Thursday, November 4, 2010

Winter Vegetable Hash, Two Ways!

We had Winter Vegetable Hash for dinner early this week, and it was a so-so hit. I loved it, my husband loved it, and Lainey ate it (with the regular reminder of a piece of Halloween candy for dessert if she did....). She didn't gag on it, but she didn't give me my "oooh, Mommmmy, fanks!" that I was hoping for. (C'mon, kid, this is a dinner with raisins in it!) The original recipe was from Allrecipes, and here's what I did:

Winter Vegetable Hash
serves 6

3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 lb diced potatoes
1/2 lb diced mushrooms
2 small squash, partially cooked and diced
1/2 onion, chopped (I used leeks this time)
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 full cup chopped kale/other greens
4 sprigs of fresh sage (this time I only used about a teaspoon of dried, it was all I had)
1/4 c raisins
splash lemon juice
1 tsp garam masala (I added this on a whim and it was perfect!)

Place oil and butter in a large skillet; add onion and potatoes, cook about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add garlic and kale. Cook another 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add squash, mushrooms, all seasonings, lemon juice, raisins, and stir well. Cover and cook, adding a little water/oil as needed to cook vegetables fully.

We had this topped with a little grated cheddar, but I would have liked to try topping it with a poached or fried egg. (Sorry, no photo this time, I forgot!)

So, it was a slightly Lainey un-friendly dinner...no biggie, except that I've been meal planning (see my post all about it tomorrow on the other blog I write for, From Scratch Club!!) and my double batch of Hash was supposed to be the main dish for my "leftover" night tonight. I'm really proud of the solution I came up with--probably a little too excited, but I feel like it was pretty darn creative. It was a hit all around (even my 1-year old babe Sarah ate an entire bowl!) and it was a piece of cake!

What did I do, you ask? I turned it into soup. I know the picture looks less than appealing (next time I'll try to shoot the greenish soup not in a green bowl...), but it was good--sorta like a pumped up potato leek soup. I heated all the leftovers in a large saucepan, and put a couple of inches of water in the pan. If you're unsure how much water to add, start with less than you think--you can always add more liquid once it's pureed. Once the hash was warm, I pureed it right in the pot with my immersion blender. I added a few splashes of milk and a little more water to achieve a good consistency, and served it topped with a handful of shredded cheese.
A leftover night success!!