If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll know I met a new orange gourd, fell in love and now we are running off and having a gang of gorgeous gourd-y babies.  Hehehe, I don’t know, but sometimes I think Healthy Chow is losing her mind! Anyway, I recently prepped and baked a kabocha and with the cooked and well-seasoned pieces, I made some meals that were reminiscent of these posts.  If convenience is king (or queen), then I’m a huge fan of the Royal Family.  You really can’t beat whipping up a fantastic tasting and healthy meal in under 30 minutes.  Hey, no wonder that Rachael Ray is so dang popular (I promise I won’t say ‘ee-vee-oh-oh’ or ‘into the hot tub these kiddies go’ in this post)!

OK, so let’s recap what I already made with my first ever kabocha.  After baking the cubed kabocha in olive oil and a ton of spices and seasonings, I made a simple whole wheat pasta dish with baby spinach, cannellini beans and ricotta cheese.  And, with almost the same ingredients I used in the pasta dish, I converted the recipe into omelet form.  But what else can one do with a squash? Hold onto your socks and I will show you…

Wrapped Up with Kabocha

If you like pressed sammies, paninis, wraps or toasty burritos, then this little delight is for you.  On a Joseph’s Flax, Oatbran and Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla, I spread 2 tablespoons of Cedar’s Roasted Red Pepper Hummus along with a Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese wedge.  Then, I layered a handful of baby spinach and a few cubes of my cooked kabocha.  I rolled it up in a burrito-style fashion and toasted it on my panini press for a few minutes until the top started getting all roasty toasty.  Once the cheese starts oozing out and sizzling on the panini press (actually, don’t wait for that!), remove your wrap and cut in half to allow some of the heat to escape.  Once cooled, it’s time to devour! Oh me, oh my!  The warmed kabocha against the creamy hummus and swiss cheese was sensational.  I didn’t think a wrap as simple as this could taste so extraordinary.  Plus, how can you not love those colors together?

Everything in the Pot Kabocha Stir-Fry

With my last remaining pieces of kabocha (sniff, sniff), I decided to not only polish off my orange fibrous gourd, but I also decided to use up the remnants of anything else I could find in my fridge, freezer and cupboards.  That said, I began my hunt for anything that would taste good (fingers crossed) with my kabocha in a stir-fry.  I found about 4 oz. of Trader Joe’s firm tofu, about a cup and a half of Trader Joe’s frozen broccoli (thawed), some sliced white mushrooms, some raisins and a macoun apple.  In a large frying pan, I heated up 2 teaspoons of Smart Balance Light.  Once melted, I added my macoun apple, which I chopped into bite-sized pieces.  I then added some more spices and seasonings (it couldn’t hurt, right?): ground ginger, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, white pepper, curry powder and dried cilantro.  Once the apple pieces began softening and drowning browning in the pool of spices and seasonings, I added the mushrooms.  Once those cooked up a bit, I added the rest of my ingredients.  After everything has been stirred together and warmed, it’s done.  If you could have only smelled the cooked apple with cinnamon, nutmeg and curry – to.die.for.  And was this ‘everything-but-the-kitchen-sink’ stir-fry a success?  Uh, hell to the yeah! It was everything I could ask for in my final kabocha dish.  What a way to go out!  Gangstah!

Roasty Toasty Kabocha Seeds

And finally, do you remember the mess of kabocha seeds and pulp I had from my prepping experience?  Well, those teeny babies did not go to waste.  Healthy Chow has issues with wasting food (sound familiar, Allie? ) and thus, decided to make use of every bit of her kabocha.  You should see what I did with the green peel…I made a really groovy hat.  Just kidding, folks! But let’s get back to biz’nis, shall we? After rinsing the seeds and getting rid of all the stringy pulp, I used the same tray (and aluminum foil) that my kabocha pieces were cooked on and spread out my seeds in a single layer.  I sprayed the seeds with some cooking spray (you could use olive oil) and sprinkled them with salt.  Then, since the oven was still hot, I turned down the temperature to 325 degrees and cooked my kabocha seeds for 10 minutes.  And if you forget to take your seeds out of the oven (like me), have no fear because they start popping like popcorn kernels and will scare the bejeezus out of you.  Once they are cooled, you are free to eat.  They are great as is or feel free to use them as a topping for your oatmeal, soup or yogurt.  Just store them in an air-tight container and they should keep for quite some time, if they make it that long!

I know that from one kabocha I was able to make quite a few meals.  However, I was actually wishing there was more once my last bite of this delicious squash was gone.  The tender texture and sweet taste of my new found love was more than mildly addicting (OK, that sounded weird).  I’m just so happy that I took the time needed to properly prepare and cook my gourd.  After reading some of the instructions online, I was worried that this krazy little thing called kabocha was not going to be worth the trouble.  Boy, was I wrong! I guess if you just take the time to learn about something and are patient during the learning process, good things will come your way.  But the first step is to try.  Besides, I think when you make something on your own, it has the tendency to taste better – even if you aren’t a Food Network star.

What’s the biggest disaster you’ve ever had in your kitchen?  How did you react?  What did you do to recover?

Namasté,
Nicole