ice cream or light coconut milk, as I did here.

Buckwheat Noodles with butternut squash and a whole mismash of other veggies—cooked and raw to give it a nice mix of textures. I threw in some water chestnuts and bamboo shoots for fun, and mixed the whole thing in a sesame sauce (which is like this peanut sauce, only made with tahini).

Simple Buckwheat Crackers that are sort of chewy and crunchy at the same time. They also happen to be gluten free and are excellent dip scoopers.

Lemon Scented Brown Rice Risotto with Squash, Artichokes and Arugula. I didn't add any cheese to this, but it would be even more heavenly with goat cheese or feta stirred in. The flavor on it's own is bright and zesty, perfect for a freezing cold day.

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad that was seriously one of the best salads I've ever made. With a side of skillet cornbread of course!