Butternut squash is one of the delights of colder weather. This recipe, with its tangy, herbaceous flavors and beautiful colors, will become a “keeper.” And maybe a holiday tradition.
Ingredients
1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces cilantro leaves and stems, plus extra leaves for garnish
1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 cup Greek-style yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons sriracha, or your favorite hot sauce
Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Step 1
Heat the oven to 425ºF.
Step 2
Wash the squash skin well, cut the squash in half lengthwise, remove and discard the seeds, and then cut into wedges 3/4-inch wide and about 2 3/4-inches long, leaving the skin on. Place in a large bowl with the cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and a good grind of pepper. Mix well so that the squash is evenly coated.
Step 3
Place the squash, skin side down if possible, on 2 rimmed baking sheets and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until soft and starting to color on top. (If they topple over and don’t stay skin side down, don’t worry.) Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Step 4
To make the herb paste, place the cilantro, garlic, the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil, and a generous pinch of salt in the bowl of a small food processor, blitz to form a ne paste, and set aside. (If you don’t have a small food processor, a mortar and pestle will work, or consider doubling the amounts to make in a large food processor and save any extra sauce for other uses.)
Step 5
Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF. Spread the pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes. The outer skin will pop open and the seeds will become light and crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Step 6
When you are ready to serve, swirl together the yogurt and sriracha sauce. (Yogurt’s thickness varies, so adjust the consistency to your liking with a splash of olive oil or water.) Lay the squash wedges on a platter and dollop or drizzle the spicy yogurt sauce and then the herb paste over the top (you can also swirl the yogurt sauce and herb paste together, if you like). Scatter the pumpkin seeds on top, followed by the extra cilantro leaves, and serve.
Serves 4 — Recipe from Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London’s Ottolenghi by Ottam Ottolenghi (Ten Speed Press 2014)
Wonderfully moist thanks to olive oil, this easy-to-make carrot cake sticks to basics: no pineapple, no raisins, no applesauce. If you’re intimidated by layer cakes—or don’t have the correct pans—bake the cake in a 9 x 13 pan or muffin tins. (Adjust baking times as needed.)
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 pounds (about 4 cups) peeled and grated carrots
1 cup raw pecan or walnut halves
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cups maple syrup or honey
1 cup milk of choice
4 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Cream cheese frosting (see below)
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease two 9-inch round cake pans. If you’re making classic cream cheese frosting, don’t forget to pull the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge so they can warm to room temperature.
Step 2
Toast the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet in the preheated oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Once they’re cool enough to handle, transfer them to a cutting board and chop them into small pieces. Reserve a couple tablespoons chopped pecans for garnishing the cake, if desired. We’ll stir the rest into the dry mixture in the following step.
Step 3
In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, the cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir until blended. Add the grated carrots and chopped pecans and stir to combine.
Step 4
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, maple syrup, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until fully blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with a big spoon until just combined (a few lumps are okay). Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and spread the batter in an even layer on top.
Step 5
Bake the cakes on the middle rack for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center of the cakes is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the baked cakes on a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.
Step 6
When you’re ready to assemble, prepare the frosting as directed. Carefully invert the cakes to release them from their pans. Frost the top of one cake with about one-third of the frosting. Place the second cake on top, and frost the top with another one-third of the frosting. Finish by frosting around the side of the cake with the remaining frosting. If desired, sprinkle the reserved chopped pecans on top.
Step 7
When you’re ready to serve, use a sharp chef’s knife to carefully cut the cake into slices. The cake will keep at room temperature for the rest of the day and for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Cream cheese frosting: Combine 1 pound of cream cheese, 4 tablespoons of butter (both softened), and 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer. Gradually add 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.
This Mediterranean dish combines two great brain foods, olive oil and omega-3-rich tuna, and gets a protein and fiber boost from the beans.
Ingredients
3 cups cooked white beans, such as cannellini or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed if canned
1 cup diced celery hearts plus a few celery leaves for garnish
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1 small red onion, finely sliced crosswise
1 clove garlic, finely minced
15 to 20 pitted brine-cured kalamata olives, halved
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
4 to 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or red wine vinegar, or more to taste
Sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
Head of romaine lettuce
12 ounces tuna, either fresh and seared or the highest-quality canned, flaked
Directions
Step 1
In a mixing bowl, combine the beans, celery hearts, bell pepper, onion, garlic, olives, and parsley.
Step 2
Add the olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently with a rubber spatula. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar, salt, and pepper as needed.
Step 3
Rinse the romaine lettuce leaves, slice them into ribbons, and arrange in four salad bowls.
Step 4
Top with equal amounts of the salad mixture and the flaked tuna. Garnish with celery leaves and serve.
Tuna and White Bean Salad Recipe, The Benefits of Olive Oil for Brain Health and The Compound that Makes Extra Virgin Olive Oil Brain-Friendly
As a reader of The Olive Oil Hunter Newsletter, you know that I’m laser-focused on bringing you the most delicious recipes featuring extra virgin olive oil and other healthy ingredients, like this week’s tuna and white bean salad. I’m also always excited to share insights into the health benefits of olive oil, and every year we learn more about why it belongs in our diet.
In this issue, the health benefit of olive oil I’m highlighting is brain health, with research showing that extra virgin olive oil as part of the Mediterranean diet may help stave off cognitive decline—when you don’t feel as sharp as you once did and have trouble with memory and thinking—as well as forms of dementia.
Simple but sublime is the pumpkin soup my Merry Band of Tasters and I were served when visiting the Librandi family, one of Calabria’s outstanding olive oil producers. “Mama” Librandi shared the recipe with me.
Ingredients
1 3-pound pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, with seeds and membranes removed
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons water
Sea salt
Croutons for garnish (see the “Healthy Ingredient Spotlight” below)
Directions
Step 1
Using a sturdy knife, cut the pumpkin or butternut squash into roughly 1.5” cubes. Do the same with the potatoes.
Step 2
In a medium saucepan, combine the pumpkin, potatoes, the 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and the water. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender—50 to 60 minutes.
Step 3
Transfer to a blender jar and purée until smooth (don’t fill the blender more than half full—work in batches if necessary). Salt to taste.
Step 4
Divide the soup between warmed soup bowls. Drizzle generously with additional olive oil, and garnish with croutons.
Yields 6 appetizer or 4 main course servings
The Benefits of Olive Oil for Brain Health
How it works within the Mediterranean diet
The research: “The Effect of Mediterranean Diet on Cognitive Functions in the Elderly Population” Nutrients, June 2021.
Scientists looked at a group of studies on the Mediterranean diet (“MedDiet”) spanning the previous five years in order to analyze its effects on people age 55 and up with or without cognitive impairments. They wrote: “The results show that the higher adherence to MedDiet proves to have a better effect on global cognitive performance of older people…Overall, the strength of the findings…is that the adherence to MedDiet improves memory of both cognitively unimpaired and impaired older people.”
What’s more, the authors pointed out that the “enrichment of MedDiet with a higher dosage of some food…such as extra-virgin olive oil, might have a more significant impact on the improvement of cognitive performance among seniors than just MedDiet alone.”
They highlight the flavonoids found in extra virgin olive oil and point out that one in particular, secoiridoid oleuropein, might be the reason that olive oil seems to protect the brain.
Now That’s a Mouthful!!
The compound that makes extra virgin olive oil brain-friendly
Research: “Effect of an Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Intake on the Delay of Cognitive Decline: Role of Secoiridoid Oleuropein?” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 2019.
This is one of the studies that the researchers above looked at. Secoiridoid oleuropein might be nearly impossible to pronounce, but it’s one of its most powerful and abundant phenolic compounds in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). A specific type called oleuropein-aglycone occurs during the production of EVOO, but not with just any production. According to this study, “EVOO is the best quality oil produced by mechanical pressing of ripe olives. Through this process, it is possible to retain most of the components with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Any industrial processing of olive oil (extraction and refining) makes it a lower quality oil. Comparing EVOO with refined olive oil, the refined form is less protective of oxidative lipid damage, free radical formation, and inflammatory activity. Oleuropein-aglycone…is the chief phenolic substance of extra virgin olive oil, and the neuroprotective effect is thought to be associated with it.”
The study authors pointed out that while most research on the brain benefits of extra virgin olive oil has been done in the lab, two randomized controlled trials—the gold standard for research—involved people. For a yearlong Italian study of 110 healthy elderly subjects, everyone followed the Mediterranean diet, but half the participants included additional EVOO, and they were the ones who had higher short-term improvement of cognitive function scores.
In a Spanish study that lasted for 6.5 years, those who followed an EVOO-rich Mediterranean diet had better cognitive function and less MCI or mild cognitive impairment (early signs of cognitive decline) than those who didn’t. As the researchers wrote, “Thus, the neuroprotective effect against cognitive decline was confirmed.”
What I found really interesting is their citing advice to start reaping extra virgin olive oil’s benefits early in life: “As general recommendations state, the protective effect of virgin olive oil can be most important in the first decades of life, which suggests that the health benefit of virgin olive oil intake should start before puberty and [be] maintained through life.”
