Tag Archives: warm spices

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pumpkin Pudding

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Here’s a special and unusual recipe for what has always been my favorite time of year. It makes a spectacular addition to a brunch, but it’s also the perfect shortcut to a uniquely delicious and cozy dinner. When my children were young, they loved this pudding and asked for it often once the leaves began falling from the trees. It’s not that I couldn’t make it at other times of year, it’s just that they associated it with autumn. I think they also loved how it warmed them from the inside. I wish I could tell you where the recipe comes from, but I honestly cannot recall. All I know is that I began making it a very long time ago.

The children would get home from school, run outside, and spend a few hours creating and then jumping in leaf piles. When I started to see that, I knew it was time to make pumpkin pudding. I have always made it in the same large, blue bowl with broad, shallow sides. No particular reason, I just like the way it looks and cooks in that bowl. I wish you the same kind of simple pleasure. 

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 one-pound can of pumpkin pureé
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 tiny pinch of powdered cloves
1 cup (organic) whole milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a casserole dish or large beautiful pottery bowl by greasing with butter or butter substitute. 

Break the eggs into a large bowl, and beat well with a fork. Add the pumpkin first, followed by the milk, molasses, and spices. Stir well.

Bake 1 hour until the pudding is firm in the middle and a cake tester comes out clean.

You can serve it hot, warm, or cold, and with or without whipped cream. Honestly, it doesn’t much matter, because there won’t be any left.

 

 

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Grains and Greens

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This is a recipe that features the grain you feel like eating today*, the greens that are in season, and whatever vegetables you are in the mood to sautè. For this particular version, I chose quinoa, red peppers, and spinach, but you can saunter through your kitchen, gather up your choices, and start chopping. If you get your veggies organized, and do your chopping early in the day, you’ll be able to throw this meal together quickly. And if you make the grains the evening or weekend before, you’ll feel like a pro when everything comes together in just a few minutes. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

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This recipe made its way into my house in a booklet provided by Vitamix with the purchase of our high-speed blender many years ago. It is really delicious whether all by itself, sprinkled over a circle of warm brie, or tossed onto a tomato salad. Pumpkin seeds are a great substitute for nuts when you are feeding people with nut allergies, but they are also extremely nourishing in and of themselves, and worth the time you spend making them. 

Over the years I have collected plenty of recipes for sweet spiced nuts and seeds, but this is the only recipe I have for a savory version.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tsimmes

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Preparing for the holidays with my mom was a major highlight of my childhood. Although my father was the main cook in our family, my mother took over the kitchen on the holidays, and dad’s primary responsibility was to make the brisket.

Like many other special dishes that we ate on dedicated holidays throughout the calendar, my mother made tsimmes twice a year, in the fall for Rosh Hashanah (it is traditional to eat sweet foods on Rosh Hashanah), and in the spring, for Passover. She never used recipes, preferring instead to combine ingredients as her grandmother and mother-in-law did. Truthfully, though, tsimmes is one of those dishes that probably doesn’t really need much of a recipe anyway. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cauliflower Popcorn

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This spices in this recipe appeal to me big time, and hopefully you’ll feel the same. I spent some time with my kids in Jerusalem this past winter, and they cook with lots of heat and spice. In fact, I’m sure they would increase the cumin to 1 or even 2 teaspoons, use hot paprika instead of sweet, and add more hot sauce at the end. Everything they made was fabulous, so if you’re a fan of heat (like me), I’m going to suggest you try it that way, too. This recipe reminded me of some of the things we cooked while I was there, and making their favorites always makes me feel a little closer to them. This recipe is fantastic as a snack, a side, or sprinkled on top of soup, salad, or grains. Continue reading →