Spears Strong Team Shares Favorite Fall Recipes!

By Shelby Spears
spears@spearsstrong.com

Tis the season of delicious food. As we near Thanksgiving, it has our staff drooling about their favorite fall recipes. From squash to pumpkin to Brussels sprouts, there are SO many delicious AND nutritious ingredients out there. Here are a few ideas to get your mouths watering.

Bamini P., Dietitian
Butternut Squash Chickpea Coconut Curry

This is one of my favorites for anytime, but it's lot easier when you have butternut squash readily available during this season. I love pumpkin/squash anything at this time of the year. The beautiful thing about pumpkin is you can add it to almost anything! Roast your own pumpkin or any pumpkin puree cans will do to add to soups, stews, pancake mix, muffins, breads, smoothies and so forth.

Tip: When you want to thicken a soup, just add some pumpkin puree to it. It enhances flavor while adding substance.

“When you want to thicken a soup, just add some pumpkin puree to it. It enhances flavor while adding substance.

You can’t go wrong with adding more fiber, iron and vitamin A from a tasty gourd.”

— Bamini P.

You can't go wrong with adding more fiber, iron and vitamin A from a tasty gourd. Enjoy this season of good food!
Butternut Squash Recipe

Jonathan S., Personal Trainer
Mushroom Risotto
I love the process of making risotto. It takes patience and is a great opportunity to relax with the cooking process and jam out to some good music. It's also lasting. I made a delicious mushroom and pea risotto last weekend and we extended it the next day for brunch by using the leftovers to make risotto cakes topped with fried eggs.
Risotto Recipe
Tip: We skipped the cheese and it was still incredibly creamy and scrumptious
Rissoto cakes w/ eggs Place a layer of panko breadcrumbs on a dinner plate. Form leftover risotto into patties on the panko and top with more panko. Let sit for 30 minutes. Heat your iron skillet w/ grass-fed butter (or choice of oil) to medium heat and cook cakes for about 8-9 minutes on each side, flipping once. Top with a fried egg!

Sara S., Massage Therapist/Personal Trainer
Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad

This is a fall staple in our house. I love the sweetness of the maple contrasted with the tahini, but for me the toasted almonds really make it. I've made this with only kale (no sprouts) and it's just as good!

Tip: I never have sliced almond around, so I roughly chop whole almonds and toast them in the toaster oven on low. I'll also add a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice, in addition to the salt, while I'm massaging the kale. It helps break it down a little bit more.
Brussels Sprouts Salad

Green Mountain Girls Farm [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Shelby S., Health Coach
Delicata Squash Salad
I'm pretty sure I could eat delicata squash all day, every day. If you haven't tried this sweet and scrumptious squash, do it now! The skin is edible and it's in plentiful supply right now. It's not just a pretty decoration. Add it to your squash rotation.

Delicata Squash Salad Recipe

Ingredients 1 delicata squash, balsamic vinegar, goat cheese, fresh mint
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut the delicata in half longways and remove the ends. Spoon out the insides and seeds. Peel the skin if desired but it is edible. Slice the halves into quarter inch half circles and place on a non-stick baking sheet, parchment paper or in a shallow pan with a sprinkle of water to avoid sticking. Sprinkle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 25-35 minutes or until tender. You may want to turn them about halfway. You want to easily put a fork through them so roast as long as they need.
After roasting, stack a few of the pieces on a small plate, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar (we like fig balsamic), a little mint and goat cheese (cheese is optional- really it's all optional as just salt and pepper on the squash is good too!). Enjoy and try to share (or not!).

Tip: Jonathan is not a huge fan of the skin but I like it so we compromise by peeling about half of the skin off. It can get a little fibrous so if you're trying delicata for the first time this may be a good option for you.

Give them a try and let us know what you think. We love to swap recipes at the Spears Strong lab!