Roasted Butternut Squash and Raw Kale Salad Recipe

I made a crisp, raw kale salad with roasted butternut squash, toasted pine nuts and crumbled gorgonzola. It’s a one-dish meal you can make in large batches, pack in tupperware and eat when you're on-the-go. 

I flavored the salad with a yogurt dressing and a touch of gorgonzola for extra flavor. The health-conscious can omit the cheese, of course.

Roasted Pumpkin Filled Crepe Recipe (Beggar's Purse)

For my husband Lulu's birthday, the three of us took a few days off to visit Paris. My baby Aria is already having a blast, enjoying every bit of Parisian life so far. We arrived last Friday and have already had time to go to museums and wander through Parisian markets. We noticed that Halloween has become increasingly popular in France, and decorated pumpkins are available everywhere. Of course, pumpkins are just as much fun to eat as they are to draw on, so I picked one up and used it to make dinner.

To prepare this recipe I roasted a pumpkin, gathered the pulp and stuffed it into a crêpe. The filling also contains a little Saint Marcellin cheese and pine nuts. I love cooking with this ripe cheese; when warm, it has a robust mushroom-y, earthy flavor.

Give this recipe a try, and you’ll (almost) feel like you're in the City of Lights. I’ll take lots of pictures while I’m here and will share them on my Twitter and Facebook pages, so if you haven’t already, follow / like Pham Fatale for all the updates!

Butternut Squash Pocket Sandwich Recipe

My husband's youngest sister, who just started third grade, recently told me she didn't like "Wednesday Pizza" at school and asked me to give her a boxed lunch instead. I had leftover roasted butternut squash, so in the morning, I quickly improvised a flavorful hot pocket sandwich with 2 of my little munchkin's other favorite ingredients: salami and brie cheese. 

I assembled the pocket in a sandwich grill we have. I love this sandwich maker because it browns the bread and seals the sandwich perfectly. After they were done cooking, I wrapped the sandwiches in wax paper and packed them in her Disney Princess school lunch bag. The sandwiches cooled down to room temperature by lunch time, but they were still crunchy and delicious. If you were to make these as a box lunch for work, you could put them in the toaster to re-heat before eating. No microwave though!  

Butternut Squash Gnocchi Recipe

There are many new seasonal ingredients available at the market, but the one that really represents Thanksgiving season to me is butternut squash. The color of this versatile veggie embodies the fall and the flavor is sweet with a slightly nutty taste.


I love butternut squash in pasta dishes, so today I sautéed whole wheat gnocchi in butter and garlic, tossed in a molasses-roasted butternut squash and finished the gnocchi dish with store-bought butternut squash pasta sauce. This special sauce was the winner of the best pasta sauce at the New York Fancy Food Show in 2009. I received it from our friend Dave of DavesGourmet.com. This exquisite sauce is made with squash ripened in Oregon's Willamette Valley and contains fresh garlic, onions and roasted bell peppers. Dave's Gourmet is going to be part of almost $1,000-worth of giveaways to Pham Fatale readers in the month of December. I’ll introduce some of the wonderful products that await you over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

Butternut Squash Tagine Recipe

There is a large North African community in France, and as a child I enjoyed many wonderful dishes from the region. The spices are very similar to Indian cuisine but the dishes incorporate sweet flavors, usually in the form of dried fruits. I’ve shared many of these dishes with Lulu, and he’s come to enjoy them as much as I do.

Lulu’s been craving a tagine lately, so today I made a butternut squash version. The squash adds a beautiful color and goes very well with saffron, cinnamon, cumin and ginger. The sweetness of dried plums and sundried tomatoes finished the dish, along with sunflower seeds for added crunch.

Instead of serving it with the usual couscous steamed semolina, I paired it with black rice, which worked wonderfully. To accommodate everyone in my home, I added fried tofu to soak up the delicious sauce for protein. Of course, you could simmer some lamb shanks (my favorite!) or chicken but it would take a lot more time to cook slowly until tender.