Roasted Butternut Squash with Corn

When Nando's Peri-Peri restaurant first came into the DC Metro area, I was pregnant with Mr. Tomato. I ate there so often that is fetal nickname was Peri. They offer this dish as a "fino" side. I always thought it was a little ... meh. But one Thanksgiving I decided to reproduce it. I found a basic recipe online someplace, which has since been tweaked so much that I don't even know what the source is anymore.

The bonus here is that this recipe is totally vegan. If you're into that sort of thing. Heh.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Corn

1 2 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cut into one-inch, bite-sized pieces
1 large red onion, chopped (about 1.5 cups)
3 Tbsp olive oil (plus an optional 1 – 2 tablespoons for coating squash)
"4" cloves finely minced garlic
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
A "little" hot sauce of your own choosing
1 Tbsp sea salt
2 - 3 ears corn, kernels cut off (approx. 1.5 cups kernels)
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro, stems removed


• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
• Roast the corn on a cookie sheet for about 5 - 10 minutes, or until they have a little golden color
• Lightly toss the squash in the olive oil and arrange on a cookie sheet. 
• Bake the squash until soft, about 20 minutes
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pot and sauté the onion and garlic
• Add the corn, hot sauce, vinegar, salt, and cayenne to the onions and stir for a minute or so
• Add the dried cranberries and stir for a few more minutes; remove from the heat and add to a large bowl
• Add the cooked squash to your mixture
• Continue to stir the mixture for a few minutes for the flavors to blend
• Add the chopped cilantro to taste.

You can let this sit at room temperature about half an hour for the flavors to blend a bit more. Goes over well with roasted chicken and some wilted swiss chard. Yum!

Not Your Mama's Slaw Slaw

Confession: I think the dressing on traditional cole slaw is nasty. Gross. Ick. So I re-purposed a recipe I found somewhere online that originally had dill (ickkkkkk) and carrots.

The great thing about this recipe is that it's multi-purpose. I've even used a variation on it, with extra olive oil, for potato salad dressing. Yum.

2 packages of shredded cabbage, or that broccoli slaw stuff
1 package shredded carrots
1 bunch chives
1/2 bunch cilantro
"3" cloves garlic
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

• Finely mince the garlic, and whisk it together with the olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper; if you want a little kick, add some finely minced hot pepper of your choice
• Thinly slice the chives, and finely chop the cilantro; add it to the carrots and cabbage in a large bowl 
• Toss with the vinaigrette

Eat that shit up by itself because it's delicious--the longer it sits, the more the flavors will develop, and you will be the hit of any pot luck.

Butternut Squash Soup

Lemme tell you something about this soup: it's not my own recipe.

But good gravy it's good!! It's straight out of the Joy of Cooking. I don't like the way that they lay out their recipes, so this is my own rewrite.You're going to need a few hours for this, since the squash needs to be roasted.

1 four-pound butternut squash
2 large leeks
2 teaspoons finely minced ginger
6 cups vegetable stock
A few tablespoons olive oil or butter
Salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees 
• Cut the squash in half; scoop out the seeds 
• Fill a baking dish with about a half inch of water; place the squash face down and cover with foil. Cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until it's easily pierced with a fork and very soft 
•  While the squash is cooking, finely mince your ginger and slice the leeks--you will only need the white parts
•  Remove the squash from the oven and set it aside so it cools enough for you to handle 
• Saute the leeks and the ginger in the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until they are soft and fragrant and just a little browned 
• Scrape the cooled squash into the mixture and add four cups of stock and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes; as it cooks, mash the squash against the side of the pot to break it up a bit
• Remove your pot from the heat; either ladle the mixture into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. If you have an immersion blender, just use that in the pot to process until smooth (NOTE: be VERY careful with the immersion blender; this shit is lava-hot and will bubble up) 
• Return the soup to the stove, add remaining two cups of stock, salt, and pepper to taste and cook for about five to ten more minutes until it's at your desired consistency. 
• Serve garnished with garlic croutons, or finely chopped parsley, or finely chopped cilantro