BBQ Chicken, Salsa Salad & Pumpkin-Chipotle Polenta

This Rachael Ray recipe from the Food Network is a fabulous recipe and would make a great meal for Father's Day, this Sunday in the states. Andrew, Karen, the Hub and I had it for dinner and all of us like each part, but were particularly fond of the polenta (something none of us could remember having before) and the salad. We followed every step including grilling the pineapple before chopping for the salad. I used red peppers instead of green, so it didn't have the colors of the original salad, but was still great. I could eat this every day and not get tired of this salad. I chopped the red onion really fine in order to not overwhelm the flavors of the cilantro and fresh lime juice.
Having never made polenta before I couldn't believe how fast it comes together. All of us liked the smoky heat of the chipotle with the pumpkin and honey flavors. This recipe is a keeper.

Layered Monterey Pumpkin Dip

I was more skeptical of this recipe than any other I've made using pumpkin. My family has a favorite recipe that is similar but uses refried or black beans on the bottom and lots of cheese. We have been making it for the Superbowl and other special occasions for at least 20 years. This recipe uses 1/3 less fat cream cheese and reduced fat sour cream - I did not, but I don't think either one would change the results. I also added avocado to the minced vegetables on top.

I absolutely loved this dip. It will probably find a place in my top ten favorites.

Pumpkin Oat Streusel Muffins

These muffins would have been a lot better if I hadn't overcooked them. I got distracted with something and turned around and they had been in the oven 10 minutes longer than the time called for. Oh well, they were still good. Andrew called them substantial. With the combination of oats and pumpkin, they have to be super healthy too. The recipe came from the website meals dot com, sponsored by Nestle, which is the parent company to Libby's. It has gathered recipes from all the websites of its companies and has made it very easy to search for a single ingredient, such as pumpkin. I'm making several recipes from the site this week.

Pumpkin Dessert

This recipe for a pumpkin dessert came from Taste of Home. I made two 9 x 13 inch pans of it, one in my cake pan and one in a glass dish. It turned out a lot thicker, even in the cake pan, than the picture on the website. And the glass pan with its curved sides really shouldn't be called a 9 x 13 inch pan at all. I keep forgetting that I have two quarter sheet pans and they are supposed to be 9 x 13 inch too. I should have used them. I took the cake pan to a potluck dinner on Memorial Day and it was well received. Didn't end up taking any home. The next day when I cut the glass pan to take to work but it wasn't done and I ended up cooking it some more.

This recipe is good, but not spectacular. I would not make it again, because I have tested much better pumpkin dessert recipes. If you decide to give it a try, I would suggest a slightly larger pan and the chilling part is a must.

Pumpkin Pie Popsicles

I love popsicles. I make them myself since I got this fancy popsicle maker from Williams-Sonoma a few years ago and eat them all year around. The Hub isn't crazy about them, and I'm glad - more for me. There are many recipes out there for pumpkin pie popsicles. I used this one. It's clever, with a layer of pumpkin pie filling, a layer of sweetened cream and then graham cracker crumbs to represent the crust. There is a learning curve here and my first ones were ugly, but still tasty. I had to make and eat a dozen to get one pretty enough for a picture. It's a hard job but someone has to do it.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe came from the blog (Never Home) Maker.  Ashley, the author, was inspired to make a healthy version of traditional mac and cheese. I couldn't go quite as far as she does; for example, where she uses plastic (I mean low-fat) cheese, I used regular, where she uses low-fat milk, I used half and half, and sorry I couldn't do the pureed garbanzo beans at all. But her recipe, my recipe or any variation in between, this is good stuff and a great way to get anyone to eat vegetables without even knowing it. Andrew, the Hub and I were the tasters and we all liked it. I would even double the recipe next time so there would be leftovers for lunches.

Black-Eyed Pea and Pumpkin Salad

This salad recipe came from Bon Appetit magazine in an article about Caribbean cooking. It appeared in a May issue, so I don't really know where they expect Americans to get fresh pumpkin at that time of year, but perhaps they have a global audience. The twelve reviewers were mixed on their feelings. Many replaced the pumpkin with butternut squash. Most liked it, but most also played with the ingredients especially the dressing. I have to agree, 1 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice just isn't enough to give this salad a bite. Pumpkin and black-eyed peas are bland tasting and need a flavorful dressing. I added more lime juice and extra salt and pepper. Others suggested cumin, cilantro, sugar, mustard and extra everything. I really liked the salad and feel the health benefits of the combination of vegetables is worth fiddling around with the dressing to find a match for your personal tastes.

This photo is from the magazine and credited to Mark Thomas