Simple, Real Simple Recipes

You know the magazine, Real Simple, right?

Did you see in last month's issue, they featured a month of easy dinner recipes?  They have invited their readers to follow along with their staff and make the recipes- their staff will be blogging all about it.  I looked at the recipes, and since they are healthy and yes, easy, I have decided to try them out.  They even made a printable shopping list for each week!  I mean, this might be easy enough for even me!

All of their photos just look so pretty.  And just from a photo, you know the ingredients!  No creamy mystery sauces or veggies hiding in cheese.  Fresh proteins.  Fresh veggies.  Fresh herbs.  A natural approach to flavor, I suppose you can say.

My plan is to select one or two each week to try out.  I will only be making ones I think have potential to be made again and again.  Which means, they have to pass the kid-test.  And the lazy-chef test.

I thought I would review the recipes that I have made here.  Real Simple is a very popular magazine so maybe you already saw the "Month of Dinners" article, the gorgeous photos, but haven't yet tried them out.  

First up:  Tortellini with Butternut Squash, Mushrooms, and Fontina.

Recipe From Real Simple:

Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash (2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and halved if large
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 pound fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
• 2 ounces fontina or Gruyère, grated (1/2 cup), plus more for serving

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450° F. On 2 rimmed baking sheets, toss the squash and mushrooms with the sage, oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once and rotating pans halfway through, until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water; drain the tortellini and return to the pot. Add the vegetables, fontina, ¼ cup of the cooking water, and ½ teaspoon salt and toss gently to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry). Sprinkle with additional fontina

I was so proud- I tried my very best to follow all the directions to the T!  I did alter a couple of ingredients but only slightly.  I just used a package of pre-sliced non-fancy mushrooms.  I also used dried sage (rubbed sage to be exact) instead of the fresh because that is what I already had.  I probably over-seasoned the veggies, but man oh man, they were SO good.  

Kate's Two Cents:  Super easy.  Few ingredients.  Everyone loved it!  

Next time I will:  not mix the veggies until *just* before serving.  I felt like I was bruising the squash when I mixed it up.  

In case you wondered...it did not look like the picture!  I love the presentation of a meal just as much as the taste.  I think next time, I will show you the "real-life" pictures of what the dinners look like.