Danielle and Eric Originals!

Eric and I both love to cook and love a steaming, homemade meal. We also like to experiment in the kitchen, so we thought we'd include some of our favorite impromptu, composed by us recipes! Hope you enjoy!

Danielle's Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai with Marinated Tofu for veryone but Meredith, who is allergic to nuts

Ingredients:

For Marinated Tofu:
2 containers extra firm tofu
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp olive oil or sesame oil

For Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai:
1/3 cup peanut butter
3.5-4 tbsp water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp brown sugar
1 clove minced garlic
1.5 tbsp fresh ginger
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 very large spaghetti squash
1 red pepper, chopped lengthwise
2 cups snap peas
green onions (to garnish)
cilantro (to garnish)
extra lime juice to spritz on top (as needed)

1. Drain tofu from and press between two plates lined with paper towels. Leave for half an hour.

2. Slice the tofu into 1/2 thick pieces. Toss with soy sauce and olive oil. Marinate for 30 minutes.

3. While marinating, preheat over to 350 degrees. You can also begin the spaghetti squash at this point. Feel free to prepare the spaghetti squash however you are used to doing it. I puncture holes in mine with a knife throughout the surface and then microwave it for about 12 minutes. When you do this, it softens the rind so it's easier to cut, and it also reduces cooking time. When it's done in the microwave, I cut it in half, wrap each piece in seran wrap, and microwave it for another 6 minutes. Make sure to handle the squash with oven mitts; it gets pretty hot!

4. While marinating, you can also make the sauce for the pad thai. To do this, combine the first seven ingredients in the pad thai recipe, and that's it!

5. When done marinating, place tofu on a lined and greased (I use Pam) baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip. Bake for another 10-20 minutes, depending on your oven. The tofu should be brown at the edges when it's done.

6. Scrape out the seeds from the squash (which you can use to make roasted squash seeds--see Eric's recipe below) and scoop out the spaghetti squash into a bowl.

7. Heat oil in a wok (if possible--if not, a large frying pan will do) and add onion. Saute until brown.

8. Add in spaghetti squash. Saute for about a minute.

9. Add in sauce and toss.

10. Add in snap peas; saute another 2-3 minutes.

11. Add in red peppers and tofu (I really don't like mushy peppers, so I don't cook this very long, only about 2 minutes until the pepper is warm but still crunchy, but you might want to leave it longer).

12. Remove from heat. Service with generous helpings of green onion and cilantro. Add in extra lime juice as needed!

Serves 6.

Eric's Roasted Spaghetti Squash Seeds

Ingredients:
Seeds of one spaghetti squash
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
Pam or vegetable oil or olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Separate seeds from remaining squash. Works best if you try to remove the squash from the seeds, not the seeds from the squash.

3. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Coat with Pam or oil.

4. Spread seeds on sheet. Sprinkle with salt.

5. Put seeds in preheated oven. Should take about 20-25 minutes. Check on them every ten.

6. Enjoy!


Danielle's Inventive Pasta

Ingredients:

whole wheat penne or rotini (as much as seems appropriate for 2 people)
2 cortland or macintosh apples
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
3 cups of freshly chopped kale
(here's where I start really estimating):
1.5 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tbsp smart balance/butter/butter equivalent (I used smart balance light)
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup white wine (I used a pinot grigio; a riesling probably would be fine too)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil water for pasta; add pasta when necessary.

2. Mix oil and butter (or butter equivalent) and heat on medium-high.

3. When butter is melted, toss in cubed chicken, salt, and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add apples, sage, and thyme and cover for about 5 minutes.

5. At this point, the chicken should be basically cooked; if it's not, wait a few minutes while the cover is still on for it to finish cooking through.

6. When the chicken is finished cooking, add the kale and mustard and cover again under the kale is slightly wilted (not overly wilted!)

7. Remove cover and add white wine. When alcohol has burned out of the wine (and presumably the pasta has been finished by this point), the meal is done! Mix pasta with everything else and enjoy.

Serves two, if you're hungry, three if you're not!

Eric's Indian Extravaganza!

Ingredients:
1 cup brown or basmati rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 potato chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
8 plum tomatoes, diced
3 bayleaves
1 cup chopped carrots
2 small breasts chicken (or one large), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 small eggplant (or half a large), sliced and quartered
1 tsp cumin (add to taste--D likes less; E likes more)
1 tsp curry powder (add to taste; see above)
2 tsp ground coriander (add to taste; see above)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 red pepper, chopped lengthwise
*Omit or add additional vegetables as the mood strikes!

1. Prepare rice as your rice container indicates.

2. Heat oil in a wok (or a large skillet) on medium heat.

3. Saute onions and tomatoes with bayleaves.

4. Meanwhile, microwave the potato until it's done or almost done (about 8 minutes). Don't forget to pierce holes to keep it from exploding!

5. Add chicken, carrots, eggplant, garlic, and spices (except ginger) and cover for about 8-10 minutes.

6. Add pepper, potato, and ginger. Heat for about two minutes.

7. Remove and serve with rice.

8. Add additional spices to taste.

Serves two, with leftovers.