Roast Acorn Squash

I'm a big fan of acorn squash. Usually I just pop it in the microwave whole and mash it up with plenty of brown sugar and butter. But this year the acorn squash hasn't been as sweet and tasty as usual, so I've been avoiding it at the grocery store.

That is until I had Roast Acorn Squash at a friend's house. It was divine! Roasting it brought out the squash's natural sweetness. In the past I worried that leaving the skin on the squash might taste weird, but it was SO GOOD. Plus you don't have to peel it. You guys know I'm all about making my life easier in the kitchen.

Roast Acorn Squash is totally my new go-to veggie. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Roast Acorn Squash
Serves: 3

1 large acorn squash
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and paper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice squash into 1" half moons and place in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Sprinkle dark brown sugar, oil, salt, and pepper over squash and toss to coat. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Take a peek at the bottom to see if the squash is caramelized and browned. (If it's not, pop it back in for 5 more minutes.) Once it's caramelized, flip the squash and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until squash is tender.

Hands-Off Butternut Squash Soup

I love butternut squash soup, and there's plenty of proof here on Hot Dinner Happy Home. I've made Curried Butternut Squash Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, and Apple Butternut Squash Soup. One would think I covered this delicious autumn treat in plenty of detail, but no. I need to take it one step further to solve the one issue I have with butternut squash soup: cutting up the squash.

It is a pain in my patootie (yes, I'm the mom of a toddler) to slice butternut squash. First you have to peel the darn thing. Then you have this giant, slippery vegetable, and you're supposed to take a knife to it? Yeah, good luck. It's like chopping down a tree with a butter knife. Typically I buy pre-cut butternut squash to save myself the hassle, but it's more expensive. And I hate to pay extra for something I can technically do myself.

So I set about making butternut squash soup that didn't require any squash chopping. I microwaved the whole squash until it was easy to slice in half. Then I roasted it with carrots, apple, and onion to add some complexity to the soup. It was super simple to scoop the cooked squash out of the shell and puree it with the veggies and some broth. And Hands-Off Butternut Squash Soup was born!

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Hands-Off Butternut Squash Soup

1 large butternut squash
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 apple, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into 1" slices
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
2 - 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Sour cream for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Pierce squash with a fork in several places. Microwave 10 minutes on high, flipping over halfway through. (We want the squash to soften enough so it's nice and easy to slice in half.) Remove squash and allow it to rest until it's cool enough to handle. Slice squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Drizzle both cut sides of squash with 1 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet.

Place carrots, apple, and onion on a second large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables so they're evenly coated and spread into a single layer on the baking sheet.

Roast the squash and carrots, apple, and onion for about 30 minutes, stirring the carrots, apple, and onion halfway through, until the vegetables are tender and caramelized.

Set aside squash for a few minutes until it's cool enough to handle. Scoop remaining vegetables into a large pot over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup broth into the rimmed baking sheet and scrape the browned bits off the bottom to incorporate the flavors into the broth. Pour broth from the baking sheet into pot with the vegetables. Once the squash has cooled, scoop the flesh into the pot. Pour about 1 3/4 cups broth into the pot. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to your desired consistency. (If you don't have an immersion blender, blend in batches in a blender.) If the soup is too thick, stir in remaining broth until you're happy with the consistency.

Serve soup with a dollop of sour cream.

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash

I can't pass up a giant vegetable. When I was perusing the stack of squash at the grocery store, all the other orbs paled in comparison to this glorious gourd. So I popped it into my car-shaped grocery cart, and my son steered us through the rest of our shopping trip. (He's the designated cart driver.)

It wasn't until the clerk rang us up at check-out that I discovered my squash was five pounds. FIVE POUNDS. All the recipes I read for preparing spaghetti squash called for a two pound squash. Whoops. Guess I got a little greedy there.

If your spaghetti squash isn't quite as ginormous as mine, you might not need to bake it for quite as long. But I wouldn't cut down the amount of Parmesan cheese. You can never have too much cheese.

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash

1 large spaghetti squash
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, microwave squash for about five minutes. This will soften the squash and make it easier to cut in half. Allow the squash to cool for a minute so you don't burn your fingers, then slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds.

Season cut sides of squash with salt and pepper and place cut-side down on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the flesh is tender, about 45 minutes if your squash is a five-pound behemoth. It will probably take closer to 30 minutes for a smaller squash. Use a fork to shred the squash into strands and place in a bowl.

If your squash has released lots of liquid into the bowl, try to drain some of it off. Stir in butter, basil, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with extra Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

P.S. Want more squash? Try making acorn squash in the microwave. Yep. The microwave, people. Too easy for words.

Glazed Acorn Squash

I love winter squash. It's rich and sweet like dessert, but it's a healthy vegetable. What's not to love?!

Typically I pop acorn squash in the microwave for a quick spin and the mush it up with a bit of brown sugar. It's easy. It's delicious. And I don't have to plan ahead to make it.

This time, though, I wanted to try baking it in the oven. I would actually have to think about dinner preparation before 6:00 p.m., but I was okay with that. It seemed very adult to roast something that I usually microwave. Like taking a Hot Pocket to the next level.

Glazed Acorn Squash
Adapted from Simply Recipes
Serves: 2

1 acorn squash
2 teaspoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In order to make the acorn squash easier to slice, microwave it for 2-3 minutes on high. Once it's softened up just a bit from the microwave, slice it in half through the stem. (I suppose that would be pole-to-pole as opposed to through the equator, if I were comparing it to the world.) Scoop out and discard the seeds and stringy bits. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil (for easy clean up), and place the acorn squash on the baking sheet cut-side up.

Schmear 1 teaspoon of butter on the cut side of each half. Then sprinkle each half with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup, and plenty of salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the squash is very tender when you pierce it with a fork. When you place the acorn squash on each person's plate, make sure you don't spill any of the molten buttery, sugary goodness!

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

I promised more quinoa recipes, and today I deliver!  If you have leftover Quinoa Pilaf, you can stir the spices, dried cranberries, pecans, and parsley into the pilaf, then spoon it into the baked acorn squash.

Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Serves: 4

2 acorn squash
Vegetable oil spray
2 tablespoons honey, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1 cup quinoa

2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Microwave squash on high power for about 3 minutes.  (This will soften the squash so it's easier to cut.)  Cut each squash in half lengthwise.  Scoop out and discard the seeds.  

Coat a baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Brush 1/2 teaspoon honey on the cut side of each squash half. Place squash on the baking sheet cut-side down. Bake about 40 minutes, until the squash is tender. 

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and saute until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic, cumin, and ginger, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in quinoa and allow it to toast for about 2 minutes.  Add broth and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Bring liquid to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until quinoa has absorbed the liquid and is tender, about 15 minutes. 

Stir lemon juice, pecans, cranberries, and parsley into quinoa.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Remove squash from baking dish and place onto your serving platter.  Sprinkle each squash half with salt and pepper, and fill with one quarter of the quinoa mixture.  Drizzle remaining honey on top, and serve.