Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus

As I told you all yesterday, I got a new food processor! I just could not wait to use it! The first night I got it, I tried to use it to mix my naan dough, but it was a fail - too much dough! So last night I tried again and it was an amazing success!

If you like hummus, I can promise you that you will LOVE this.

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
5 cloves of minced garlic
1 tbsp of ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp of salt
1 1/2 tsp of pepper
1 tbsp of lemon juice
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oli
2 tbsp of tahini
2 cans of garbanzo beans, rinsed

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 350º

2. Cut your butternut squash in half. This will take a sharp knife and a lot of muscle. Good thing I have been working out. Scoop out all the seeds and set aside.

3. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet in the oven and roast for 1 hour.

4. While roasting (breath in an enjoy the smell) gather the rest of your ingredients. In your food processor add garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil and tahini. Give it a few pulses to mix it up. Then add one can of garbanzo beans and wait! Don't mix yet, even if you're excited, wait.

5. Once the squash is done roasting let cool for about 15 minutes if you're antsy or 30-60 minutes if you have time and don't want to get burned. I waited about 5 minutes and suffered the hot potato game.

6. Scoop out the squash avoiding the skin and add to the processor. Add the second can of garbanzo beans and pulse until smooth.

7. Be the first to taste so you don't poison your friends and family!

8. Enjoy with veggies, pita, leftover naan, and pretzels.

I'm sure you are asking why you set the seeds aside? To make roasted squash seeds of course!  Rinse, let soak in salt water for 30 minutes. Drain and place on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes stirring half way through. Let cook and enjoy!

Kiley approves! 

Crock Pot Coconut Chicken Curry with Homemade Garlic Naan

I love cooking with the Crock Pot. It's like having a personal chef for one easy payment of $24.99! So last night I gathered my ingredients did some chopping and cutting and within 30 minutes my Crock Pot was in the refrigerator ready to be slow cooked to an amazing dinner!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2lbs of skinless boneless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into cubes

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium onion, diced 

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth

3-4 tbsp curry powder (based on taste)

1 tsp of cumin

1/2 tsp of kosher salt

1/2 tsp of coarse ground black pepper

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp of cornstarch

Directions:

1. Place chicken, potatoes and onion in the Crock Pot. Add garlic, curry powder, cumin, salt and black pepper. Stir until mean and potatoes are coated.
2. If you are preparing the night before, it is now time to put this in the refrigerator overnight. If you are ready get cooking now, let's get going to the next step now...
3. Add coconut milk and chicken broth and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
4. Shred chicken with a fork, but be careful not to mash the potatoes! (You can skip this step if you want your chicken to remain cubed or you are nervous about mashed potato curry!)
5. Add red bell pepper to the Crock Pot and cook for thirty minutes. 
6. Stir in cornstarch to thicken. Let cook for about 15 more minutes.
7. Serve over basmati rice with naan (Want to know how to make homemade naan? I know you do...read on.)

Sure you could go to your local grocery store and buy a package that contains two pieces of naan for $2.99...or you could follow this recipe and have 12 pieces that you made! I think the decision is clear...

Ingredients:

1 package of active dry yeast
1 cup of hot water (about 120º)
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tbsp of milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups of flour (can use all purpose or bread flour)
1/2 tsp of baking soda
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of butter

Directions:

1. Combine 1tbsp of sugar with hot water (about 120º) sprinkle the packet of yeast on top of the hot water and let sit for about 5-8 minutes until it is frothy. 
2. Add sugar, salt, milk, baking soda and egg to the yeast and water.
3. Slowly add the flour until a soft dough forms. Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes.
4. Place in a greased bowl in a warm place and cover with a towel. Let rise for 1-2 hours.
5. After the dough has doubled in size, pull apart and make 12-14 evenly sized balls (about the size of a golfball.) Knead garlic into each ball. Place these on a baking sheet and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. 
6. Place your oven rack at the top or one row down from the top of the oven. If you are using a pizza stone (what I use and recommend, however you can use a cookie sheet but do not preheat the oven with this) place it on the rack and preheat the oven using the broil setting on High.
7. While the oven is preheating...combine the butter and 1 minced clove of garlic. Melt in the microwave or over the stove. 
8. Roll each ball flat using a rolling pin on a floured surface. I suggest rolling all of the dough out before cooking, because things get fast from here. 
9. Once the oven is hot, pour some oil on the stone and place 1-2 (I do not do more because like I said, things go fast!) pieces of dough on stone brushing them with the butter mixture. Push the rack under the grill, but do not close the oven! Closely watch the dough. It will bubble up and when it is slightly browned, flip and brush the other side with garlic butter. Once this side begins to brown take out of the oven. This step only takes about 1-2 minutes per side.
10. Repeat until you have cooked all the dough.
11. Enjoy with your favorite Indian dish, make into naan pizza, with hummus, or enjoy as is. 

Do not close the oven,or you'll end up with this!

And someone will have to eat it, burnt edges and all!

For some reason when I made this tonight, the dough did not rise. It could be the lack of heat in our 55º home. This created a very dense, pita like bread. Still good, but not naan-like. I have used this recipe before and did not have this problem and it tasted very much like naan. Can't win 'em all, I suppose! Enjoy!

Wednesday Night Tostadas

One of our favorite quick and easy recipes is what we dubbed, "Wednesday Night Tostadas." We named them this because they are a great "middle of the week, don't feel like cooking" recipe. These can be made start to finish with 8 ingredients in under 20 minutes.

Recipe is for 2, but simple to double for a family!

Ingredients:
4 Corn and Whole Wheat Blend Tortillas
1 cup of black beans (half a can, drained)
1 cup of frozen corn
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of lime juice (can use 1/2 lime squeezed)
1 tbsp of freshly chopped cilantro (or 1tsp of dried)
1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper
1/2 cup of Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350º and arrange the tortillas on a cookie sheet. Once preheated, place in the oven for about 6 minutes flipping part way through.
2. While the tortillas bake, combine beans, corn, olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, and red pepper.
3. Once tortillas are baked (should be lightly browned and slightly stiff) dish the mix evenly on each of the tortillas. 
4. Bake for 5 minutes until hot. Remove and sprinkle cheese over each tostada. Return to the oven until cheese is melted.
5. Serve immediately with fresh salsa. 
6. Take your first bite and enjoy! Be careful, they will be hot! 

We hope you fall in love with our simple Wednesday Night Tostadas!

Hey Blog, Hey!

Hello, blogosphere! This is Hari, Katie and Kiley in our first ever joint blog. Exciting, we know. Hari and Katie were born in Massachusetts and New York respectively and we spent majority of our lives (give or take some college years) in Rochester, N.Y. Although we are Yankees, our puppy Kiley is a Southern Belle. Kiley lived in Mississippi until Katie fell in love with her in 2010 and she came to live with us in Rochester (you can find out more about her story here.) Last summer we moved to rural North Carolina by way of Katie landing a teaching job, and our lives have turned upside down.

So this is our "natural hippie blog" (as Hari called it) or just a glimpse into our cluttered, messy, not so perfect life. Katie came up with the blog as we were hiking. I (Hari) found it silly, but after thinking about it, realized we can use it to share our weirdness with the world. You might find natural cleaning remedies, hiking reviews, wedding ideas (did we mention that we are engaged?!), and delicious recipes. We don't really know where this blog will go, but we find it to be fun for us.  It is a way to do something together in our hectic lives.

We have been called "crunchy" and "granola" as if it is a bad thing...but we take it as a compliment. Did you know that we kiss trees, too? We are by no means perfect, nor do we think that we are. We try to respect the Earth and our bodies all while trying to balance our passions, lack of time, and lack of budget. So sometimes we may not be using or doing what someone views as the most environmentally friendly thing, or maybe what we are doing is too friendly - we are just doing us. Love us or leave us be.

Hiking at Raven Rock Park (the blog inspiring hike!)

-Katie and Hari