100 lb. Club - Autumn Almanac (or Fab Fall Food)

The summer's well and truly over here. There's a distinct chill in the air and all the leaves are tumbling down. We needed some warming food today so I fettled some tagine. It's good, healthy fare so I thought I'd share it here. :) Any other ideas for comforting food will be welcome.
Veggie Tagine

Ingredients:
Big selection of of veggies roughly chopped into similar sizes. This time I used:
8 oz aubergine (eggplant)
8 oz carrots
6 oz courgettes (zucchini)
3 oz mushrooms
5 oz onions (baby boilers are good)
7 oz peppers (green/red)
13 oz sweet potato (yams? The ones with the orange flesh, anyway!)

3½ oz apricots (dried & preferably unsulphured), thinly sliced
1 tblsp. cayenne pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tblsp. honey
2 tblsp. olive oil (you can use less, but I love the fruity flavour)
2 tblsp. paprika
1½ oz pine nuts
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 litre stock (chicken or vegetable)
2 cups crushed tomatoes
Whatever herbs crack your whip--I'm a sucker for parsley, myself.

Method:
Salt the aubergine and courgette to draw out any bitter juices, then rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Cook the carrots and onions together in the stock for 5-10 minutes. Add the dried apricots and the other veggies (except the mushrooms) and cook until tender, but not mushy. Drain them, saving the stock.

Sauté the mushrooms and pine nuts in the olive oil. Add the cayenne, paprika, herbs, honey, and tomatoes. Combine with the stock and previously cooked veggies, and bring to the boil. Stir in the sesame oil. Serve with lots of black pepper and a dollop of FF sour cream if you fancy.

This particular combination makes 11 cups at 142 kcals per cup--not including the sour cream.

I usually eat it with whole-wheat couscous or rice, but it also works well with fresh, warm bread. :T

that sounds really good. I have to say, I'm sweating here in NY, so I haven't gotten into the fall, comfort food scene yet.

One snack for summer is goat cheese with fruit or crackers. The four peppers is delicious. It has about 1/2 the calories of cheddar too. It adds lots of flavor to salads. And an ounce of goat cheese goes a long way.

Thanks for that recipe.

Ahhh, autumn, my favourite season ~ bring on those beautifully coloured fallen leaves to crunch on as you take a long walk in the cool breeze and clear air (bye bye humidity). Only problem with autumn is its followed by too many months of winter.... :(

Here's a roasted veggie dish that has lots of flavour and fibre and very little fat. Its a Thanksgiving staple (Canada celebrates Thanksgiving the second week of October). :D

Autumn Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients:
3 carrots, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
10 small white button mushrooms
2 cups Brussels sprouts (cut in halves if large)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 10-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400f degrees. Toss vegetables with the oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Place vegetables in a roasting pan. Pour stock into the pan. Roast 45 minutes, stirring and turning every 15 minutes or so. When tender-crisp, raise oven heat to 425f degrees and continue roasting 10 to 15 minutes more or until vegetables are browned and tender. Remove from oven, drain of any excess liquid, and serve hot, garnished with pecans.

mmmmm :hun:

Those both sound FANTASTIC!

Jilly, you just solved my "what to make for dinner tonight" blues! :toast:

Jilly, that sounds delish! :T I love sprouts but rarely buy them 'cause huuby's not too keen. I'm sure he'll be tempted by this though. Thanks.

Thanks to the :chef: :chef: for the great recipes. Both sound yummy minus the brussel sprouts. :snooty: I'm with hubby TooFatFish. A recent fall favortie for me has been "Southern Baked Sweet Potatoes with Apples" from the 3FC thread Chicks in the Kithchen/Chicks up for a Challenge. I decreased the butter and sugar and increased the cinnamon.

TooFatFish, Onederland here you come. How exciting!!