There are two very important things I just have to mention about tonight’s dinner: I love the fall, and I’ve had better ribeye. This is the prime time for food in my eyes. The meat is meatier and all of those fall fruits and veggies are my favorites. Sure I snack on bananas year round, and who doesn’t love a succulent orange now and then? But the variety of flavors and textures from just apples is absolutely inspiring. It’s the sole reason I chose a gala apple to be my sweetener for the root vegetable mash. Brown sugar and maple syrup are classic, but tonight I wanted to enjoy the full bounty of the best season.

Wait a second, not the best ribeye? Why then would any sane person post up a recipe that they didn’t find spectacular? For one, this is not a cookbook. And as I’ve already recounted I’m still wrapping my head around this recipe writing business. We’re on an adventure together, and not every detour will be inspiring. That’s ok, we all learn from our mistakes. The warm mango salsa is delicious, but it’s not the salivating taste sensation I’d hoped when paired with the steak. The problem is that it was too hesitant, and not saucy enough.

If you were to adapt this recipe I’d recommend turning the salsa into a glaze, and incorporating something extra tropical. In fact, I hunted for guava puree to no avail for the dish. Perhaps that would have been the key. There were other plans in the works for the ribeye itself, but in the end I decided that if the meat wasn’t good enough on its own for this test run then there’s no point in playing around with eccentric flavor combinations. I’ll save that for another day. And don’t worry; fall is the height of my carnivorous appetite. We shall have flavorful meat soon.

The squash salad was surprisingly fresh and delicious. It was the one recipe tonight that consisted of items I needed to “get rid of.” I like to call such ideas the “there are hungry kids in Ethiopia” recipes. Perhaps because of my mother’s classic mantra, or because I’m an inconsiderate jerk making myself chuckle at the plight of others. The mint I had on hand was in its last stages of viability, there was a lemon I’d been itching to use for the last few days, and I mistakenly bought the squash as a side dish before realizing I had too many starchy sides for my steak. I still wanted to use them, so the salad was born. All I know is the mint makes the dish, and if you still think mint is a dessert flavor you should give this particular salad a go.

As frickin’ great as the roasted squash mash was, it looked horrid. Roasting turns things brown, and brown does not look appealing when coaxed into a lumpy pile of goodies. Oh it tasted like heaven, what with the parsnip lending a subtle carroty flavor and the sweetness of the apple cutting through it all. It just looked sad. This is definitely not the meal to use for convincing kids to eat their vegetables. Even as an adult who loves roasted root vegetables I was initially hesitant on touching the goo. Hopefully I’ve learned from this experience.

Recipes from tonight’s dinner:

Ribeye with Warm Mango Salsa
Roasted Root Vegetable Mash
Raw Squash and Beet Salad

Photos by Kelly West

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