Creamy Butternut Squash Goat Cheese Pasta with Brown Butter & Crispy Sage

It's no secret I have a bit of a love affair with brown butter and sage. I was way too old the first time I experienced the dynamic duo last Christmas. I made homemade butternut squash gnocchi in a brown butter sage creme fraiche sauce and it was quite possibly the most epic and decadent meal I've ever made and oh so worthy for a first vegetarian christmas. I do submit that there is no better smell in the world than crispy sage cooking in bubbly brown butter. It's cozy, comforting, and so damn decadent. 

So inspired by that dish I decided to make a simpler, more week-night appropriate version. The result is perfection. Creamy roasted butternut squash is puréed with tangy goat cheese and a dollop of creme fraiche. The sauce is then poured over pasta and topped with crispy sage and brown butter. It's holiday worthy, it's cozy, and it's so good.  

Creamy Butternut Squash Goat Cheese Pasta with Brown Butter & Crispy Sage
Inspired by Chow 
Serves 4-6

1 large butternut squash
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided  
1 large bunch of sage, about 2 oz 
3 large shallots 
1 pound angel hair pasta 
1/8 tsp nutmeg 
3.75 oz creme fraiche 
2.5 oz goat cheese 
3/4 - 1 cup pasta water 
3/4 tsp salt 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice butternut squash length-wise, remove the seeds (they are great roasted separately in olive oil) and discard the stringy center. Drizzle the squash with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cook on a baking sheet cut-side up for 45 minutes - 1 hour until completely soft and the top begins to look caramelized. Set aside to cool slightly. 

Meanwhile, warm 2 tbsp of butter in a medium skillet over medium heat and slice shallots (everything gets blended together so how you slice them doesn't matter much). Add the shallots to the butter and sauté until soft and just slightly browned. Pour cooked shallots into a blender. 

Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a boil. Warm the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat. The butter will warm and white bubbles with appear. Just as the bubbles begin to subside add in whole sage leaves. The sage will start to become crispy, and the butter will start to turn a rich caramel color with little brown bits. Watch like a hawk as this happens as brown butter turns to burnt butter quickly. I like to bring the brown butter right to the edge of burnt to get it as caramelly with as many brown bits as possible.  

Once water is boiling, add the pasta and cook. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water for the sauce and place drained pasta in a sauté pan. 

Once it's cooled enough to handle, scrape out the center of the butternut squash with a spoon and add it to the blender. Add the nutmeg, creme fraiche, and goat cheese and blend. Slowly add in pasta water, starting with 1/2 a cup and adding more until you reach your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss. Once combined, top with brown butter and sage and toss lightly with tongs as not to break the sage leaves. Top with parmesan and serve. 

Notes: To blend I used my vitamix but any blender should work, as well as a food processor. I've made this with homemade pasta and dried. It's approximately twice as good with homemade, but I realize normal people don't have that kind of time. 

Juice Cleanse + My Favorite Fall Green Juice

After four days filled with pie, homemade ice cream, mashed potatoes with the best damn vegetarian gravy I've ever had, and rugelach, so. much. rugelach, forgive me if I swear off food for a little while, and divert things to talk about juice instead. Green juice! 

Let's start from the beginning. I bought a juicer a little over a year and a half ago. And I can honestly say it was worth every penny. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I would juice fruits and vegetables (lots of vegetables) for a healthy snack or breakfast. Last January I even did a green-juice-a-day-january where I drank one for 31 days straight to help myself build the habit. Juicing is an easy way to ensure you digest the full 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day that we're all supposed to get (though no one actually does), in a fast straight-to-the-blood-stream, kind of way. Not only does drinking green juice make my body feel energized and light, but it has a pretty incredible affect on my mind, my mood, and my ability to focus. And for me, that's a pretty big deal. 

So two weeks ago my husband went out of the country for what felt like the millionth time this year for work. I went to work in the morning, then spent the rest of the day in bed feeling sorry for myself, feeling trapped in a life I didn't choose and feeling less than hopeful that things were ever going to get any better. Things were shitty. And I felt super depressed. On top of this, I'd gained almost 5 pounds over the past couple months, and despite feeling pretty confident in knowing how to take care of my body, and continually bring myself back into balance, those numbers on the scale scared me. I felt heavy and lazy, sad and hopeless. I knew I needed a shift that was a bit more dramatic, and I needed it fast. So with my husband gone I attempted a juice cleanse. 4 days. No food. All green juice. 

The first day was, of course, the roughest. I wanted food and I wanted it badly. But somehow I felt nourished enough by the juices. I drank 2-4 giant juices per day, somehow needing less and less of them as the days continued. Much like a fast, I avoided any strenuous exercise, and limited things to lots of gentle and yin yoga classes along with walks for P. Physically I felt less energy, but mentally my mind became light, clear, and focused; my mood improved dramatically. The most difficult parts of the day were the evenings. When the sun went down around 4:30 and it got cold, all I wanted was a warm meal. Each evening I swore today would be the last day and tomorrow I'd end this thing. But each morning I work up feeling good and more determined to finish what I'd started, so I'd drink a giant glass of warm water with lemon (a healthy habit I totally fell in love with) and carry on. 

Throughout the four days I learned how much our culture revolves around food. We socialize around it. I found myself postponing meetings with friends because pretty much all people do when they get together is eat.  I found I couldn't open the fridge or go near restaurants (which felt like they were everywhere!). I couldn't watch the food network, read my favorite food blogs, and at times I felt so desperate, I actually started drooling over the trashy big mac commercials on tv. I snuck a raw almond while organizing my pantry on night two, and I swear to you, nothing has ever tasted so good in my life. Oh and I craved meat. Like steak. Big time. I feared that when this cleanse ended I would eat and just never stop eating. 

Fortunately that's not what happened. And when I eased off things by drinking warm homemade almond milk with cinnamon at the end of day four, I thought I'd die of happiness. Nothing has even felt so nourishing and delicious than that glass. I started day 5 with a fruit and spinach smoothie. I made kale chips and toasted almonds with olive oil and sea salt for lunch and couldn't believe how delicious they tasted. I savoured every bite like I was eating for the first time. Everything tasted so good. For dinner, I ended things in a big way with Green Kitchen Stories' New Yoga Pot. And it was perfect. Over the next couple of days I pretty much ate just whole fruits and vegetables, then slowly started incorporating some dairy, like greek yogurt, and feta in a salad, then grains. 

A week after the beginning of the cleanse, I felt pretty fantastic. I felt empowered and like I'd given my body a fresh start to eat really well. To focus more on whole fruits and vegetables. To limit the amount of bread I eat (avocado toast, I love you). Oh and although this wasn't my main goal, and I don't recommend cleansing purely the loose weight, I lost those pesky 5 pounds and got back to my "normal". Obviously it goes without saying, I'm not a doctor, and believe every body is different - what's good for one could be bad for another, but for me the experience was great. 

So today I share with you, my favorite fall green juice. Because I believe health is about balance, and balance, just like I teach my yoga students, is not about standing perfectly still, but about constantly moving around center. It's about staying present enough to make those little, or sometimes big, adjustments to keep you around center. And if you try to stand perfectly still, you will, undoubtedly, fall. I see it in my students, I see it in myself. And for me green juices help me balance around center, so I can enjoy carmel pear pie on thanksgiving then drink kale the next morning. 

My Favorite Fall Green Juice 
Makes about 1 quart 

2-3 large apples* 
1 pear 
1 handful baby spinach 
1 large bunch of Kale 
1 large head of romaine 
1 lemon 
1/2 medium cucumber 

Wash and thoroughly dry all ingredients (salad spinners work great here). Press all ingredients through a juicer. To get the most out of the baby spinach, pack it tightly between the two apples.

*I start with two apples, taste, then if you'd like it sweeter add a third. Apple juice is low-glycemic, so the sugar from it won't spike your blood sugar, plus apples have always been my sweetener of choice for juices. 
 

Autumn Kale Salad with Quinoa, Almonds, Cranberries, Apples & Goat Cheese in a Maple Vinaigrette

I came home from teaching a private Sunday morning craving something hearty, healthy, maple syrupy and very Fall. This salad is epic and checks all of those boxes. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I've never been much of a "salad person", but I'm trying to be. And I'm finding the more things you put into a salad, the tastier it usually is.

This salad celebrates Fall in a big way. It's apple-forward, with a cozy maple-y dressing, crunchy warm toasted almonds, tart dried cranberries, hearty quinoa and creamy goat cheese. And let's not forget the king of the health food world, Kale. Oh hail Kale. But seriously, this salad is just lovely. It's definitely making it onto my Thanksgiving table and I hope it makes it onto yours. 

And speaking of Thanksgiving. If you're still looking for last minute inspiration I've compiled a board of all my favorite Thanksgiving recipes from all my favorite food bloggers here and here. 

On another note, I'm taking the GRE tomorrow. And not to sound desperate, but I could use all the prayers/positive vibes/well wishes I could get. You see, there's math on the GRE, and I have to write, you know, academically for TWO essays. All I know how to write about is FOOD! So writing this post is my attempt at procrastinating on those last couple pages of vocabulary words. But seriously. Send those good vibes my way. Thank you! 

Autumn Kale Salad with Quinoa, Almonds, Cranberries, Apples & Goat Cheese in a Maple Vinaigrette 
Adapted from Cookie and Kate 
Serves 4-6 as a side 

For the Salad: 
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa 
1 cup water 
1/2 cup raw almonds
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
1/8 tsp salt 
1 large bunch of Kale, (12-14oz) 
1/2 cup dried cranberries 
3 oz goat cheese, crumbled 
1 very large Honeycrisp apple, cored and thinly sliced 

For the Dressing: 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
1 teaspoon lemon zest 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
2 tablespoons maple syrup 
1 teaspoon dijon mustard 
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
1/8 teaspoon salt 
fresh ground black pepper to taste 

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Rinse your quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and add to boiling water. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until water is completely absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, stir in a large pinch of salt, fluff with a fork and set aside.

Preheat the oven (I use my toaster oven) to 350 degrees. Toss almonds with olive oil and salt and cook for about 5 minutes until almond skins begin to crack and turn a dark brown color (watch carefully so they don't burn). You want to bring them right to the edge of burnt so they are crunchy and extremely fragrant. (Note: these make a fantastic snack on their own!) Roughly chop and set aside. 

Wash and de-rib your kale. The central rib of the kale is very bitter, discard the ribs or save them for juicing. Chop the kale into bite-size pieces. 

Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients into a airtight jar (I use a mason) and shake until combined. Pour the dressing over the kale and using your hands, massage the kale and dressing together for a good 3 minutes until the kale becomes limp and the pile decreases in size. Add dried cranberries, almonds, quinoa, apples, and goat cheese. Toss and serve. 

Notes: Because of it's sturdiness kale salads actually make great left-overs. The kale does a great job of holding its shape and doesn't get soggy.