Thursday, October 30, 2008

Vegan MoFo Day 30: Spicy Butternut Squash


This year must have been perfect for butternut squash, as I have been totally overrun with the stuff from family, friends, and our community supported agriculture box. Thankfully, I like it and it keeps well.


I have been thinking soup, as kittee recently reviewed a very good-sounding recipe. I also pulled out Sublime Soups by Lenore Baum, a wonderful vegan/macrobiotic cooking teacher from Asheville. Her millet / butternut squash soup is one of my fall favorites. Then, in a flash of insight, I knew what I wanted: Jamie Oliver's spicy roasted butternut squash! (The soups will follow soon.)


You can find an exact recipe in The Naked Chef, but you don't need it. You split the squash open, remove the seeds, and then slice it into long spears (approx 8 of them - more or less depending on the size). In a bowl, mix up some olive oil with microplaned or pressed fresh garlic. Dump in a bunch of spices. The original recipe calls for coriander, oregano, fennel, chili, salt, and black pepper. Add to the list or subtract, whole spices or ground... you can't really go wrong. (OK, no whole black pepper, but beyond that...) Smear this mess all over your butternut squash spears. (See pre-baking photo above.) Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Sometimes mine take a few minutes longer. You want them to be tender and roasty. For dinner, we had these with rice and Vegan Dad burgers (from my stock in the freezer).

2 comments:

JENNA said...

yum yum yum.

For the Love of Guava said...

mmm.. I love spicy dishes... I don't know why I never think to add a kick to my roasted vegetables... thanks!