I'm indulging in one of my favorite foods: SQUASH!!! If you know me well enough,
you know that I buy squash frequently -- butternut, to be specific. When I
first lived in an on-campus apartment at Gordon and was learning the ropes of
cooking meals for myself, I discovered how easy, delicious, healthy, and FUN
cooking squash could be!! All I had to do was cut the squash through the
middle, seed it, and put it in the oven. I might add too much brown sugar to
continue classifying it as "healthy," but it's the thought that
counts, right? I continue to love squash - and other kinds too, like spaghetti
and acorn. And I've "graduated" from just making plain squash to
making some delicious recipes, too thanks to friends and magazines. I thought
I'd share two of my discoveries here....
My all-time favorite recipe for butternut squash
can be found here, per the
recommendation of my friend Kelly Soifer -- all to her credit. I LOVE this recipe - I've made
it quite a few times already and don't plan on stopping.
Butternut
Squash, Lentil, and Coconut Stew
Ingredients:
- 1 cup lentils
- 1 butternut squash (peeled and
chopped into cubes)
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 cups vegetable stock, or
water, or enough to cover
Tempering:
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard (you're
supposed to use mustard seeds, but I've used ground mustard)
- Red pepper flakes (depending on
how spicy you want it - I'm not a spicy fan, so we just put in a few)
- 1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 lime juiced (or a lemon works
too)
- cilantro leaves (to taste)
How to make it:
Rinse the
lentils, then, in a large pot, combine squash, lentils, tomato, coconut,
turmeric, cumin, and enough vegetable stock (chicken broth would work too) to
cover. Bring to a boil, and then simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove
cover and simmer 10 minutes (squash should be soft).
The
tempering (I had never done this before - and it's kind of fun!!): In a small
frying pan, warm the oil until it's hot. Add the mustard (or mustard seeds) and
the red pepper flakes, garlic, and salt. Pour the contents into the soup
(including the salt) and then spoon a ladleful of soup back into the frying pan
(it will sizzle so don't get too close!) and then pour it back into the pot.
Cilantro is
an excellent topping and I think other things like honey would be delicious too
(I've just put the honey straight in the pot and it adds a nice flavor). You
can serve this over rice, or even without it - it's pretty hearty :)
Another one of my favorite's is this one from
Family Circle Magazine:
Roasted
Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 large butternut squash; cut
into wedges
- 3 tablespoon oil
- 1 chopped onion
- 4 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 1 peeled, cored, and chopped
apple
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup apple cider (or apple
juice)
- Salt, ginger to taste
- Sour cream and cilantro =
optional toppings
Here's how you do it:
Peel and
seed the squash and roast in the oven with 2 tablespoon oil @ 350 for about an
hour (maybe more - it should be soft). Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a soup pot
and once it's hot, saute the chopped onion and garlic. Then add the roasted
squash, chopped apple, chicken broth, and apple cider. Simmer 30 minutes (apple
should be soft).
Puree in
food processor (or, what we do is use the "magic bullet" mixer -
quite handy for this recipe so you don't have to take the soup out of the
pot!). Add salt to taste and serve with sour cream and cilantro.
My one
problem with butternut squash recipes is that they can be a bit time consuming
when you have to peel, cut, and roast the squash. However, if you plan your
time out well, you can roast the squash a day in advance -- or maybe just
earlier in the day. And if you have a good knife, the peeling isn't too bad
(that was NOT the case in my apartment so I opted for frozen squash to save my
fingers and sanity. I know frozen defeats the purpose, but it was still good
:))
No comments:
Post a Comment