Rethinking the salad

We had several lovely salads this week; salads beautiful in color and composition. They were all great but strangely unsatisfying. I can eat as many nourishing greens as I can fit on a plate and I have realized that unless they are warm, it's just not going to scratch the itch. In contrast, the baked acorn squash with the chicken fricassee last night was just great. I know I'm supposed to eat lots of greens and they are the tried and true diet food but nowadays they need to be paired with something warm. However, I need to start looking at them as a wonderful accompaniment to that bowl of soup that restores you so at the end of our now cool days.

In addition to the healthy and crunchy salads that can be constructed with things from the farm box, there is the completely opposite direction of soul satisfying food. People came over on Monday night. In addition to the flurry of house cleaning, my chance had come to make a real dessert. So, I made the impressive looking Chocolate-Pumpkin Layer Cake from the New York Times. As long as you are willing to take the seemingly fussy step of lining your baking pans, this is the proverbial easy as cake cake. However, the frosting was a bit of a challenge. I mixed it up in a bowl and then walked away from it for a few minutes. When I got around to frosting the cake, the frosting had set like mortar. I had to add a few tablespoons of milk to get it even remotely spreadable and that was a careful business. It turned out great in the end and had lots of chunky goodness with chocolate chip and the lovely New Mexico pecans from the box.

So, with a minor diversion from the path of sustainable and healthy, we charge into another week. I'm still trying to find a good use for some of the produce and at the same time, keep trying to break out of the food rut. Stay warm, eat well.

For your cooking pleasure:

Chocolate-Pumpkin Layer Cake
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/dining/122drex.html?scp=1&sq=pumpkin%2...