Eat Simply, Eat Well

Healthy recipes & tips to help you live the good life. by Ann Plough

Roasted Butternut Squash Smørrebrød w/ Feta & Thyme

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If you’ve ever visited Denmark, you know you can’t walk very far in that beautiful city without seeing a sign for smørrebrød – the popular Danish open sandwich. A traditional Danish food of buttered rye bread with some kind of savory topping, smørrebrød is a fantastic way to start off a meal, perfect for serving as finger food at a party, or even, if you wish, it can stand in as a main course for a simple supper alongside a salad.

Traditional toppings for the smørrebrød served all over Copenhagen during a recent visit included raw smoked salmon (gravlax), pickled herring, savory and sweet dill pickles, goat cheese with pear, boiled potato with capers; seared rare beef slices and so on. It was rare to see a smørrebrød that was strictly vegetarian; though I would imagine that in a city of extraordinary gastronomic talent with imaginative combinations of various ingredients from land and sea, it was just a matter of knowing where to look. 

If you haven’t tried this satisfying little sandwich, you’re missing out! It’s delicious, and the only limit to the topping options is your imagination. 

Back home, I was preparing finger food for a party of 50, and decided that in honor of my recent trip to Denmark and the fact that the party fell on the day America celebrated Thanksgiving, to combine a little bit of my homeland with a little bit of my Danish roots, and created a colorful and flavorful vegetarian smørrebrød for the crowd to enjoy.

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This version includes roasted butternut, feta cheese and thyme over both archipelago bread (saaristolaisleipä) – a sweet rye bread found in southern Finland as well as whole wheat sourdough. Both versions were delicious, and I’d be happy to eat either one, or both, again soon!

This dish is great served slightly warm, at room temperature, or cold. The butternut squash mixture can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated, but the smørrebrød should be assembled no more than 2 hours before serving. I sprinkled mine with flaky black sea salt, which is an optional but highly recommended addition. Maldon sea salt would also work, as would smoked grey sea salt.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Smørrebrød w/ Feta & Thyme

  • 1 large butternut squash
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons chopped thyme
  • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 – 150g block feta cheese, broken into small pieces with a fork
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • olive oil
  • black, white, or gray flaky sea salt
  • 1 loaf of either archipelago bread or wholewheat sourdough, or 1/2 loaf of each.

Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line an oven tray with parchment paper.

Cut both ends off of the butternut squash  and then cut it in half short-ways down the center. Peel both haves. Cut the top half into cubes. Cut the bottom portion in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (save these for roasting). Cut the remaining squash into cubes. Place the squash cubes onto the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle over the garlic, thyme, maple syrup, olive oil, salt and pepper. Using your hands or a spatula, stir the mixture so the squash pieces are well-coated. Spread the squash out into a single layer, place the pan into the hot oven, and roast for 30-40 minutes until the squash is tender and slightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Using a fork or a potato masher, partially crush the squash pieces so you have a rough, slightly lumpy mixture.

Lay the bread slices out across a tray. Top each slice with a generous spoonful of the squash mixture, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle a little feta on top of the pumpkin, followed by a sprinkle of time, a little bit of sea salt, and finish by drizzling very lightly with olive oil.

To serve, lay the finished smørrebrød out on a serving tray, arrange winter greens topped with pomegranate seeds, tomatoes, and toasted butternut sqash seeds down the middle, and drizzle the salad lightly with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Makes approximately 24 slices.

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Do you know Greek food? And a recipe for Roasted Chicken.

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A few weeks ago I spent one, long, glorious day exploring every single stand at the Helsinki Food Fair. There were so many delicious things to taste and subsequently take home to cook with, that you’ll be hearing about some of the ingredients I picked up along the way through the next set of posts. This year, the Mediterranean region was well-represented: Italy, Spain and Greece.

For the moment, I want to focus on Greece, whose products I have been happily sampling and experimenting with during the weeks since the food fair.

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The Greek booth was my favorite section, because it held so many surprises. It was tucked way back in the corner, and I noticed it first because of the oranges. Piles and boxes of beautiful, flavorful Greek oranges were on display, and I happily accepted the offer to take a few home. Across the aisle was the main booth for Greek cuisine, sponsored by the Finnish-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

It wasn’t all about food: Pureshop had hand-made soap made from Extra Virgin olive oil. When I asked what it was best used for, owner and founder Ioulia Marini answered “as an all over body soap!”. So I did. I used it to wash my face – and it’s never felt so smooth. I used it all over my body and it worked beautifully. I even used it to wash my hair, and loved the silky feel it left. In my opinion, this is the perfect soap. Now, I use it every single day.

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Now back to the food, because there was a lot of it and the flavors were incredible.

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The friendly team at the booth were displaying items and offering tastings of a broad arrange of Greek food products. Take yourself beyond the Greek salad, past the moussaka and souvlaki (all wonderful dishes, mind you), and feast for a moment on Chliapas Dry Cured Halkidiki olives (these disappeared quickly and were amazing in texture and flavor – I wish I knew where to buy more!); olive oil from Golden Tree; honey from Melife with flavors of thyme, pine tree, fir tree and blossom – some of the nicest honey I’ve ever tasted; capers in brine that went perfectly with a Pumpkin tagine I made later; sea salt, sun dried tomatoes with herbs and capers in olive oil from Yakinthos; and mildly sweet carob biscuits that would be perfect with the Dictamus herbal teas on display from the island of Crete. After a taste of the olives or bite of bread dipped in that golden-green oil, you begin to understand the advice Golden Tree shares: “Eat olive oil…do only good.”

And then those carefully cultivated herbs from the Laconian Herb Society  tucked into beautiful packaging, with names like “This is Chicken”, “This is Beef” and “This is Sage” that left no question as to where these herbs should be used. These are native herbs, grown in between the olive and orange groves near the shoreline or at high altitudes. They are hand-picked to order and carefully preserved without industrial methods, and both the fragrance and flavor are potent and delicious.

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I sprinkled “This is Chicken”, a blend of Greek oregano and thyme, over a few bone-in chicken thighs, added a few lemon slices, onion, and some olive oil, and roasted them low and slow in the oven for a few hours. But instead of using the beef seasoning over a the animal meat in question, I decided to add “This is Beef”, a blend of rosemary and Greek thyme, to a pan of parsnips and carrots for roasting, with a drizzle of Grecian fir tree honey from Melife and sprinkle of smoked sea salt. Seriously delicious.

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The herbs were high-quality and pleasantly fragrant, with the well-matched herbs blending together to form a tasty and flavorful dish. I’ll be reaching for these spices again and again over the next few months, I know.

Bring Greece into your kitchen for the day with these comforting flavors that will warm your belly and delight your taste buds.

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Roasted Chicken and Roasted Root Vegetables with Greek Herbs

Roasted Chicken with Oregano and Thyme

  • 4-6 bone-in chicken thighs
  • 2 yellow onions, peeled, cut into quarters and then into thin slices
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into thin slices
  • 1 organic lemon, cut into thin slices
  • 1/2 cup Greek olives
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of Laconian herbs “This is Chicken”, or 1/2 tablespoon each of thyme and oregano
  • 2 tablespoons Greek olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon smoked sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 160°C / 325°F.

Pour one tablespoon of oil into a heavy-bottomed casserole dish and spread to coat the bottom and sides of the dish. Arrange the chicken thighs (remove the skin if you wish) in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the salt and pepper evenly over the chicken. Arrange the onions, lemon, olives and garlic evenly over and around the chicken pieces. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.

Cover the pan with foil or a lid and place in the oven to cook for 45 minutes. Remove the foil or lid, increase the heat to 200°C/400°F and cook for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is nicely browned.

Roasted Parsnips & Carrots with Rosemary and Thyme

  • 4 parsnips, peeled and cut into sticks
  • 4 carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal into rounds
  • 1.5 teaspoons Laconian herbs “This is Beef” or 3/4 teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme
  • 1 tablespoon Greek olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of Greek honey, warmed slightly
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the vegetables, then place them into the oven along with the chicken once the chicken has 30 minutes of cooking time remaining.

Combine the vegetables, and all other ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir with your hands or a spoon to make sure the mixture is well combined. Pour the vegetables out onto a parchment-lined baking tray and arrange them in a single layer. Bake them in the oven until the are tender when pierced with a fork, and slightly crispy around the edges

To Serve: 

Arrange 2/3 of the vegetables on a serving tray. Arrange the chicken, lemons, olives and onions on top. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the vegetables over and around the chicken, top with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, and serve.

Serves 4-6

 

Creamy Parsnip Soup with Coconut Bacon (dairy- and gluten-free)

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I finally harvested the final crop from my garden: a load of giant, gorgeous, sweet, white parsnips. I’d read that parsnips increase in sweetness if they stay in the ground until after the first frost – which is when the starches turn to sugar, so I opted to let them hang out in the dirt long after I’d cleared out everything else. This was the first year I’d planted parsnips, so I wasn’t sure what to expect – half afraid that their 5 months in the ground would yield only a withered and disappointing harvest, the result of a less-than stellar summer.

Not to worry: these parsnips are beautiful!

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Parsnip are an old and much forgotten vegetable, but I urge you: bring them back into your kitchen. When roasted with a little olive oil and salt, they caramelize into this soft-yet-crispy goodness that is completely addicting. When made into a soup, there is a smooth, earthy, and almost spicy element to them that is really hard to describe.

Parsnips are native to Europe and Central Asia, and were introduced to the US around the 17th century. They are related to carrots and parsley, and the flavor is slightly reminiscent of both, so those two flavors pair well with parsnips in any dish. Packed with natural sweetness, parsnips were used as a sweetener in cakes and baked goods before sugar cane became widely available.

They are good for you, too. They are full of vitamins and minerals in a nutritious package that helps to keep you healthy and prevent diseases: 100 grams of raw parsnips has:

  • fiber – 20% RDA
  • vitamin C – 28% RDA
  • manganese – 28% RDA
  • vitamin K – 28% RDA
  • folate – 17% RDA
  • potassium – 11% RDA
  • phosphorus – 7% RDA
  • vitamin E – 7% RDA

Sources: webmd.com; organicfacts.net 

Right now parsnips are popping up in soups, purees, and roasted alongside the main courses in restaurants all over the Nordics and Baltics. When viewing the menu options for the upcoming Restaurant Week in Tallinn, Estonia, I saw parsnips everywhere. Join in on sampling the delicious flavor these vegetables provide, and take in the best of the season.

For this soup today, I opted to keep it vegan. So instead of adding cream to make it creamy, I used a special trick: oatmeal! It’s a little surprise that adds an extra dose of fiber and heart health to make the soup deeply satisfying. It’s the perfect thing for a cold, rainy, windy Autumn evening like this one.

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Creamy Parsnip Soup with Coconut Bacon (gluten-free, dairy-free)

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 650g / 1.5 pounds parsnips, washed, peeled and diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 cups water
  • 1.5 cups cooked oatmeal, or 3/4 cup dry oatmeal +1.5 cups water, or 1.5 dl dry oatmeal + 3.5 dl water
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh or frozen parsley
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • Coconut Bacon for garnish

Heat coconut oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat until it melts completely. Add the diced onion and cook 5-8 minutes until the onion is very soft. Add the parsnips and stir to coat; cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.

Add the water, cooked oatmeal (or oats plus additional water if using), thyme, bay leaves and parsley. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and allow to cook until the parsnips are really tender – about 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and puree the soup until smooth using and immersion blender, or in batches using an upright blender or food processor.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle each serving with Coconut Bacon for flavor and garnish.

Serves 4.