Delicata Squash with Fresh Herbs

I love squash. One of my favorite (see: only) things about Winter is the abundance of different kinds of squash — acorn, butternut, spaghetti and….delicata?! I got two of these in my CSA share from last week and had NO idea what to do with them. I had never even SEEN them before. They looked like something you would decorate a Thanksgiving table with. Eat? I wasn’t too sure.

I decided to slice it, (skin on), coat in olive oil, salt and pepper and add on chopped sage and rosemary (picked fresh from my window garden!) I roasted it for about 45 minutes and the results were amazing. Buttery, sweet, filled with flavor, this is absolutely going to be my new squash of choice. If you haven’t already tried it, I encourage you go to get some and roast it up immediately.

What You Need

Two small delicata squash

two tablespoons chopped fresh herbs – I used rosemary and sage

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

What You Do:

Pre-heat oven to 375. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds from the center of each half. Once everything is scooped out, slice each half width-wise into 1 inch pieces. Drizzle olive oil on the squash, making sure each piece is covered and spread the pieces out on a baking sheet (first spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking!) Sprinkle chopped herbs, salt, and pepper on the squash, pop in the oven, and let roast for about 45 minutes. You’ll know the squash is done when you can easily poke with a knife. I would also recommend removing the baking sheet halfway through the baking time, giving it a good shake to loosen up any pieces that might have gotten stuck to the baking sheet, and then placing it back in the oven to finish roasting.

That’s all there is too it! Delicata squash. Do it. Now.

From The Archives: Rosemary Focaccia

Remember when I told you guys that even though I wasn’t blogging, I was still taking pictures and saving them for a rainy day? Well the clouds have parted ladies and gentlemen because here comes the flow of new posts!

I remember bringing this into work, and people were SHOCKED that I made my own bread (because really, who makes their own bread? There’s an entire aisle in the grocery store dedicated to it. Made, sliced, packaged, so remind me why would you make your own, again?)  Well, I’ve made this loaf a few times, and each time I’m so happy I did. It is delicious. Yes — it’s a little time consuming (you have to let the dough rise twice), but it’s really, really easy to make, and delicious. I use it as sandwich bread and to pair with soups. It’s pretty hearty, and definitely filling, but it’s half whole wheat so it can’t be thaaaat bad, right?

If you’ve ever been curious about making bread, I would say definitely give this recipe a try. It’s easy and adaptable (kalamata olives, different herbs, different spices), so you can’t go wrong. Recipe from Veganomicon. 

An Herb “Garden”

Not the greatest picture, I’ll admit, but alas here it is! Our little herb “garden” aka plastic container attached to our window sill. Confessions: these were NOT grown from scratch! A few weeks ago, I suddenly wanted to grow my own herbs. Immediately. We went to a gardening store down the street, picked up a container, some soil, and then I went down to the farmer’s market and picked up already grown (don’t judge) sage, rosemary and basil. Came home, re-planted everything and sat  back to admire my (Brian’s) handiwork.

It’s been three weeks since we planted them and so far so good! I’ve used the herbs to make:

• Rosemary baby potatoes
• Roasted butternut squash with sage
• Chopped basil for pasta

The best part about them (aside from knowing they’re fresh, organic, pesticide free, etc) is that I don’t have to worry about them going bad! Snip them when I need them, use, repeat. Plus, they’re surprisingly easy to take care of. I was thinking they’d have croaked by now, but nonetheless, they are standing strong. Lesson learned? GROW YOUR OWN HERBS!