6 tbps white miso
3-in piece fresh ginger, peele and very finely grated
1/4 cup sake or fino sherry
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp each right vinegar (not seasoned), soy sauce, and firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 kabocha squash (about 1 1/2 lbs), seeded and cut into 1/4-in slices
2 tsp toasted seasame oil

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a blender or food processor, whirl miso, ginger, sake, vegatable oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar.
2. In a large bowl, toss squash slices with miso mixture to coast thoroughly. Lift slices from sauce and arrange them, overlapping slightly, on a large baking sheet. Reserve sauce.
3. Bake 15 minutes. Brush slices with remaining sauce (you will have some left over) and cook until tender when thick edges are pierced with a fork, about 5 to 10 more mintues. Drizzle with seasme oil and serve hot or warm.

1 spaghetti squash
2 cups milk
2 to 3 jalapenoss, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 tbsp butter, plus more for pans
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup shredded jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cut squash in half lengthwise and use a spoon or melon balled to remove seeds and surrounding fiber. Put squash, cut side down, on a lightly buttered baking sheet and bake until tender when flesh is pierced with a fork, 30 to 40 mintures. Or poke several holes in skin of squash with a fork and microwave it on high 10 minutes. Squash should be tender when pierced with a fork; if it isn’t microwave on ghigh in 1-min intervals until tender. Let sit until cool.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm milk and jalapenos until bubbles form along the edge of a pan. Remove mixture from heat and let sit 15 minutes. Strain and decard jalapenos.
3. When squash is cool enough to handle, use a large spoon to scrape the strands out of the skin and into a large bowl.
4. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 2 tbps butter. Whisk in flour and salt and cook, whisking, until flour smells cooked (like piecrust), about 3 mins. Slowly pour in jalapeno-infused milk while whisking. Reduce heat to medium and continue whisking until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 mins. Pour mixture over squash and stir to combine. Transfer mixture to a buttered 2-qt baking dish. Sprinkle with jack cheese and bake until bubbling and brown on top, about 30 mins.

6oz applewood-smoked bacon, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1 lb kale, stems and ribs removed, chopped fine
2 to 3 tbsp, reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 to 3 tbsp, coconut vinegar or 1 to 2 tbsp, cider vinegar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Thai or serrano chile, crushed (optional)

1. In a 4 to 5 qt pan over medium heat, cook bacon, stirring, until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour bacon and fat through a fine strainer into a bowl. Return 5 tbsp fat to pan, discard the rest.
2. Add onion, garlic and bay leaves and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onion is pale golden, 5 minutes. Toss in kale; cook, stirring, until wilted. Add 1 cup water, half the bacon, 2 tbps each soy sauce and coconut vinegar, the pepper and chile. Simmer, covered, adding water if pan gets dry, until kale is very tender, 60 minutes. Add soy and vinegar to taste.
Serve sprinkled with remaining bacon.

1-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teasppon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1-1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly oil 12 muffin cups of coat with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir in coconut and set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.
Beat butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes longer. Beat in egg.
With mixer on low, alternately beat in dry ingrediants in 3 additions and the banana mixture in 2 additions, beating until just combined each time.
Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until tops of muffins spring back when lightly pressed at center and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
Serves 12.