I am pleased to introduce the latest creation from the Fed Up HQ…Gruley.
When it’s cold, damp, and dark outside, then all you crave is comfort and something to warm your soul. Well I wanted to make something hearty yet healthy that would leave my house graced with the beautiful smells of grilled onions and melted cheese. Gruly managed to do all this. AND it was dirt cheap to make too, which kept my stingy side satisfied.
Gruley in all of its glory
Mix these and get Gruley:
(The amount of each ingredient is up to you. Trust your own taste….if you can’t figure this out, then maybe you should just stick to take-out)
*Chopped onions
*Minced Garlic
*Cooked spaghetti squash (an amazingly tasty winter squash with a spaghetti-like texture once baked/steamed)
*Roasted cauliflower (roasting add much more flavor the steaming)
*Diced chunks of grilled turkey
*Deli ‘singles’ cheese slices (aka American Cheese…trust me here)
*A few spoonfuls of cottage cheese
*Gruyère cheese (reserve/medium-aged)
*Garlic-herb seasoning
*Crushed red pepper flakes
*Chives
*Black pepper
Slice a spaghetti squash in half, remove the seeds, and place cut side down in a shallow baking tray that has about 1/4 inch of water. Bake at 375 until tender. Scoop out squash from shell/skin and you should get spaghetti-like strands.
Chop up some cauliflower into bite-sized florets and roast in the oven stirring occasionally so that the edges get a little charred.
By the time you get to this point in the ‘Gruley-making-process’, your kitchen will smell far better than any stupid scent from a bottle of Febreze or and a scented-candle.
Heat a pot and toss in the onion and then the garlic and cook . Then add squash, cauliflower, cheeses, diced cooked turkey and seasonings. You might want to add some water to keep the consistency just right and prevent any burning. Once everything is mixed and melted, top with a little more Gruyère cheese and broil for a bit. Finish with some chives and freshly ground black pepper.
Each ingredient plays a critical role in this dish. The spaghetti squash is the foundation and provides a mac-n-cheese feel to the meal. The roasted cauliflower provides heft and makes the meal ‘hearty’ while still keeping the thing healthy. The cauliflower chunks really do provide the sense of a more substantial meal. You can laugh at the use of the American cheese ‘singles’, but these are engineered to melt beautifully and really help bring everything together. The cottage cheese adds a little creaminess to the texture, while the Gruyère cheese adds the flavor punch and gets you that melty-gooey perfection that is so photogenic. You want to try to get a medium aged Gruyère. While an older ‘cave-aged’ Gruyère may add a stronger flavor, it will not melt quite as well. The turkey gives the dish some protein and makes each bite of Gruley variable and interesting, by providing a contrasting taste to this mainly vegetable-based dish. The onion, garlic, and seasonings all add complexity and flavors that compliment each other. And topping it off with chives provides a the prefect finishing taste that also makes the dish more visually attractive so that your eyes are well fed too.
I must confess a meal this mighty could not be dreamt up single handily. Gruley was perfected with the assistance of the newest member of the Fed Up team, Chow Chick. Her creativity is limitless and is sure to result in future food combos that will leave you questioning why you never thought of similar parings. And she is far better than myself at thinking up clever names for the food that the Fed Up team stuffs its face with…Chow Chick christened this glorious dish with the name ‘Gruley.’
So get to cooking. Make a meal that is mighty tasty and sure to satisfy your soul! And if you screw it up…then it is perfectly acceptable to have cereal for dinner as a backup plan.
