Gluten-free Cheesy Garlic Butternut Squash

Christmas Menu - Are you including healthy, gluten-free recipes?

The holidays are just around the corner! I bet, like me, you are thinking about your Christmas menu. We'll have traditional turkey, of course, but the side dishes are where you can get a bit creative. I look for sides that can be prepared ahead of time and then just thrown in the oven when the turkey is pulled out of the oven.

Are you or any of your guests following a gluten-free diet? If so, you may have to think a bit harder and scrutinize labels for gluten in the ingredients. Of course, sensitivity to gluten means things like wheat, rye and barley are off limits. Avoiding it can be tricky as wheat is often used in many processed foods and items you may not think of as containing gluten such as most soy sauces!

Gluten-free foods include:

• meats
• eggs
• most dairy products
• beans
• fish
• veggies
• fruits
• natural seeds, nuts 

Luckily, gluten-free products are getting easier to find on grocery store shelves. A great gluten-free product is Hidden Valley Ranch dressings - original, spicy and cheese are all gluten-free!

I created this gluten-free, cheesy, garlicky and delicious side dish using gluten-free ingredients including Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese dressing. Not only does it add great flavour and some zip to salads and dips, it is also an easy way to add quick and easy flavor to this creamy vegetable side dish.

I love this dish pureed but you could mash it for a chunkier consistency. Be careful with how much sage you use -it's powerful stuff that can easily take over the flavor. Roasted garlic on the other hand is quite mellow so you can use a whole head of it without fear!

Pick butternut squashes that are heavy for their size.

Cut in half and scoop out seeds.

Lightly coat with olive oil, and sprinkle with spices & herbs.

Roast squash for about 40-45 minutes.

Puree squash with butter, gluten-free Hidden Valley Ranch cheese dressing,
garlic, ginger, salt and pepper.

Place your puree in a baking dish and sprinkle with Parmesan and pumpkin seeds.

Bake until heated through.

Broil for a minute or two until cheese bubbles.

Your guests will love it!

Ingredients

2 medium to large butternut squash (about 6-7 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 head garlic, separated and peeled
1 tsp salt, divided in half
pepper
4 fresh sage leaves
8 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup Parmesan-reggiano, shredded, divided (2 tbsp for the puree and the rest sprinkled on top)
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese dressing
1/3 cup unsalted and toasted pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Cut two butternut squashes in half lengthwise.
3. Scoop out seeds and discard.
4. Rub the olive oil over the cut flesh and skin of squash. 
5. Sprinkle cut flesh with salt and pepper. In the scooped out hole of the squash place a sage leaf, 2 twigs of thyme, and equally distribute the peeled garlic cloves.
6. Carefully, place the squash cut side down on a large baking sheet.
7. Roast in oven for approximately 45 minutes, until the thickest part of squashes are tender.
8. Let rest for 15 minutes to cool slightly.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
10. Remove thyme but place sage, and garlic in blender or large bowl.
11. Scoop out squash and place in blender.
12. Add butter, Cheese Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, 2 tbsp Parmesan and 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt.
13. Puree mixture until smooth.
14. Place mixture in 9 or 10 inch baking dish with low sides.
15. Smooth squash and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and remaining Parmesan.
16. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and squash is warmed through.
17. Serve.

Hidden Valley Ranch products and other promotional consideration were received in exchange for providing the above recipe as part of a submission in a contest sponsored by Hidden Valley Ranch.

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressings are gluten-free.

Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup - Ninja Blender Auto iQ Review

What I had

I've been using a NutriBullet by Magic Bullet for about a year. Unfortunately, for the last 3 or 4 months the noise it produces is so loud it hurts my ears. Additionally, the underneath of the blade mechanism is full of rust. Too bad really as I was fairly happy with its performance. Knowing I had to replace it, I started doing some research. Sure, I'd love a Vitamix but I just couldn't justify the price and it would be too big to sit out on my counter for easy access to morning smoothies. The Nutriblender has a 900 watt model out but I wasn't convinced as I have read mixed reviews about its performance. My other option was a Nutri Ninja.

Fate

That's when fate intervened! As regular readers know, I attended IFBC in Seattle this past September. One of the sponsors was Nutri Kitchen. They sponsored one of the lunch sessions so I was able to learn about their products, including their new Auto iQ line. The new line has preset configurations for time and pulsing so you don't have to stop, take off the jar or blender and stir, shake or otherwise get annoyed!

I left the conference armed with information and recipe ideas and thought I'd make my final decision within a couple of weeks. Then I received an email from Ninja asking if I'd like to review the Ninja Blender DUO with Auto-iQ! Heck ya! So they sent me the 1300 Watt system to test drive!

Nutri Blender with Auto iQ

This system comes with the blender, iQ base with 5 programmed settings, two Nutri Ninja cups, crushing blades, extractor blades, recipe inspiration guide.

Testing

A) Set up was quick and easy. Before long we had our green goddess smoothie ready for blending. Simply pressing the NutriNinja "ultra blend" button starts the process. It pulses a couple of times to get things going and then blends until perfectly smooth - a total of 60 seconds. There is even a count down timer so you know exactly how long until it's done! The smoothie was, well, smooth - I would say it is smoother than my old nutriblender (though that was 600 watts vs 1300 watts for the Ninja). The cups with lids make smoothie making easy and convenient. This model comes with two large cups. A smaller cup would be great - especially when making smoothies for the kids.  If this is important to you, other models come with an extra smaller cup.

B) To test the blender, we threw in a bunch of ice and crushed it - it came out just like snow! In fact, there may have been a snowball or two made! All we and to do was press "frozen drinks" button  - 70 seconds was all we needed to have perfect crushed ice.

C) With the cold fall weather rolling in, we have lots of soup bubbling in our kitchen. We decided to make a roasted carrot and fennel soup using the blender attachment. It did a great job - very silky smooth, very easy, and clean up was a breeze. I loved that the large capacity blender held everything in one go. I ran it a few times on the puree mode. Once pureed, I placed the soup in individual serving containers and froze them.

Overall Impression

So far I love the Ninja Blender DUO with Auto-iQ! It's simple to set up, simple to use and simple to clean up. I do appreciate that the containers and blades are dishwasher safe and bpa free. However, it's not whisper quiet - in fact it's loud but quite a bit quieter than my NutriBullet. Overall, I recommend it to anyone in the market for this kind of appliance. You will use it to make delicious smoothies, silky soups, slushy margaritas and many other fantastic creations!

Below you'll find the recipe for our roasted carrot soup!

Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup

Roasted veggies go into blender.

It holds quite a bit!

Don't forget the orange!

Blending!

Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup

Ingredients

1 lb carrots
2 medium bulbs of fennel
1 head garlic, separated into cloves but do not peel cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 inch piece of ginger
1 orange, peeled
1 litre vegetable broth
salt/pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cut carrots in half length wise and quarter if thick.
3. Cut fennel into 1/2 inch thick slices.
4. Place carrots, fennel, and garlic (leave skin on) on one or two baking sheets.
5. Drizzle olive oil over veggies and garlic and mix a little with your hands to make sure oil covers.
6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Roast for approximately 30 minutes, turning vegetables once half way through. Roast untilsoft and slightly carmelized.
8. Julienne or grate ginger.
9. Place carrots, fennel, orange and ginger in blender.
10. Squish garlic out of skins and into blender.
11. Add vegetable broth.
12. Blend on puree setting.
13. Do it again if you want it ultra silky.
14. Add salt and pepper to taste.
15. You can place in in sauce pan and heat or place in containers without heating and freeze or refrigerate for future use.

PS - even though I was sent this system, my opinions, as always, are my own.

Roasted Garlic Tzatziki

From tzatziki

I love tzatziki - as a dip with vegetables, fresh pita triangles or homemade baked pita chips, or as an accompaniment to meat dishes or even as a sandwich spread. The only down side to tzatziki is the sometimes overpowering garlic aftertaste. This recipe frees you from breathmints! I use roasted garlic instead or raw which cuts down on the garlic bite but also brings a new subtle take on the flavour of this dip. Even the kids like it.


I use Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt differs from regular North American yogurt in that Greek yogurt is a blend of cream and milk and it is strained longer than regular yogourt. You will find Greek yogurt creamier and firmer than most yogurts you have tried. It also has a much higher percentage of milk fat compared to regular whole milk yogurts. This results in more calories per serving than the yogourt most of us have on a daily basis but this dip is a treat, not a daily pleasure, so I never feel guilty about indulging in it every now and then.


Click here for Printable Recipe.


Ingredients
2 cups Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt
1 english cucumber, peeled and grated
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 bulbs of garlic, roasted
salt
extra oil to roast garlic


Roast garlic and strain cucumbers ahead of time:

From tzatziki

Roast Garlic
Cut 1 cm off the tops off garlic bulbs, removing enough so that the top of each garlic clove is seen.


Place the bulb (cut side up) on a piece of aluminium foil and lightly coat the top with vegetable oil.


Fold the sides of the foil up to prevent the oil from running over, but don’t seal it–leave the top wide open to prevent steaming of the garlic.


Place in a heated oven (375°) for anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes. When done, the heads will be carmelized and soft enough to squish out. The results will be a paste like consistency. Once cooled, squish the contents of the bulbs out into a small bowl.


Note: Cut off any hard bits (too carmelized) on the tops of the roasted garlic.
Cucumbers

From tzatziki

1. Place grated cucumbers loosely in strainer and sprinkle with salt.
2. Place in fridge for at least 2 hours.
3. Place strained cucumbers on paper towel and pat dry.
Note: If you don't strain them the final dip will end up quite watery.


The Dip
1. Combine lemon juice, garlic and oil in small dish.
2. In large bowl gently combine juice/oil mix, yogourt, and strained cucumbers.
3. If desired you can also add dill or mint.


Serve with veggies and pita. Enjoy!

From tzatziki