Winter Salad and Hot Cocoa Cookies

Today was probably the coldest day of the winter so far, which was quite a contrast to the 25+ degree weather I just experienced for the last week while in Mexico. You might be wondering why I'm not making something Mexican themed but honestly I need a few avocado free days before tackling a guac recipe.

This salad is perfect for a cold winter day and the hot cocoa cookies do more than warm you up.

Baked Squash Salad

Adapted from http://kirantarun.com/food/2011/12/16/warm-acorn-squash-salad/
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 small acorn squash
1 endive
3 small clementines
1 small Macintosh apple
1/3 cup dried cranberries
3 cups baby spinach
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 lemon
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. Flip the squash flat side down and slice into 1 cm thick slices. Arrange the slices on a cooking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 20 mins on each side.

For the dressing combine the honey, lemon juice, cinnamon and cranberries in a bowl and stir until combined. Set aside.

For the salad chop the endive into bite size pieces, peel the clementines and slice the apple. Arrange the spinach in a bowl and layer the endive and fruit on top. Top with the warm squash and the dressing. To make serving the salad easier I arranged half the ingredients into two bowls and served the salad as individual portions. A nice addition would be goat cheese or roasted cashews for a little more protein. Enjoy!

Sprinkle acorn squash with brown sugar 

Perfectly golden acorn squash

Fresh apples and clementines

Sliced endive

Cranberry cinnamon dressing

Layered warm squash salad

Now for desert!

These hot cocoa cookies are a combination of the Joy of Cooking's chocolate chip cookie recipe and the mouth watering recipe from http://www.pipandebby.com/pip-ebby/2011/11/14/hot-cocoa-cookies.html

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Makes 16 cookies

Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg

16 large marshmallows
4 cubes semi-sweet baker's chocolate

Combine the dry ingredients in a glass bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl combine the butter and sugar and mix until combined. Add the egg and vanilla and stir. Once all the wet ingredients are combined stir in the dry ingredients 1/3 at a time. Roll the dough into 16 balls and place on a cookie sheet. Press the cookies down and bake for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the bakers chocolate into 16 pieces and press them into the marshmallows. Once the cookies have baked for 8 minutes remove the tray from the oven and place the marshmallows on top of the cookie, with the chocolate piece covered. Return the cookie tray to the oven for 2 more minutes. Remove the cookies and allow them to cool slightly before serving. I dare you to eat only one!

Tobey loves cookies!