Week Six: Turkey, Leek, and Butternut Squash Noodle Soup, Parmesan-Crusted Halibut with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, and Chicken Breast Cutlets with Cauliflower and Sweet Potatoes

Well, that's a long blog post title. Despite that, "week six" of meal planning was pretty simple. I knew I wanted to make a soup of some sorts, so I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. And I wanted pumpkin something (of course), and the pumpkin-corn combination (two of my favorite things, as you know if you've been reading here for awhile) for the muffins was too good to pass up. We also had some wild halibut fillets in the freezer, and Zack had parmesan crusted fish on his mind. I proceeded to find a Seattle Times recipe for that. Lastly, I've had this cauliflower and sweet potato side dish recipe on hand for awhile, so I decided to keep it simple, and pair it with some chicken breast cutlets. A couple of the recipes could use some tweaks to make them a little bit better, but hey, you don't know until you try!

Turkey, Leek, and Butternut Squash Noodle Soup

with Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins

I love butternut squash. And they've been tempting me as they are in season and everywhere I look when I'm at the produce stand or grocery store. Like pumpkin or sweet potato, their beautiful color lures me in, and when I see vibrant-colored fruits or vegetables, I think to myself: "this must be really good for you." I know not everything that is bright- or dark-colored is good for you, but it seems to be true for a lot of produce. That being said, butternut squash, turkey, leek - delicious.

So, I kind of had an amateur moment making this soup. The recipe calls for a turkey carcass, but to my defense, it does say it's optional. I ended up using ground turkey because it is so easy to brown it along with your onions, leeks, or whatever vegetables you're starting your soup with. And it adds great flavor. But I don't know if it was quite enough this time...

Essentially, this recipe has you making a stock as you make your soup. It calls for vegetables, water, turkey (and the optional carcass), and herbs. But if you're not using the carcass, you may need some store bought stock to substitute some of the water.

As previously mentioned, this recipe was adapted from a Pinterest find and can be found here: Turkey, Leek, and Butternut Squash Noodle Soup. It could definitely be compared to a chicken noodle soup in that it is warm and comforting, but I think the broth lacked a richness that probably could have been obtained with the turkey carcass.

And to satisfy my pumpkin craving, I located a pumpkin cornbread recipe (also found on Pinterest). The recipe can be found here: Pumpkin Cornbread. I love pumpkin. I love cornbread. So pumpkin cornbread sounds like a dream to me. The recipe gave instructions for muffins, so that is what I made. These were really hearty and delicious, but still sweet like a dessert. I think they would be especially good with chili. Although, I re-heated them the next couple days to eat with leftovers, I would say that they are really best straight out of the oven.

Parmesan-Crusted Halibut

with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

This halibut recipe was pretty basic. We used the last of our frozen wild halibut fillets from Costco (again, such a great way to have fresh, wild fish on hand) for this meal. Secondly, we used pre-grated parmesan, but I think you could play around with the cheese grate size. Ours was so fine, it was almost powdery; however, the parmesan flavor was very rich and strong. Fresh herb crusts are also nice for fish, and actually, I think I prefer that. Check out Dijon Herb-Crusted Salmon, a past post of mine from March 2012.

The recipe is from the Seattle Times and can be found at the link as follows: Parmesan-Crusted Halibut. They pair it with a roasted garlic butter, which I'm sure is delightful, but we omitted it for a lighter meal. 

Instead, I decided to serve the fish with some roasted potatoes (okay, I know...not super light, but hey, vegetables are better than butter). This is a recipe I tried out about a month ago, and it is wonderful. Probably because it is one of Ina Garten's recipes. And pretty much any Ina Garten recipe you try is going to be delicious. The recipe can be found at the following link: Rosemary Roasted Potatoes. The garlic and fresh rosemary is so delicious; your kitchen will smell wonderful.

One thing I have learned about roasting potatoes, or other vegetables for that matter, is this: you've got to give the potatoes room if you want them to crisp up a little. If you've piled your potatoes on a baking sheet, they are going to steam each other and they will never brown or toast so that they have a nice crust to them. I know this isn't rocket science and some of you more experienced may be thinking, "well, obviously," but I learned this by doing and giving space makes such a difference! I just do two full baking sheets now.

Cauliflower with Sweet Potatoes

and Chicken Breast Cutlets

Well, the chicken part of this meal was pretty straightforward. I chose a couple nice chicken breasts and butterflied them into two cutlets each. Sprinkled with a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and simply sautéed.

The cauliflower with sweet potatoes was the real feature of this meal. I was drawn to this recipe because in the picture it looked like curried vegetables, and we love curry. However, this recipe actually calls for fresh ginger, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and turmeric. Find the recipe here: Cauliflower with Sweet Potatoes.

This was really tasty. And who would think to pair cauliflower with sweet potato? I wouldn't. But it was good. And the spices complemented really well. 

Another week, some more recipes, and some more great food. Get excited for the week to come because I think I have some more delicious meals in store! Cheers.