The recipe below is a little, um, trashier than what I generally like to post here (beware, Marshmallow Fluff below!) but I’ve been thinking about this recipe since last year when the L’il Sis made a huge batch of soft pumpkin cookies. I knew these soft cakey gems would be even better as a wee cookie sandwich and curdle your Thanksgiving gravy if I’m not right.

One interesting fact I’ve learned about holiday cooking from my fellow foodbloggers is that the best pumpkin pie is not made with canned L*bby’s pumpkin puree but with homebaked butternut squash. The redeeming quality in these cookies, should their soft cake-like texture and binge-worthy filling not be enough for you, is that you can use an honest-to-goodness strain-your-arm-when-trying-to-slice-it squash. You know, those crazy shaped things next to the leftover flavorless Halloween pumpkins.

I have a pal (who shall remain nameless here but you know who you are) that last year cooked her own “from scratch” Green Bean Casserole using fresh haricots vert, creamed wild mushrooms, and even breaded and fried her own onion rings for the topping. And! Not one person at the table remarked on the effort. Sigh.

In any case, at least you can feel good about throwing one fresh from the farmer’s market ingredient into this tasty holiday-time treat.

makes: 8-9 dozen single cookies, about 50 sandwiches
time: 1 hour to bake squash, 30 minutes to mix batter, 11 minutes to bake

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

4 cups flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups butternut squash or pumpkin puree*
1 1/2 tbsp milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

*see introduction for words of warning about using canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in a second mixing bowl. Add oil, squash/pumpkin puree, milk, eggs and vanilla.

Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet while beating on medium speed. Continue beating until well mixed.

Drop in 1/2 teaspoons onto a greased baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until bottoms are golden.
For Filling (adapted from Allrecipes.com )

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
4 cups marshmallow fluff
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of lemon zest, optional
1/4 tsp salt

Cream together the butter and the sugar.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat together until well combined.

Put the filling into a large ziplock or other clean bag. Snip a small piece off the corner and use as a pastry bag to pipe the filling onto the bottom side of one cookie.

Press the bottom side of another cookie into the filling and Whoopie! you’re all set.

This is what I want for the holidays: healthy, seasonal, vegetable-based fare.

Here’s a round-up of some great holiday recipe ideas from other foodbloggers. The bulk of the ingredients for these recipes can be purchased at your local organic farmer’s market, helping to show your gratitude to the world by putting your dollars into a more sustainable and delicious way of eating and living.

MAIN DISHES

You want something fancy-looking for a main dish, but it can vegetable based and still be a showstopper.

These Butternut Squash Timbales are quite arresting!

Butternut Squash Timbales with Chestnut Apple Sauce from Thyme for Cooking

Catherine made this beautiful dish for Halloween but I think it would be perfect for Thanksgiving too!

Hot Halloween Stew from Albion Cooks
Or, try stuffing a sweet dumpling squash with your favorite autumn dish.

This is my very own Stuffed Sweet Dumpling Squash.

SIDE DISHES

Something Green. Try:

• Kale, sauteed with red onions
• Swiss chard, wilted with garlic slivers
• Or:

Lemon Creamy Brussels Sprouts & Celery from A Veggie Venture

Something “White:”

Potato Turnip Cakes from the Wednesday Chef

Beautiful, Beautiful Culiflower… not quite White.

Purple Sage and Colorful Cauliflower from Homesick Texan

How about the lowly rutabaga? Do it like potatoes for a more-elegant-than-mashed potato effect like Alana’s Rutabaga and Butternut Squash Puree.
Or what about this roasted rutabaga soup from VeganYumYum?

Rutabagas Are For Lovers from VeganYumYum

Love squash? Make it easy by baking it with a little butter and cinnamon or sage.

Or try the Butternut Squash Risotto from Simply Recipes

Get wild like Karina with this Acorn Squash with Attitude

Acorn Squash with Attitude

DESSERTS

Pie is perfect. Try Apple Cranberry Pie from Vegan-licious

An Apple-Plum Crumble from Eaten Up is easier to make than a pie and just as yummy!

Top with a scoop of Vegan Pumpkin Ice Cream! (from the wonderfully-named blog: “Kitchen Ramblings From a Fairly Odd Tofu Mom”)

Or, for a truly healthy and refreshing dessert, look no further than FatFree Vegan’s Fresh Cranberry Sorbet

I had a similar flan for dinner at a fancy corporate event at the Met and it pretty much boggled my mind and stomach to find yet another delicious way to serve humble winter squash.

I googled “Squash Flan” and found an easy recipe from Gourmet Magazine, which I’ve tweaked below. I served it in a slice-it-yourself type way but you could also make it in individual ramekins and serve as fancy-smancy first course unmolded on a bed of chard or kale with roasted brussel sprouts and carrot rounds rolling lazily about the plate.

The flan is rich, but still light and almost pudding-y. Please believe me when I tell you that crispy sage leaves are to die for. Honestly and truly. Don’t be surprised when I come at you with a recipe that is just crispy sage leaves and a dipping sauce. Numnum!

Serves: 4-5
Time: 30 minutes active, 2 – 21⁄2 hours baking

Savory Squash Flan with Dijon-Currant Sauce and Crispy Sage Leaves
*Flan adapted from Gourmet Magazine

1 medium squash, (butternut, hubbard, or similar)
4 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp garlic powder
freshly cracked pepper
1 ¼ tsp salt
butter
6 Tbsp unsweetened currant jelly (or cooked fresh currants)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
10 sage leaves
olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Halve the squash lengthwise, discard the seeds, and place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for an hour, or until soft to the touch. Cool and set aside. Reduce oven temp to 325.

Scoop flesh from the squash. Discard the skin. Puree in a blender until smooth and creamy.

Add two cups of the squash puree to a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, half and half, nutmeg, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Save the rest of the squash for another recipe.

Prepare a 8×2 inch round cake pan by buttering the bottom and sides. Line the bottom of the pan with a layer of wax paper and butter the paper too.

Pour the squash mixture into the cake pan and set the cake pan into a larger baking pan. Pour hot water into the larger pan until it’s 2/3 up the sides of the cake pan to create a hot water bath for the flan.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the flan is solid and a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.

Let the flan cool for at least 15 minutes and unmold by setting a plate on top of the flan and then quickly inverting. Carefully peel off the wax paper.

For the mustard/currant sauce heat the currant jelly and mustard in a small sauce pan. Adjust for salt/pepper.

Meanwhile, you can shallow-fry the sage leaves in the olive oil over medium heat. With tongs turn them once during the frying process, and remove from oil when they hold their shape - they should not start to turn to turn brown - about 1 minute.

Serve flan cut into wedges with a dollop of currant sauce on top a few crispy sage leaves to garnish.

Bjork once noted in an interview that she sometimes writes her lyrics in English, translates them to Icelandic, and then translates them back to English. Neat, no?

Similarly, this recipe has gone through a series telephone-like translations and I think you’ll find the results equally (or more, quoth the Li’l Sis) delicious than the original recipe. I learned to make Khichri (a classic Indian comfort dish - sometimes the first solid food a baby eats) from Nalini Mehta and I posted this recipe of a traditional Khichri combination last year. A friend, who I will refer to as Mr. Appleseed, surprised me on a dark rainy October night with a big pot of complex-scented rice, peas, and veggies very similar to the below recipe. I was extremely pleased to be treated to a hot home-cooked meal (the downside of having a food blog is that I’m always the one sweating it out in the kitchen) and even more flattered so to find that dish I was eating was in fact based on one of my very own recipes. How endearing! Admittedly, I am highly susceptible to flattery when eating delicious food prepared by hands other than my own.

So anyway - here is my new recipe for Green Autumn Khichri based on Mr. Appleseed’s Khichri which is based on my other Khichri recipe, which I initially adapted from Nalini Mehta. Chewy short-grain brown rice makes a great base for the smoky green split peas and the combination of vegetables is just plain inspired.

Serves: 4 hungry people
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Green Autumn Khichri

Olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
8 cloves
8 black peppercorns
1 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp asafetida, optional
½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 ½ cup green split peas, toor dal, or moog dal
1 ¼ cups short grain brown rice
7 cups water
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno (I used red), minced (de-seed if you don’t like things very spicy)
3 carrots, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 japanese eggplants, cut into coins
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped
salt

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large pot and toss in the dried spices: cumin seeds, cloves, and peppercorns. Stir them for few minutes until they turn a few shades darker.

Add the ground spices: ginger, turmeric, asafetida, coriander, cumin, and garam masala and stir.

Add the peas and rice, stirring to coat them with the spices, then add the water.

Bring the rice mixture to a low boil, set a lid on and simmer for 20 minutes. Tip: this could be a good time to chop your veggies.

Stir well, check to see if more water is needed (like a risotto, this mix “eats” water) and add the vegetables: garlic, carrots, green peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, and chard.

Covered, bring the pot to a simmer and stir occasionally for another 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the rice is mushy. Add salt to taste.

I know the title of this blog is Vanesscipes, suggesting that these are all Vanessa’s (that’s me) recipes. That’s why I feel compelled to mention right at the very start of this recipe that this is NOT my recipe. It is in fact the brainchild of my dear friend Emily, who happens to also be the Director of Catering at the Met. My input on this dish pretty much started and ended with, “Mac and Cheese Cupcakes - good God YES!” So, if I’m a genius for recognizing the genius of putting mac and cheese in an easy-to-eat cupcake format with wonderfully crispy golden edges and an ooey gooey center, then I’m just waiting for my MacArthur grant check to come in. (MacArthur people - you can get me at vanesscipes@gmail.com)

Emily developed these cupcakes for a Hors D’oeurve party we helped host at the LondonParisNewYork event space/art gallery in Williamsburg. We had a full list of H’ds which included such specialties as truffled popcorn and vegan apple cider donuts, but I think these cupcakes were the favorite.

For all you sticklers out there, please note the below photos were taken a few hours before the party during a Mac & Cheese Cupcake test run (aka: dinner for me!) so none of the shiitakes or smoky autumn-flavored thyme can be witnessed. Let me also mention that if you’re interested in tasting something like this in person, please sign up for my events mailing list by emailing me at vanesscipes@gmail.com, or just wait until I accept my MacArthur award, in which case Emily will provide thousands upon thousands of these little gems.

Time: 30 minutes prep, 20 minutes for each batch (makes about 4 batches of 12)
Makes: about 48 mini-cupcakes

Shiitake Mac & Cheese Cupcakes

1/2 lb elbow noodles
olive oil
1 small shallot, minced
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, destemed and sliced
4 Tbsp organic butter + more to butter cupcake pans
2 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 cup flour
2 cups organic whole milk
2 cups gruyere cheese, grated
1 cup sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
salt and fresh ground pepper
panko breadcrumbs (less than 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 375

Boil noodles according to package directions. Drain, toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside.

Sauté shallots in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until wilted, about one minute. Add mushrooms and sauté until browned, about 5 more minutes. Toss with butter, thyme, season with salt and pepper. Set aside in a large mixing bowl.

In small sauce pan, warm milk over low heat. In large sauce pan, melt butter. Add flour to the butter and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously until smooth and bubbly. Slowly pour the warm milk into the butter mixture and stir or whisk to combine. Let liquid come to a boil; mixture will start to thicken. Add the grated cheeses and turn off the heat. Stir until the cheese has melted.

Pour the cheese mixture in with the noodles and mix. Fold in mushroom mixture and thyme. Adjust for salt and pepper.

Grease mini cup cake pans with butter. Sprinkle pan liberally with panko and shake pan to adhere the panko to the sides. Dump out extra panko. Spoon mac and cheese into the top of each cupcake mold.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until edges and top are golden.

Remove from oven, let cool slightly. Flip pan over onto a plate or sheet pan to remove cupcakes. Garnish with fresh thyme if desired.