Pages

21 January 2011

a veggie a day...

ready for this??

while grocery shopping last night, i decided that every time we go to the grocery store, i'm going to buy a vegetable i've never eaten/bought before and make something with it.  brilliant, huh?  i'm not planning on this lasting a year (maybe i'll switch to fruit next) but it should be fun.  my very own cooking class.  this trip's veggie?

squash!!  i saw a great recipe for candied acorn squash in a slow cooker and haven't been able to get it out of my head.  while i didn't plan ahead to put it in my crockpot this morning, i found another great (hopefully) recipe that i feel makes a good substitution. 

tyler's grilling steaks right now and i can smell my creation stewing and it smells goooood.

here it is...

"butternut squash with onions"

you'll notice if you follow the link that i tweaked the recipe a bit, based on the fact that i don't measure and after reading the reviews and adding what i thought sounded good.  :)

i cut the squash in quarters (had to warm it up in the microwave in order to put a knive through it), and after messy hands didn't allow for the precise 'slices' it calls for (nor do i have a vegetable cutter--whatever that is), i gave up and cut chunks.

in the meantime, i sauteed some onions (not the whole onion it called for, more like 1/3) in butter and then added the squash chunkies:  the real recipe says to use the stove, others said using an oven worked great.  i went for the stove. 

then...after a suggestion in a review, i thought it'd be nice to use up some of the apple juice we've had in our fridge for way too long.  so i added.  and then i added.  and added some more.  apparently squash soaks up liquid?  i also added cinnamon, butter, and some salt.  while that was soaking, (ahem...cooking) i added more apple juice (i know, right) and candied/toasted some crushed walnuts.     
 i first melted a little butter in the pan (popped it in the oven to melt), then stirred in the crushed walnuts, a bit of cinnamon and brooooooown sugar...
 this toasted for approximately 7 minutes (i timed it because last time i 'toasted' something it got forgotten.  when i finally opened the oven door, it was one huge ball of smoke, instead of the bread crumbs it went in as.  and now we know our smoke detectors don't work) ahem. back to the toasting.
and here is the nearly finished product.  after tyler taste-tested, he told me it needed more brown sugar.  so we tried that.  and now we'll see. :)

so that's veggie venture number 1!

stay tuned...

6 comments:

Palmer said...

Who are you and what have you done with my daughter? You sound like a master chef who likes to wing it.
It looks good enough to eat. However your husband should get hazard pay for being the first to try it.

highheeledlife said...

Hi there visiting from Megs Mingle Mondays ... this sounds like fun... the squash looks fabulous.Really enjoyed the ski pics, but I'm ready for the warmer weather...HHL

Unknown said...

Oh yay! I'm so glad you're sharing your recipes when you try these new things. :)

Megan said...

Hi, new to your blog! I love this idea to try a new vegetable!! That squash recipe sounds delish! How did it turn out??

Cameron said...

HI...Just visiting from Mingle Monday. Ummmm....YUMMY! My mouth is literally watering for your squash now. I make my daughter's baby food and she absolutely loves squash...next time I will have to buy an extra one and try this recipe out for her Dad and I. I look forward to following your blog. Thanks!!!

Amber said...

Visiting from Mingle Monday - that's a great idea and a very healthy one too. I wish I wasn't so picky, or I'd join in on this too! ;)