Adzuki Butternut Squash Stew

I have been cooking a lot more with beans lately, and of course I turn to 101 Cookbooks for some ideas.  I was surprised to find that there weren't too many recipes on the bean page, but I found quite a few of them to be very appealing.  The first one I decided to make was the Adzuki Butternut Squash Stew.  I haven't made any soup-y recipes in a while, and I had a butternut squash that was begging to be turned into a meal, so I got the ingredients and whipped this up on a Tuesday morning.  I made half a batch because, as we all know by now, my freezer is filled to capacity.  (I did sneak a 12-oz container of this stew in there, of course.)  It turned out to be very delicious.  I especially liked the cinnamon.  One thing I would do differently next time is to add more diced chipotles, because it didn't have much of a kick to it.  We had some as-is, and some with a bit of leftover cooked brown rice (basmati, maybe?) - both were good.  I'd be interested in adding a grain directly into the recipe and see what happens.  Barley sounds like a good idea right now.

Avocado Tahini Dip

Today's post is about the Avocado Tahini Dip I made last weekend from Moro East, the January/February featured cookbook on the 101 Cookbooks Library.

This dip is made with avocado, tahini, and lemon juice.  It is essentially a cross between guacamole and hummus.  It was OK, I guess.  I will stick with hummus in the future.  That being said, I am not the biggest avocado devotee (though I do love guac) so if you are, you may be more interested in this recipe/concept.  I tried to use cilantro in place of the mint, which I am sure was one of the shortcomings.

February is almost over and I have made very few recipes from Moro East.  I have a long to-try list that I'll have to go through and see if I can fit in a few more things before the book goes back to the shelf for a while.  I intend to revisit it again in the summer when more of the required produce is in season.

Spaghetti with Braised Kale

I stopped at Whole Foods the other day (I've convinced myself that being 20 minutes away from there is "in the area") and I picked up some lacinato kale.  I had something in my brain for what to do with it, but it took me a while to dig it out.  It finally clicked for me - this Spaghetti with Braised Kale was posted a few weeks ago and I had meant to try it.

Now, I'm sorry to say this was not worth the stress of trying to remember what I wanted to make.  It was okay, but nothing exciting.  If it sounds appealing, I would recommend using less pasta or more kale - I used only one bunch since that's all I had.  The cheese totally saved the dish.