We cook from the garden and with whole grains and natural meats as much as possible. Our meals tend to be very simple – homegrown, organic produce just doesn’t need any dressing up! Here’s an everyday meal that we enjoyed this week: turkey curry, roasted squash, steamed greens, and quinoa.

We harvested this beautiful squash in November. The squashes will keep all winter, and we have squash at nearly every meal. We knew this one was going to be fantastic as soon as we picked it up – it’s heavy, which means sweet! And then when we cut into it, we saw its thick flesh and well-developed seeds. Very exciting!

To roast it, I cut the squash in half and scooped out the seeds, and then Bigfoot considerately turned the half-squash over and sliced a bit of the bottom off so that the squash could rest comfortably level in the pan. I use a big steel baking pan. I like to drop a few tablespoons of butter in the cavity and then sprinkle it with cinnamon all over. In a 375F oven, this squash took about an hour to cook.

We keep the squash seeds. When I scoop them out, I put them immediately in a small bowl of warm water to soak the seeds from the flesh while I finish cooking supper.

Greens are next! Tonight we’re having curly kale, lacinato kale, bok choy, and one big collard leaf!

I devein them (hold them up by the stem in your nondominant hand, run a sharp knife down one side of the stem, then down the other side). Then pile up the leaves and cut them into bite-size squares. I save the bok choy stalks and slice them thin. The greens look nice and probably cook better when they are tossed together. We fill a steamer pot, and that’s usually the right amount for three or four people:

I set the pot on the stove but don’t turn it on yet. The greens will take about 20 minutes to cook. So first, I prepare the ingredients for the turkey curry:

Chop the turkey and an onion, mince garlic and ginger, and take the spices down from the shelf: cinnamon, chili powder, garam masala, and turmeric. (Whole cinnamon and a chile are shown, but we use ground for the recipe!)

First I turn on the heat for the steamed greens, so they will finish just in time!

Turkey Curry

Heat 2 tablespoons coconut oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon into the oil and stir until fragrant. Stir 1 chopped onion into the oil and cook until golden brown. Stir in 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon minced ginger root, and 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup water and cook another 2 minutes. Add a bit more water if the mixture is too thick.

Stir in 1 lb. chopped turkey, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, and 1/2 cup water. (It’s tasty to add one or two green chili peppers, chopped, if you have them.) Cover and cook about ten minutes, until the mixture has thickened to a sauce consistency. Add water if needed. Salt to taste.

While the turkey is cooking, I start warming a pan of leftover quinoa (in a covered pan with a bit of water, over low heat). Then I take a sec to separate the squash seeds (remember the squash seeds?) from the flesh, put them in a second bowl, with filtered water, and add a tablespoon of salt. They’ll brine overnight and tomorrow I’ll put them on a drying rack. A fun snack food, and good homegrown protein! We’ll also save some of the seeds from the remaining portion of the squash, for planting next year.

When I’ve finished with the seeds, the curry is ready, the quinoa is hot, the greens are steamed, and the squash is tender. Along with these hot dishes I’ll put out a jar of kimchi or a ferment from the refrigerator, and a bowl of pecans. Suppertime!