And the Winner is...

First of all, Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating Christ's work on the cross! How did you spend your Easter? Any cool stories or traditions? Tell me! I'd love to hear 'em!

Secondly...this post has been overdue for a while, but I think it'll be worth the wait! So without further ado, he's the brief story of my winning recipe:

About a month ago my dad sent me an email about a culinary contest that he saw a flyer for at his work. The competition was for a "colorful, kid-friendly entree" that met certain nutritional requirements. It didn't seem too hard to me, especially seeing that I am already a big fan of colorful and healthy foods. However, I soon found out it wasn't as simple as it sounded.

For one thing, I had less than a week to type-up and submit my recipe, which would be examined for nutritional information and to see if I would be selected to go in and make the recipe for a panel of judges and compete for the prize. I don't know you, but I like a little more time for planning and practicing, but since I didn't have that I just had to make do. Over the next few days I tried to come up with a "kid-friendly entree" that would be intriguing and just loaded with veggie and/or fruity goodness. I've done the black bean brownies and tofu chocolate mousse so I figured I could pull another one of those out of my sleeve.

After a few days to scan magazines and cookbooks and with the clock ticking down I finally decided to make my newly created Spaghetti Squash Pancakes with Roasted Vegetables. It was fairly quick and simply and full of different vegetables and kids love pancakes, right? What's not to love? So with my new plan in mind, I went out and got all my ingredients and allotted Sunday afternoon as my time to practice, experiment, and work out any kinks as well as develop any cool new additions to my recipe.

Sunday afternoon came and went with lots of sweat, frustration, and dirty dishes. Squash and sauce was everywhere and my balsamic reduction experiment was not only ruined, but it burned a hole through its plastic container and left black goo all over the microwave. Awesome. Completely exasperated and a mess, I recruited my sister to help me clean up the kitchen before we went to youth group. I got back home around 8 and immediately started a new plan in my last desperate hope. I decided to just go simple and safe and try spaghetti squash noodles with tomato sauce and meatballs. The tomato sauce recipe I adapted from Cooking Illustrated's recipe, the chicken meatballs recipe I adapted from an online recipe I found, and the spaghetti squash noodles are just my version of the typical preparation.

So, making meatballs, tomato sauce, and spaghetti squash in record time I came up with my final attempt at a recipe to submit. To my great relief and surprise the tasting samples got great reviews from my family who so graciously tried them out at 11 o'clock at night. With my energy reserves reaching an end I carefully typed up my recipes to be ready to submit in the morning. My dad helped me proofread it all and tidy up any loose ends and then he said it needed a kid-friendly name so we decided to call it "Skylar's Squashetti and Meatballs". Slightly cheesy perhaps, but at this point I was just ready to have fun with this thing and I was glad to have my recipe finally chosen! Fast forwarding now, my recipe DID get accepted for the competition and I had one week before the day I would prepare it before the judges! In that short of time I unfortunately had NO time for practicing and therefore pretty much just had to wing it on competition day.

At the competition I shared a large kitchen with the 3 other competitors. We each were given a big table to work at with all of our provided ingredients and helpers stood by to get us anything we needed or couldn't find. It was pretty cool! I had 2 hours to prepare and plate 8 servings of my dish. Sounds like a lot of time, right? Yeah, well it makes a big difference when you are in a foreign kitchen without all your favorite tools and equipment that acts and operates much different from the stuff back home! Trust me, it messes you up! Still, I had any help I needed (besides actually preparing the food) and I wasn't rushing around like crazy person, I worked quickly and carefully and for only making the dish for the second time ever, I dare to say it turned out pretty darn well. Not the most attractive dish in my opinion, but what it lacks in looks it makes up in flavor! Still, I had some pretty stiff competition from the three other ladies working in the kitchen with me. Cornmeal-crusted chicken nuggets with colorful pico de gallo next to me and homemade pasta with veggies and roasted garlic from another competitor and mini pizzas and fruit kabobs at the other end of the kitchen.

The dishes would be examined and tasted by 6 judges including an executive chef, a health professional, a weather man from a local news station, and a young girl (because the competition was for a KID-friendly entree afterall). The judges were all pretty friendly and they asked good questions so I really wasn't very nervous as I would have expected, but that's good! :) Anywho, after cleaning up and hanging out for a while, the judges finally made their choice! The winner? (drum roll please.......) ME!! You can imagine the shock I must have been feeling for my almost-complete-failure "squashetti" to actually WIN the competition!

My winning plate at the competition :)

 

Soooo on top of getting this awesome gift basket full of goodies pictured below, I got my picture and recipe in the base newspaper and the base medical center restaurant will feature my recipe on its menu for a month! If that weren't enough, I also was asked to do a short segment on the local morning news where I would prepare an abbreviated version of my recipe! How cool is THAT?! I was pretty psyched! What a way to end my crazy first cooking competition!

My lovely gift basket filled with a cutting board, 2 sandoku knives, 3 cookbooks, a spatula, a recipe booklet from the competition, and a bunch of healthy eating pamphlets, pencils, pens, etc. Fun stuff!

I won't bore you with ALL the details of the news segment, but basically I had three minutes to demonstrate a few of the important elements of making my dish and then I quickly plated a portion for final presentation. As if making a whole entree in three minutes wasn't hard enough, I also had to answer questions and not look like a total weirdo in front of a live camera. Working quickly, speaking eloquently, and not looking like a weirdo are definitely not my fortes at all, but it went pretty smoothly and I didn't cut any fingers off in front of the whole world so I say it was a success! Not Food Network quality, but not too shabby either. You can see the video clip here. (no laughing though, I'm horrible in front of cameras!)

Alright! Now that you know the gist of that whole long story I bet you are just DYING to actually create this winning dish and see for yourself just how yummy it is, right? Right! So, me being as nice as I am, I'm sharing it with you as always so please do try it out, it's pretty simple and not too time-consuming and you just feel super good about eating it! Thanks for reading!

Skylar's Award-Winning "Squashetti and Meatballs"


Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients:

§  1 1/3 lbs chicken, ground 

§  1 cup breadcrumbs (I use 2 slices of whole-wheat bread, toasted and ground)

§  2 minced garlic cloves

§  1 tsp garlic powder 

§  2 tsp dried basil

§  1 egg well beaten

§  1 teaspoon salt

§  1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

1.        Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2.      In a large bowl combine ground chicken, bread crumbs, garlic, garlic powder, basil, , egg, salt, and pepper.

3.      Combine gently. (You can use a fork or spoon if you want, but I think clean hands are the most fun and the most efficient!) 

4.   Gently form the mixture into 1-2 in balls with your hands (or an ice cream scoop) and then place on the prepared sheet.      

6.      Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. (You can take one out at 15 or 20 min and cut it open to see how much longer you need.)

7.      Remove from the oven and freeze for later or add them to whatever sauce they will be served in and allow them to simmer in the sauce for at least 10 minutes to absorb some of the flavors.

Bread crumbs are easy to buy in a box at the

store, but with just a little extra effort you

can have waaay better bread crumbs with

nothing more than a few slices of good bread

(I like whole wheat!) and a food processor,

blender, or coffee grinder even!

If you have a meat grinder, definitely feel free

to put it to good work here. I, sadly, do not

have one so I put my trusted food processor

to the job and with a few pulses it did just fine.

You can also buy pre-ground chicken meat to

make this even faster and easier, but I think

grinding up the whole meat ensures fresher

meat. That's just me though.

Never made your own meatballs before? I

hadn't either before this competition so if I

can make winning meatballs on the first try

with no professional meatball-making training,

SO CAN YOU!

Yep, dig into that sucker with you hands! It's

definitely the way to go!

I like mine a bit smaller than a golfball, but if

you chose to make yours bigger or smaller

just make sure you adjust the cook time as well.

Baked meatballs = easier than pan-fried and

without any added fat.

Ready to be baked!

These guys freeze really well and can then be

ready to go all the time when you are just

DYING to make Squashetti with Chicken

Meatballs and Tomato Sauce!

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

§  Olive oil (about 1-2 tbsps)

§  1 large onion, minced (about 1 cup)

§  4 med-large cloves garlic, minced

§  2 large cans (about 28 oz) stewed tomatoes (do not drain)

§  1-2 Tbsp chopped kalamata olives, roughly chopped

§  1 Tbsp capers (chop these if you don't like the little chunks)

§  6 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

§   1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

§  ½-1 tsp sugar (optional)

§  Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1.       Add a few Tbsps of oil to a large saucepan (to coat the bottom) and bring to med-high heat. Add the onion and the garlic and sauté for a few minutes until soft and lightly browned.

2.      Add the tomatoes, olives, capers, and the herbs and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for at least 30 min, until cooked down and thick, continue cooking if want it reduced further or thin with more tomato juice or stock if desired.

3.      Taste the sauce and add the sugar if needed then season with salt and pepper. Puree the sauce if desired or leave it chunky.

4.      Keep warm until ready to serve. Serve with any of your favorite pasta dishes. Makes about 3-3 1/2 cups. Serves 6-8. 

Enough oil to keep the onions from sticking.

Sauteing onions.

Unless you can get REALLY good, in season

fresh tomatoes that you want to use in this,

canned is the way to go! It's also much more

convenient.

However, whether they're in season or not, you

HAVE to use fresh herbs in this sauce! That's 

what sets it apart from the "meh" sauces and

puts it up there with the "Wo-hoah!" sauces! 

If you have the time to spare, let this sauce

simmer for at least 30 minutes to a couple

of hours to just cook down and really mature

the flavors, otherwise just cook it until it

is reduced to your liking.

Don't feel like making your own sauce ALL the

time, but you just can't get enough of this stuff?

Make a whole big batch at once and then freeze it

in batches. It works!

Spaghetti Squash Noodles (Squashetti)Ingredients:

§  2 med-large spaghetti squashes

§  1-2 Tbsp olive oil

§  Salt, to taste

§  Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

§  1-2 Tbsp chopped, fresh oregano

§  4 cups chopped spinach

§  Spaghetti sauce

§  2 cups Shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

1.        Preheat the oven to 350 F, cut the squashes in half, scoop out the seeds and pulp and discard or save for later use.

2.      Place the squashes flesh-side down on 1 or 2 rimmed baking sheets and pour in enough water to come about ½ inch up the sides. Place the trays in the middle of the preheated oven and bake for about 35-40 min, until the skin can be pierced pretty easily with a fork.

3.      Remove the squashes from the oven and cool until easy to handle. Use a fork to gently comb the flesh of the squash from side-to-side so that the strands look like long spaghetti noodles.

4.      A little bit before serving, heat the oil in a large skillet med-high. When heated, add the squash noodles and season with the salt, pepper, and oregano and toss with tongs. Add the spinach and toss to combine. Remove from heat and plate. Serve with sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.

An ordinary-looking squash, secretly filled with

noodle-like goodness!

Cut off both ends first to make it easier on

yourself when you go down the middle.

When you get all the gunk out of the cavity,

you can save all the seeds to use later! Use

them like pepitas or other squash seeds.

Adding the little bit of water to the pan actually

steams the squash in the oven and keeps them

from sticking to the pan so don't worry about

oiling it or anything.

I don't recommend freezing these noodles

because when they defrost, all the moisture

gets pulled out and it's not too good. However,

if for some reason you just HAVE to freeze some,

wring out the defrosted squash in a clean kitchen

towel and use as normal.

Spinach in pasta = amazing. DO IT.

Now that's some amazing squash right there!

Could this GET any better?

Astonishingly, yes :) A little fresh mozzarella

and this dish is MADE! You're looking at a

winner!

PS: If you would LIKE any more information about the contest, TV segment, etc. I'd be happy to answer any questions.