Squash Rings with Cranberry Rice

I love summer and summer squash, but there's nothing quite like the colors and tastes of all the beautiful winter squashes. I had never made rings with acorn squash before. I think the halves plate just as pretty. But when I found a beautiful organic acorn squash over the weekend, I decided to bake rings. The squash is easy to cut. The skin is thin, and wherever it wasn't too tough, I ate it. I glazed the rings with a mixture of Bragg's, agave nectar, rice wine vinegar, and crushed garlic. I don't like sweet veggies (like the mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows - ick!). For me, the squash is sweet enough on its own.

I added onions, mushrooms, toasted almonds, dried cranberries, and leftover glaze to the brown rice. It was completely delicious, the perfect marriage of sweet and savory.

I also made something just for me - gluten free banana muffins with chocolate chips and toasted almonds. Mmmmm - breakfast!




I was asked to post my recipe for Oatmeal Whole Wheat Pizza Crust, so here it is:

2/3 cup warm water
one package quick rise yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup oats (quick or old fashioned)
1-1/3 cup flour

In a small bowl, combine water, yeast, oil, and sugar. Let stand 10 minutes or until foamy. In a mixer combine flour and oats. Add in the yeast mixture and blend on low speed until moistened. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead one minute. Shape it into a ball. Place in a greased bowl, then turn it over (so both sides are greased) and cover. Let rise in a warm oven for 20 minutes or until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Punch down the dough. Remove from bowl and shape into four 6-inch crusts or one 12-inch crust. Partially bake for 10 minutes before adding toppings.

One of my friends and I watched Top Chef last season and it was pretty entertaining. Season 2 started last week. I missed that show, so I promised to watch last week's episode and this week's episode tonight. Anybody else watching?