Ugly-no-more pie

Remember my ugly but delicious pie?  The one that made my colleagues gasp in a not-so-good way when I pulled it out for lunch?

Well, it’s been bugging me ever since, and with a rapidly growing sense of urgency.  See, my Unbelievably Adorable Dad’s birthday is coming up soon and I very much want the pie’s flavor –but not its looks–at our party. Really, one should not have to celebrate getting within a year of Medicare eligibility with a breathtakingly unattractive dish.

And behold!  The problem has been solved.  Thanks, Serious Eaters, for your many good ideas.  It was actually Chef R0bert’s observation–that the following ingredients, mixed, were simply not going to produce an appetizing concoction–that made me slap my forehead and realize that I should simply layer them instead.

Baby portabella + butternut squash+kale pie

• 1 pie crust (yours or Pilsbury’s; I’m not going to judge)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1lb baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 butternut squash, microwaved (like this) and disemboweled
• 1 fistful of kale, ripped into bite-sized pieces and steamed for 5 minutes
• 1 14oz can roasted, diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tablespoon chipotle pepper (or more, if you’re like me and like FIRE)
• salt to taste
• a toss of blue cheese

You will notice that kale and blue cheese are the only deviations from the original recipe.  The kale is there because I desperately needed something green all of a sudden, and the blue cheese joined the party simply because that’s what we had this time around.

1. Sautee the onion, garlic, and mushrooms for a couple of minutes.
2. Pour the mushroom mixture into the pie crust.  Top with layers of squash, tomatoes, kale, cheese.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350F.

Is this not SO much better?

Potato and rutabaga gratin

Our kitchen was still groaning from the post-holiday root vegetable overload when I poked around tonight in search of dinner inspiration.  (Apparently, I have inherited my mom’s inability to match the amount of purchased/prepared food to the number of people who will ultimately consume it.  If I’m able to close the fridge without having to lean against the door, I begin to worry about impending starvation.)  So, look what became of all those taters and rutabagas:

Potato and rutabaga gratin

• 1 lb fingerling potatoes, cubed
• 1 rutabaga, cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1.5 cup  buttermilk (fat-free, in our case)
• 2 eggs
• blue cheese crumbles to taste (a small fistful, for instance)
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh dill to taste

1. Place the potatoes, rutabaga, and onion into a shallow baking dish.  Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper.  Bake at 400F for ~25 minutes.
2. Combine the eggs, buttermilk, blue cheese, dill in a mixing bowl; whisk to combine.  Pour over the root vegetables.
3. Continue to bake for another 30 or so minutes, until it’s as tantalizingly delicious as the picture above.

Spinach + pear + quinoa salad with blue cheese and walnuts

Do you ever find yourself promising a dozen of your dearest friends homemade baklava?  And then, much later, realize that you need to spend a perfectly inconvenient weeknight elbow-deep in butter and sugar and nuts in order to keep this promise?

No?

Well, if you ever do, here’s what you should throw together for a quick dinner just after you’ve tucked the baklava into the oven and just before your blood sugar levels plummet below the safe-for-husband threshold:

• 2-3 fistfuls of fresh spinach
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 2 pears
• 1 fistful of walnuts
• a toss of blue cheese crumbles
• a splash of balsamic vinegar