Aunty Sara

My neighbor Aunty Sara has lived next door to us since we first moved into our house almost twenty years ago. She was an activist in the '60s, has travelled all over the world, and is involved in a lot of things in our little Waimea community, so she always has a good story or a useful insight to share. As kids, my sister and I spent a lot of time at her house. I love it there. It's full of unfussy but beautiful things, collected on her many adventures, and accented with her own art. Last summer I got to hang out with her a fair amount while I was home. Some days I just went over to talk, and she had us over for dinner a couple of times, which was awesome. Aunty Sara is an amazing cook, and she's really into eating local and organic, so everything she makes is fresh and delicious, and often contains ingredients from her own garden.


She was really enthusiastic when I told her I was starting a food blog this summer, so I thought it would be fun to invite her over to make a guest appearance. I'm out of the country right now (more on that later), but during my last week home, on my mom's day off the three of us made:


stuffed peppers

avocado and pumpkin salad (vegan)

green salad (vegan)

and a watermelon mint drink (vegan)

Pumpkin/Avocado Salad

 We started the pumpkin/avo salad first because the pumpkin needs to roast. The other Sachi (best friend, same name) gave us some kabocha (Japanese winter squash), so we used that. 

You'll need:

1 kabocha (another kind of squash would probably work too, this one is good because it's sweet)

2 avocados

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 Tbsp brown sugar

1 handful dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped almonds

baking pan

As usual, all those proportions are really just suggestions. We definitely didn't actually measure anything out. Do what feels right.

Start by preheating the oven, 350º should be good. Then cut up the kabocha and remove the seeds. We went with wedges for the roasting part. Leave the skin on, it'll soften, and it's good for you! Put the wedges in the baking pan.

Combine butter and brown sugar and microwave for 15 seconds or until the butter melts. Using a basting brush, coat the pumpkin with the butter mixture. 

Throw the cranberries on there, too. Sprinkle with cinnamon and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft enough to jab with a fork.

Next, cut up the roasted pumpkin into chunks, think potato salad. Once the pumpkin is cool, do the same with the avocado and add it. 

Sprinkle on the almonds, drizzle with some balsamic vinegar, and you're good to go!

Stuffed Peppers

These are a little more complex and time-consuming than I usually like, but with the help of my mentors/sous chefs, we pulled it off pretty easily. Preheat oven to 350º.

You'll need:

4 large bell peppers, lidded and seeded

1 smaller bell pepper *

1/2 lb ground beef or turkey *

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 eggplant

1 zucchini *

1 cup corn * (or however many ears it takes to fill a cup if you use fresh corn)

1 small onion *

4-5 green onions, chopped *

several sprigs fresh basil, chopped * or 1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp ground cumin

2 little hawaiian peppers, seeded and minced * 

1/4 cup shredded cheese

salt and pepper

* indicates local/organic ingredients. We used Waimea corn, the zucchini, onion, and the small bell pepper were all organic, all from the Waimea farmer's market. The ground beef came from a cow that Aunty Sara's son raised, the basil and green onions came from the plants in our yard, the peppers came from hers.

Prep for the stuffing takes a while. Cook up your quinoa first. Remember, a little bit of uncooked quinoa goes a long way! While that's going, dice (?) the onion, the zucchini, the small bell pepper, and cube the eggplant (it'll shrink). 

In a large skillet, brown the meat with the onions on med-high, then turn down the heat  to med-low and add the other vegetables. Cover and allow vegetables to soften, stirring occasionally. Add cooked quinoa and spices,  and simmer for a few minutes. 

Then, scoop the mixture into your hollowed out peppers. 

Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top, and pop in the oven. Since everything is already cooked, you just want the peppers to soften a little, so 15 minutes is probably plenty. Check them with a fork until you get the consistency you like.

Green Salad

This salad was pretty simple. If you're thinking of doing this entire meal, you'll want to roast your beets ahead of time, but otherwise it can be thrown together in a few minutes.

You'll need:

mixed greens*

1/2 onion, diced*

heirloom tomatoes, sliced*

roasted beets, sliced*

dill*

Basically just throw everything together.

Watermelon Mint drink

We had some watermelon on hand, and I figured go big or go home, so I made a quick drink to go with dinner.

You'll need:

watermelon and mint, who would've guessed?

Just chop up your watermelon, throw in as many mint leaves as you think you'd like, and blend it up. You could also add some vodka or champagne or something if you're so inclined. I used mint from Aunty Sara's garden and blended it in our Magic Bullet, which was kind of small for this purpose, but makes a mean smoothie. I definitely need to get one for school, that thing has been indispensable this summer. 

Here are some photos of the meal. Aunty Sara brought over some dukkah that she made, and we put it on the salad, it was a nice touch.

My dad's contribution to the meal was dessert. He bought a cheesecake at a bake sale at work, and we topped it with sliced Waimea strawberries. Delicious.

I had a great time cooking with my mom and Aunty Sara, and it was such a nice meal. Really this kind of thing is the reason I wanted to start this blog. Experimenting with food is awesome, and it was a good way to spend some time learning from and hanging out with two of my favorite cooks.