Dinner Bowl #48

 


Back to true pantry utilization with this one! Here we have butternut squash gratin with kamut berries (recipe from Vegan Lovlie), some caramelized peppers and onions, and brussels sprouts with mushroom bacon (recipe from Wallflower Kitchen).

I am not sure when I bought kamut berries, but when I discovered you have to soak them overnight before cooking them, for some reason that discouraged me from using them enough that I'd never opened the package. But it is time to use things, so I found this recipe that looked promising. It has layers of butternut squash, kamut, spinach, and smoked tofu in a creamy coconut milk-based sauce that's thickened with tapioca flour. In other words, it's one of those recipes that screams "VEGAN!" and I would probably avoid serving it to omnivores, but I found it delicious. The flavors were amazing together. There was a slight sweetness to it thanks to the squash and the coconut milk, and it had an addictive quality that made me wish I'd made a full batch instead of half. I did add more smoked tofu than the recipe itself suggested, because I love smoked tofu so much. This was perfect.

The mushroom bacon really did turn out to have a great bacon flavor, but also mushroom flavor, which was great because I love mushrooms. I did not have any beet juice, so I wasn't able to color my "bacon," but that was fine. The mushroom bacon went really well with the brussels sprouts. This is another one that screams "VEGAN," but I probably would serve it to omnivores. They went with the wintery casserole, so it was a great choice.

The peppers and onions were just things I had that needed using, and by now I'm used to the treatment I gave them, cooking them low and slow while I cooked everything else. They were delicious. If I set out to make these, rather than incidentally having them, though, I'd use red peppers, as those would be prettier as a contrast with the squash than these peppers, which seem to blend right in.

There is a surprising amount of food squirreled away in my little kitchen, so expect to see more of my pantry utilization quest. Meanwhile, if you have recipes for kamut berries, please let me know!

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