Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Farro, Apples, Chestnuts and Nutmeg

I'll admit it.

I enjoy watching reality cooking TV. Maybe a little bit too much. There's something totally entertaining about watching people cook, though Michael Pollan's new book "Cooked" is making me think more about the time we spend watching others cook compared to the time we spend actually cooking. More on that to come.

That said, recently I've felt like a contestant on Chopped.

McCormick is sponsoring a series of Go 4 Gourmet contests. They sent out boxes of ingredients around different themes, and they challenged us to create a recipe featuring those four ingredients.

Who could resist?

This week's challenge was called Artisanal Autumn, and bloggers were called to combine apples, grains, nuts and nutmeg to make one stunning dish.

Here's my contribution: roasted acorn squash stuffed with farro, apples, chestnuts and nutmeg. The apples are lightly sauteed with butter and just a hint of nutmeg.  The farro is cooked risotto style, so it's a bit creamy and helps hold everything together.

It's perfectly complex, with just the right balance of sweet and savory, soft and crunchy within every bite.

What dish would you create with those four ingredients? 

Farro Pasta with Winter Vegetables

We were prepared for Nemo to hit. It seemed like all of Brooklyn was. At 3 p.m. on Friday, lines stretched into the aisles at the grocery store, and liquor sales were up 500 percent from a typical Friday. Our electronics were charged, we dug out the flashlights we had purchased for Sandy a few months earlier, and we pulled out our favorite board games.

Most importantly, we had Nutella. Nutella on crackers. Nutella with pretzels. Nutella with pecans.

And best of all, chocolate chip pancakes drizzled with Nutella and dulche de leche for breakfast. With mimosas and big cups of coffee.

Oh yes, you read that right. 

They were superb. The perfect breakfast for that we're in the middle of a blizzard so all normal breakfast rules get tossed right out the window kind of morning. 

I enjoyed every bite. 

Then I went outside. By 11 a.m., the sidewalks and streets near me were already cleared. 

By the time I got home, the reality of all that Nutella hit me. 

So I planned a much healthier meal for later in the day, loaded with roasted and sauteed winter vegetable that provide a perfect balance of sweetness and crunch. 

The farro pasta contributes a delightful, nutty flavor that takes pasta to a whole new level, and it's definitely worth hunting for. 

Farro Pasta with Olives, Feta and Arugula

Nothing like a 99 degree day to force you to get creative in the kitchen.

I spent the day in a classroom with a broken air conditioner, knowing full well that I'd be walking into an apartment with little ventilation and no air conditioning when I got home that night.

There was NO way I was turning on my oven. I debated take out or calling friends to go out to dinner. Having already had two nights out to dinner, I talked myself into cooking.

Minimal cooking.

Boiling pasta and chopping olives cooking.

I've been craving farro pasta for weeks, but it's a definite splurge. I decided on a 99 degree day, I deserved something special. 

With the peppery notes that shine through the wilted arugula and the salt from the olives and feta, this pasta barely requires any additional seasoning. The farro pasta contributes a nice nutty taste that's a lot more complex than a traditional wheat pasta.

And best of all, the dish came together within fifteen minutes of walking in the door from work. This will be a go-to dinner dish from now on.