A few weeks ago, after Ryan and I went to Kew Gardens, we went to the pub with a few friends. It wasn’t anything special, just a pint or two to relax with at the end of the weekend. While we were there I glanced over the menu and saw they had a butternut squash and beet burger with goat cheese. I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t order it, but I thought it sounded delicious.

I decided I wanted to try to make it for myself, and I decided the perfect time would be while Ryan was in South Africa. Along with Greek salad, veggie burgers are a food I eat when I’m by myself. I used to eat veggie burgers all the time when I lived alone and was in graduate school. They were cheap, quick, and easy to make and eat. My favorite was a black bean burger, and you can find the recipe on a blog my friends and I used to write together. But, I eat veggie burgers when I’m on my own, because Ryan tends to like something heartier for dinner. And I get it, for most people a burger has to have meat. 

I have two reasons for liking veggie burgers. First, ingredients are inexpensive so you can make a lot without spending a ton. Second, it makes me feel like I’m doing something good for my body because I’m eating so many veggies at once. I also think burgers, meat or veggie, are a good way to get creative with flavors. You can throw in whatever herbs, spices, and sauces you like and as long as you can squish it all into a patty – you’ve got a burger.

This particular burger has a softer texture than a regular burger. However, it will hold its shape and when you take a bite it won’t fall out of the back of the bun. Isn’t that the worst? Taking a bite, having everything fall out, and then having to reassemble your food? Hate that. This burger isn’t like that. I like this burger a lot and I hope you will too. The shredded beets add a slight crunchy texture, the butternut squash is smooth, some goat cheese adds creaminess, and a splash of balsamic adds a sweet tang. So good. Try it. Forgo the red meat for this red burger.

Messy level: Beets make a big mess, there’s no getting around it. Your cutting board will get dyed when you slice off the ends and your hands will get dyed when you peel them. If you have a food processor, use that to shred the beets so that all the juice and mess will stay confined. If you use a box grater, you’re likely to spray tiny red bits everywhere.

Butternut Squash and Beet Burger

 

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Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups cube butternut squash
• olive oil
• 2 medium beets
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• pepper
• 2 oz/2 tablespoons goat cheese, plus extra for crumbling
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• 4 buns
• lettuce
• balsamic vinegar

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Place the butternut squash on a baking sheet and sprinkle with olive oil. Toss until all the squash is coated.
3. Put the butternut squash in the oven and roast until fork tender. This should take about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your cubes.
4. While the squash is roasting, cut the ends off the beets, then peel them. Grate the beets and set aside. Use the large holes on your grater, the beets don't need to be finely shredded.
5. Take the squash out of the oven and let it cool until you can handle it easily.
6. Transfer the squash to a large bowl. Wipe off the baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Set it aside, you'll need it later. Also, don't turn the oven off. You'll need that too.
7. Now back to the large bowl. Using a fork or potato masher, mash the squash until ¾ smooth. It's ok to have some lumps, that adds texture and helps hold the burgers together.
8. Add the shredded beets, garlic, salt, and pepper, to the squash. Mix it all together.
9. Now add the goat cheese and panko to your mixture. Mix gently so that everything is incorporated but you haven't squashed up the goat cheese or bread crumbs too much.
10. Make 4 large patties. Put them on the prepared baking sheet.
11. Bake the patties for 30 minutes.
12. Remove for the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes.
13. Place the patty on the bun, top with extra goat cheese crumbles, lettuce, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

3.2.2925

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What’s changed since last time? I had a recipe. I found it in my cookbook Melt by Stephanie Stiavetti and Garrett McCord. I decided I’d trust them and their recipe because I loved their chorizo macaroni and cheese. Last time I didn’t have a recipe and I was just winging it. But this time, maybe things would be different. Maybe the flavor combinations would be delicious. Maybe the pasta would redeem itself and not taste so nasty. Maybe I could eat a whole bowl.

And I did eat the whole bowl! And it was pretty good!

One thing that made this version better is that I bought the gluten-full pasta. Last time I accidentally bought gluten-free, and I think that must give the pasta a different flavor. Last time the pasta was gummy and really bitter. This time it had the expected pasta texture and had only a slight bitter hint. Last time, the pasta made the whole apartment smell like delicious chocolate. This time, there was hardly any fragrance. I don’t know exactly why there was a difference, but there definitely was one.

But, what really made this recipe tasty and interesting was the combination of flavors. It has sweetness in the cherries, salty and creaminess from the cheese, and a nice crunch from the arugula and hazelnuts. By the authors’ own admission this recipe is a bit “esoteric,” but I think it was fun to try something a little bit unusual. This recipe is a simple way to spice up the mid-week meal. And to conclude, I’ll just go out on a limb and say it, chocolate pasta is back in my good graces.

This recipe is from the cookbook Melt. I made some adaptations based on the amount of money and time I wanted to spend finding ingredients. Instead of hazelnut oil I used olive oil and I omitted the cocoa nibs.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp maple syrup

3/4 tsp mustard powder

sea salt

ground black pepper

1/2 cup hazelnuts

12 ounces chocolate pasta

5 ounces Bucherondin, roughly broken (I found this easily at Whole Foods, but you can use any soft goat cheese)

1 cup pitted cherries

2 cups whole arugula

Ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. In a small bowl (or jar with a little) mix together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Whisk (or shake) until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

3. Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the skins darken and blister. The nuts will start to smell nice.

4. While the hazelnuts are roasting, start the pasta. Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente.

4. Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and wrap them in a dishtowel and leave them to steam for 1 minute. Rub the nuts in the dishtowel to rub the skins off.

5. Roughly chop the nuts and set them aside.

6. When the pasta is done drain it. Arrange portions into separate bowls.

7. Scatter the Bucherondin, cherries, and hazelnuts over the pasta. Mix in the arugula. Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta.

8. Mix and eat!

Messy level: Three spoons. This recipe is messy because pitting cherries is a little annoying, crumbling cheese is sticky, and the hazelnut skins will get everywhere. It’s not such an unruly messy, but I want you to know what you’re getting into.

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But, going back was something I wanted to do. From the time Ryan got the job offer to our move, it was only about six weeks. We needed more time to pack, store, sell, ship, and cancel everything we own. I wanted to stay at my job a bit longer and get to finish the school year. I’ll also get to go to some weddings and baby showers that I would have missed otherwise. There are lots of good reasons to go back, but separation is hard and I’m bad with change.

To send me off right, Ryan and I had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was epic. We took the bus to Notting Hill and looked at the colorful row houses. We walked through Portobello Market, which was really impressive. There was so many cute silver dishware, flowery teapots, and tons of other knickknacks. The food also looked amazing and the smells were alluring. There was fresh baked pies, huge pots of paella, and Mediterranean feasts. And on top of all that, tons of beautiful fragrant flowers. The only drawback was how incredibly crowded it was. The whole time we walked at a really slow pace and were constantly shoulder-to-shoulder with other people. It made it difficult to browse, so all we bought was one delicious cherry pie.

While in Notting Hill, we also went to Books for Cooks. It’s a bookshop that exclusively sells cookbook! JUST COOKBOOKS. I was in love and there were many things I wanted. Ryan and I settled on a book called Pies and Tarts, and that’s where today’s recipe comes from. It’s a book both of use were excited about and it’s full of sweet and savory pie recipes and three pastry recipes. For the dough recipes, I loved that there were step by step how-to pictures. Some of the recipes seems like a challenge but there are many I want to try. I want to make everything in the cheese chapter. Cheese pies?! How great is that.

Anyway, we left Notting Hill and got fish and chips for take out. We took our food, walked to Hyde Park, and made ourselves a picnic. It was glorious! We ate and people and dog watched. After lunch we strolled around the park and passed by a few other beautiful buildings and monuments.

We then went to the Science Museum which had a lot of exhibits that made me go “whoa.” We also saw a special exhibit on the Large Hadron Collider. The exhibit was pretty good and very interesting. From my perspective as a museum professional, I thought the exhibit was so well put together and they made some really great and engaging choices. If you’re in the area check it out.

After, we crossed the street and went through a small part of the Victoria & Albert Museum. This museum is amazing because every corner we turned there was something else jaw dropping. I wish we could have done more but we were probably there for an hour.

Finally, we went home, watched the Arsenal match and cooked this dish.

Exhausting right? We did a ton, but it was an amazing day.

A few pieces of advice on this dish. The recipe for the pastry makes more than you need. If you use all of it you’ll have a lot of pastry on your pie and it will be very thick. Don’t feel like you have to use it all. Also, Ryan and I improvised on the ingredients based on what we could find at the store. The bacon was a nice addition, but I think it would still be delicious without. Anyway, here’s my adaptation based on Pies and Tarts by Stephane Reynaud.

Ingredients:

Pastry-

9oz cold butter

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 egg yolks

3 1/2 oz cold water

Sausage Roll-

4 medium sized sausages

4 oz soft-rind goat cheese (I asked the cheesemonger at the grocery store for help, you can use more cheese if you like)

basil leaves (about 16 or more, one bunch will be more than enough)

8 slices of bacon

1 egg

pepper

Directions:

1. Cut the butter into cubes and leave out to soften a little bit.

2. In a bowl, or on the counter, mix the flour and salt.

3. Add the butter. Work the butter in with your fingers. Break it up until it looks sandy.

4. Make a well in the middle of your mixture. Put the egg and water in the well. If you do this on the counter, be careful! Water will try and run away and make a big mess on your counter.

5. Using your hands, mix it all together. Mix until you can make the dough into a smooth ball.

6. Cover with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minues.

7. In a medium pot, boil salted water. Add the sausages and cook for 30 minutes.

8. Remove sausages from water, let cool a bit, then cut in half lengthwise.

9. Heat oven to 350°.

10. On one half of the sausage, place basil leaves (I used 2), then slices of cheese, then more basil leaves. Put the other side of the sausage on top. Now you have a little sandwich.

12. Wrap the sausage sandwich with bacon. I used 2 slices per sausage roll.

13. Whisk the egg

14. Remove the dough from the fridge. Cut into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle, that’s about 1 inch longer than the sausage.

15. Brush the edges of the dough with the egg. This will help keep the dough stuck together.

16. Put the sausage on the edge of the dough and roll up. Press firmly where the pastry ends, and try to make it smooth as possible. Pinch and fold the ends to keep it together.

17. Put parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place the sausage rolls on top. Brush the rolls with the egg. Cut a criss-cross pattern into the pastry. Don’t cut all the way through the pastry.

18. Sprinkle top with pepper.

19. Bake for 30 minutes.

20. Cut and enjoy!

Messy level: This was severely messy! The dough got all over the floor, the apron, and my hands. I probably should have done it in a bowl, but I followed the book and used the counter. It was a dangerous idea because the water got loose and spread everywhere. It was not so easy to keep my mess container. Also, wrapping the sausage with bacon is a bit messy. It took two of us to do it neatly. Not a clean recipe, but not too difficult either. Just make sure you give yourself time to do this.

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My lovely friend Charlotte, who is so supportive and helpful with my blog, suggested I post my first-ever salad recipe. When I read her email, I thought, “ugh, salad.” I seriously dislike making salads and I prefer what I can buy at a restaurant. I don’t have all the diverse and exotic ingredients they have. And I’m just incapable of coating my salads in dressing like restaurants do. I always have a dressing puddle at the bottom of my plate. But if the purpose of my blog is to push myself to expand my cooking horizons, then I should get over my aversion to salad-making and just make a darn salad!

Today’s recipe I call, “Lisa’s Mom’s Strawberry Salad.” Now Lisa, is one of my oldest and best friends, and I’ve known her for literally over twenty years. Her mom’s name is Ellen, and Ellen calls this recipe “Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad,” and we’ll go with that since it sounds more elegant. This recipe is one of the three or four staples (along with veggie pizza and 7-layer dip) that I associate with parties at Lisa’s house, and it’s become one of the dishes I look forward to. And I’ll admit it, I’m nostalgic. I like this recipe because it reminds me of my friends and all the great parties we went to at Lisa’s house when I was growing up.

But, the real reason this is special to me because it is the first recipe I ever asked someone for. Today I’m always asking people how they make something, what ingredients they used, and how they cooked it. But, I asked for this recipe when I was in high school and never cooked anything. Seriously, never. I do recall I made this once or twice at home, but somewhere in the 10+ years since high school I lost the recipe.

When Ellen sent me the recipe this time, my eyes bugged out a little when I saw mayonnaise in the dressing ingredients. Sixteen-year-old Mariel was unbothered by this because she didn’t know what ingredients were in anything, and she could eat whatever she wanted. But twenty-eight-year-old Mariel has a slower metabolism, and is afraid of mayonnaise. And I don’t really know why I’m afraid of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise, when made from scratch is largely oil and if a salad dressing called for lots of oil I wouldn’t bat an eye! So I decide I would make the dressing as Ellen instructed, and I’d also try to make my own oil based vinaigrette. And the winner was the mayo-based dressing! I felt like the oil overpowered the tangy raspberry sweetness I wanted in the dressing. Also, the mayo dressing wasn’t heavy at all. I liked the light sweetness that it added to the salad.

I had the perfect opportunity to make this salad the other day when Ryan was going out with friends to watch a soccer game. Solo-girls-night at home is about the only time a reddish-pink, vegetarian salad is going to be dinner in my house. When Ryan came home a few hours later he found me on the couch watching The Big Bang Theory with our baby-polar-bear-soft blanket pulled up to my nose.

Ryan: How was your salad?

Me: Great!

Ryan: You didn’t watch the game?

Me: No

Because solo-girls night means no sports on TV and a vegetarian dinner. Might sound terrible to you, but it sounds awesome to me.

Anyway, back to the recipe. At the core this salad can be made using just romaine, red onions, and strawberries. I decided to jazz it up a bit and I added goat cheese and crushed almonds. The sharp tang of raw onions, with the creamy cheese, the crunch of the almonds, and bright juiciness of the strawberries makes for a vibrant combination of flavors. I also think it makes the salad more filling. And tastier.

It was so tasty and filling, in fact, that I had this salad for breakfast the next day. For real, I ate salad for breakfast. I guess I don’t hate making salad anymore.

Ingredients

These amounts are if you’re making the salad for 4+ people

Dressing:

1/2  cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp poppy seeds

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp raspberry vinegar

Salad:

1 large head of Romaine lettuce (I used a bag of mixed greens)

1 quart strawberries

1 small red onion

1/3 cup almonds (or to taste)

goat cheese (to taste)

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise and sugar thoroughly. Add the poppy seeds. Mix. Add the milk. Mix. Add the raspberry vinegar. Mix. Set aside.

2. Wash the lettuce and roughly chop. Put in a large bowl.

3. Wash the strawberries. Cut into thin slices. Put them on top of the lettuce.

4. Slice the onion in thin strips. Put them on top of the lettuce.

5. You can crush the almonds in a food processor. Or you can put them in a plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin. The second way is fun, and you don’t dirty any dishes. Sprinkle crushed almonds on top of the lettuce.

6. Cut the goat cheese into small dime-sized blobs. Place them around on the salad.

7. Serve!

Messy level – 1 spoon! All you need for this is a knife, cutting board, two bowls, and a whisk to mix the dressing. So very easy.

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