Herb-Roasted Squash Recipe

I always seem to wind-up lugging the heaviest pieces of produce home from the farmers market. Heads of cabbage, melons, or bags of apples. When Nick came to visit last weekend, I was grateful for the extra set of hands -- It's squash season.

We bought acorn, buttercup and butternut squash to roast for lunch, along with a Mirabelle baguette and Prairie Fruits Farm chevre -- two of the culinary perks to life in Champaign-Urbana. 

As much as I miss the city, this is the place to be for fall foliage. The reds, oranges, yellows, and greens make morning runs or evening bike rides a visually stunning experience. I feel lucky that I am only trapped in an office half of the week these days. This is the time of year I can't stand to miss.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends. Squash bakes at the same temperature as many turkey recipes.  Throw a few of these in the oven, with or without the bird, and your home will smell amazing. 

Herb-Roasted Squash

Ingredients

1 acorn squash
1 buttercup squash
1 butternut squash
6 Tbl brown sugar*
6 Tbl butter
Fresh rosemary leaves
Fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut squash in half and remove the seeds from the cavity with a spoon, leaving only the smooth flesh. Arrange the squash halves face-up on a heavy baking sheet. Add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of brown sugar to each cavity. Add the rosemary to the butternut squash and the thyme to the buttercup and acorn squashes. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast the squash for about 70 minutes. Periodically spoon the butter-sugar mixture over the rest of the squash surface to season and prevent the squash from drying out. When you can easily pierce the flesh with a knife, the squash is done. Allow to cool slightly and serve warm. Any leftovers can be tossed with pasta and parmesan for a simple dinner.

*Real maple syrup is a great alternative. 

Chickpea Salad with Lemon & Parmesan

I recently had the good fortune to travel to the Bay Area for a long weekend to visit friends and run the inaugural Oakland Half Marathon.

The weather was amazing.

We enjoyed afternoon sweets at Mission Pie, toured the Takara Sake Factory and worked our way through the Mikkeller single hop series. 

We enjoyed beautiful sunsets, fresh eggs from the hens Molly and Stefan's housemates keep, and gorgeous produce (the Berkeley Bowl grocery store is out of this world).

My arrival back in the office came too quickly, but the gorgeous weather followed me. I've found myself enjoying many meals outdoors, sitting on our front stoop watching the neighborhood activity or reading on our backyard deck. When I am in the mood for something quick and light, Orangette's chickpea salad is one of my favorites.

It only has five ingredients - chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan and salt - but the bright flavors make a satisfying meal.  I like to add in some lemon zest to Molly's recipe and often add a few handfuls of red leaf lettuce as well. I'm loving spring.

(For more Bay Area photographs, visit my Flickr album.)