You know what you don’t need? A guacamole recipe. I dunno.

Maybe this is me being a total brat, but honestly, even if you don’t know how to boil water, the last thing you need is a recipe that involves mashing, folding and adding salt. That’s just silly talk.

I lamented for a long time about sharing this situation you see pictured because why do you need this?! You can do this without me. Who am I to tell you how to make your guacamole.

But, I love it. So I figured that maybe you would, too. And maybe you never thought to put pomegranate seeds in guacamole. And maybe you’ll make it and share it with someone. That’d make my day.

So here I am. Just a girl…with a bowl of guacamole, asking you all to mash up some ripe avocados, mix ‘em with some chopped up cucumbers and pomegranate seeds. It’s way more special this way! Refreshing, sweet, lime-y…special!

Pomegranate Cucumber Guacamole

Print this kinda sorta recipe!

2 Haas avocados
1/2 shallot, minced
Handful of pomegranate seeds
1/4 cucumber, peeled and finely chopped
1 lime
Salt

In a medium bowl, mash up both avocados. Fold in minced shallot, pomegranate seeds, cucumber. Squeeze in lime juice and mix. Salt to taste. THAT’S IT!

Recipe adapted from Recipe of Memory

It’s Wednesday. I’m all sorts of sleepy. I have a huge to-do list. Yet my brain keeps replaying how Teresa (from RH of New Jersey) pronounces “cumin” and says “ingredient-enses.” Wish I could get that out of my head. For real.

I’m also looking at my google reader and obsessing over my new blog addition. No. No. It’s not a new fashion or food blog or lifestyle blog. I want to share it. It’s major. Just kiss your whole morning productivity away because you’re in for it.

Wait. Hold on. I have to say something before I share my new obsession. The disclaimer is this: Of course I would never hurt an animal, and yes, I’ve had a hurt animal before and my heart cried. Literally. But holy geez…is this cute.

It’s a tumblr called…wait for it…wait for it…Animals with Casts. OMG! OMG! OMG!

I imagine you right now clicking over and saying outloud, “OMG! Look at that dude. He’s hurt…he’s gotta cast…it’s pink(?)…someone signed it(?)…and it’s all so…so…CUUUUTE!”

It’s just a gigantic damaged animal cute-fest. It’s crazy. All I want to do is reach through the screen, smother them, console them and make them homemade dog and cat treats. UGH!

And dog soup. I’ve been thinking how I can make dog soup a thing for weeks. What do we think? Beef broth, butternut squash puree, pieces of beef jerky, more veggies. I swear I’m making this happen.

PHEW! Now that I have that off my chest we can move onto food…for you humans.

The good news is that I made a salad.

The bad news is that I made a salad that has dressing made of butter.

The good news is that I made a salad that has dressing made of butter.

The dressing is delightful. The butter is cooked (with shallots) until it turns a beautiful golden brown. The shallots will caramelize, adding so much flavor to the salad.

Roasted butternut squash a.k.a cubes of Fall. They’re in there.

There’s some wild rice mixed in which gives this salad enough heft to serve as a meal rather than a side dish.

And at the last minute, I decided to add a few crumbles of goat cheese and a handful of pomegranate seeds.

They became the icing on the cake-that’s-actually-a-salad. The pomegranate added this needed subtle sweetness, along with a good crunch. And the goat cheese acted like goat cheese always acts like: awesome.

This salad is warm and cozy and the perfect thing to eat when coming in from the sort-of-cold.

Yes, you heard right…a salad that’s warm and comforting!

Butternut Squash Kale Salad with Brown Butter Dressing

Print this recipe!

Salad:
1 cup of butternut squash, cubed
Salt and Pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 cup of wild rice
1 1/2 cups of water
4 cups of kale, washed and chopped
1 tablespoon goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons of pomegranate seeds

Dressing:
5 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, diced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon agave
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.

Salad:
Line a baking sheet with parchment. This is important. Butternut squash will stick to a baking sheet. Place the cubed butternut squash on the parchment, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss with the olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until squash is tender.

While the squash is baking, cook up the rice. In a medium/small pot, over medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot it’ll glisten. Add the rice and mix in water. Stir in the salt, cover and cook for 15 minutes. I found that wild rice took a bit longer than usual to cook. Give it a taste test. If it needs more time (and it’s dry) add a few tablespoons of water and let it cook for 5 minutes longer.

Dressing:
Alright so now you have the butternut squash going AND the rice. Time to make the dressing! Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the diced shallot and cook until the shallot is tender and the butter turns a light brown color, 2 to 3 minutes. Take a spoon and scrap the bottom of the pan. You want to make sure you get all of the brown butter bits off the bottom. That’s where the flavor is! Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar, agave, salt and pepper.

In a big bowl toss the butternut squash, rice, kale with the dressing. Divide between plates and top with the crumbled goat cheese and pomegranate seeds.

Yields 2 servings for dinner
Yields 4 for salad appetizer

Dressing Recipe Tweaked from Tyler Florence

Well, this recipe comes with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I learned how to make easy homemade pudding, something that is probably going to be common fixture in my home from now on. The bad news is that as excited as I was to incorporate pomegranate, it didn’t really live up to the hype I had in my mind.  Don’t get me wrong, this was incredibly delicious, and anyone that turns their nose up at it is probably not someone I want to be friends with for much longer. But I feel that whenever something has “pomegranate” in the title, it should transcend any normal expectations you might have.

For example, if I order a pomegranate martini instead of my usual Cosmopolitan, I expect to take a sip and to be assured that my decision to deviate from the status quo was the correct one. So, although I think you should definitely file away this pudding recipe and use it often, I’m not going to be adamant that it needs the pomegranate to give you the best experience. Instead, I’m giving you options of things to try, and if you do find something that is simply amazing, I expect a full report back.

Instead of the pomegranate juice, you could substitute:

• Vanilla Extract – for standard chocolate pudding, this is what the original recipe calls for
• Frangelico – if you want more of a Nutella experience by adding hazelnut flavoring to the chocolate
• Amaretto – for a chocolate-almond mixture
• Cointreau – if you love chocolate oranges as much as I do

Happy tasting!

Chocolate Pudding with Pomegranate

Pudding recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Print this recipe!

This recipe is so simple and easy that you’ll never go back to the box stuff again, especially once you taste the difference. (Deb, seriously, THANK YOU) The original called for only 1 teaspoon of vanilla and I substituted 1 tablespoon of POM juice. If you decide to try another flavor, start with 1 teaspoon and add more from there.

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces good-quality semi-sweet chocolate (don’t skimp here)
1 tablespoon pomegranate juice (or 1 teaspoon of other flavoring)

In a double boiler, combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk, scraping the bottom and sides with a heatproof spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. Place over gently simmering water and stir with a whisk, occasionally scraping the bottom and sides with the spatula to prevent lumps from forming. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the mixture has thickened and coats the back of the spoon, add the chocolate chips. Continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pudding is smooth and thickened (remember it will thicken even more once it sets up). Remove from the heat and stir in the pomegranate juice.

Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any lumps. (I actually skipped this and it turned out fine, although there were a couple tiny lumps in the pudding.) Pour the pudding individual serving dishes.

If you like pudding skin, put plastic wrap over top of the pudding dishes without it touching the actuall pudding. If you dislike pudding skin, place plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and then dig in. It can also last for up to 3 days, but why on earth would you wait that long?

Pomegranate Whipped Cream

This wasn’t as exciting as I thought it was going to be. I was hoping for a bright pink whipped cream to top the pudding with, but in order to get enough of the POM juice in the cream to make it red, the mixture became too watery to set up a true whipped cream. The flavor was great actually, so if you want that red/pink look I would just cheat and add a drop of food coloring, or just enjoy your tasty white whipped cream.

½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat on high with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Serve on top of your pudding and enjoy!