Parsnip and Carrot Fries: Sweet or Savory

For a second serving of the root flavor of the month, LHF brings you a healthier alternative to those deep fried potatoes at your local fast food stop: sweet or savory parsnip and carrot fries.

Here what you'll need:
Parsnips (I only used one for myself, so the number depends on how much you want to eat)
Carrots (Again, I only used one)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Garlic
Brown sugar
Cane sugar

I couldn't decide whether to make the fries sweet or savory, so I opted for both in two separate batches.

Begin by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Once the parsnips and carrots are cut into long, medium-thin slices, you can coat them in olive oil. Then, lay them out on a baking sheet (you may want to cover it in tin foil to help with the clean up, since the brown sugar sticks), and sprinkle the savory fries with sea salt, pepper, and garlic. On the sweeter side, sprinkle the remaining fries with brown sugar and lightly with cane sugar (I sprinkled some extra brown sugar on the fries once they were done baking as well).

Bake for about 10-12 minutes, and enjoy your sweet and savory root delights.

-Ianna

Pumpkin Spice Wontons

 It's that time of year again. And by that, I mean it's that time when pumpkins are in abundance! We're off to a belated start for October, but here's the first recipe to introduce the PUMPKIN flavor of the month!

Pumpkin Spice Wontons

This has got to be one of the easiest and quickest recipes I have done to date for Love Handling Food. I'm not big on frying foods, but hey, the taste of these eliminates my fried food guilt. And I do like a good treat around Halloween season.

I was inspired to make these after recently trying those fried cream cheese wontons you can get at Chinese restaurants (I know right...how have I never tried these before?!). My thought was that these would be very good as a sweeter dessert, so that's where the pumpkin pie filling came in handy.

Ingredients
6 oz cream cheese (softened)
8 oz pumpkin pie filling (I used plain pumpkin and spiced it myself, but it
             could be even more simple if you purchased already spiced filling)
Wonton wrappers
Canola oil (you can also use shortening, or any other oil you prefer to fry in)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbs brown sugar
            *You can change up proportions, because these measurements make a
             lot of wontons! I didn't end up using the whole can of pumpkin pie
            filling, or the whole package of cream cheese

Instructions
This will seriously take about 10-15 minutes to make! First off, fill a small pot with about 2 inches of oil, and put on a high heat. Then, continue by mixing your softened cream cheese and pumpkin pie filling in a bowl until smooth. Next, mix in your spices, sugar and vanila. Once blended, you are now ready to create your wontons!

Put about a teaspoon sized amount of your filling in the middle of each wonton wrapper. After this, wet the edges of the wrapper with water, and press together. I made triangular shaped wontons, because I found it was much more difficult to fold into different shapes. Once you're done creating your wontons, simply put each one, one by one, into the hot oil. If the oil is hot enough, they should brown in just a couple of seconds. You can test if the oil is hot enough with a test wrapper, or with a candy thermometer (should be about 350 degrees). Have a drying tray with a paper towel ready to place the fried wontons. They're now ready to eat!

I found that they are complimented greatly by whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon. They were a hit with my friend Sarah (who made a yummy cashew tofu) and her family.

Happy pumpkin season!

Ianna

Nuts For Fruity Pasta Salad

Uncooked pasta (I used tri-colored rotini)
1/2 Granny Smith apple
1/2 Gala apple
1/2 Bartlett pear
1 cup walnuts (chopped, to your preference)
Feta cheese
Balsamic vinaigrette

Upon having one of my weekly dinners with my friend, Sarah, I opted to get a little creative with pasta salad. In my attempt to successfully mix sweet and savory, I think this recipe turned out to be a great success. Even Sarah, who was nervous to try the dish, loved it!

It's a super simple meal that can be prepared in about 10-15 minutes, and it fits a variety of occasions. All you have to do is cook the amount of pasta that you desire, and while it is cooking, chop up the amount of apple, pear, and walnuts that you wish to toss in the pasta salad. You can use more or less than I did, because it really all about personal preference for this dish. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it and run it under cold water until it has reached a cool temperature. Then, let it drain further, and add it to a serving bowl. Toss the pasta with the chopped fruit mix, and add the crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.

If you're trying to lessen your carb intake, this dish would also taste great as an apple, pear, walnut, feta salad.

Enjoy!

-Ianna

Berry Cheesy Crescent Rolls

A seemingly fancy snack can be surprisingly simple.

A few days ago, my friend, Nikki, came over to throw back some beers, hang out, and make some food. I wanted to contribute something that was a more savory take on berries for the flavor of the month. Knowing that berry and cheese can at times compliment one another very nicely, I opted to make Berry Cheesey Crescent Rolls. 

Since I was feeling indecisive on which cheese or which types of berries to use, I decided to cook up a variety of stuffed crescent rolls comprised of strawberries, cranberries, brie, goat cheese, and some fresh herbs from my garden. It is still debatable which berry cheese combo was the best. My favorite was the strarberry, goat cheese, and thyme roll, while Nikki preferred the brie cheese and cranberry combination. I'll let you be the one to decide once you try it for yourself.

INGREDIENTS:
Pillsbury crescent roll dough
Brie cheese
Goat cheese
Strawberries (sliced, diced, or however you like 'em)
Dried cranberries
Fresh rosemary
Fresh thyme

All you have to do, is roll up each roll with a berry-cheese-herb mix of your choice, and get baking. They're quick, easy, and scrumptious.

-Ianna