“What was once something to frighten the children at Halloween has become a winter kitchen stalwart. A squash goes a long way, both in terms of bulk and, more importantly, sweetness.” –Nigel Slater

For lunch yesterday, I took a wedge of leftover squash and slathered it in a mixture of olive oil, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, curry powder, and salt, then baked it, orange side up, for about 20 minutes. It was so delicious I had to post this tip:

I took me less than 2 minutes to prepare the squash and stick it in the oven, and less than 20 minutes to cook. Squash can be so messy at times, but this latest experience made me realize two things:

• Cooking squash whole is WAY easier than slicing and dicing it first. This goes for all winter squash, not just acorn squash. To see what I mean, check out Sagan’s latest adventures with roasting a whole pumpkin.
• Leftover roast squash is useful for all sorts of dishes, such as soup, veggie chili, and of course, pumpkin pie!

I’ve still get some leftover acorn squash to go and an uncooked butternut squash waiting to meet its destiny. Two recent recipes on VeggieMealPlans have caught my eye: Pumpkin Chickpea Salad with Miso Tahini Orange Dressing and Roasted Pumpkin and Lentil Soup with Pomegranate Molasses. Beans, squash – two of my favorite things!

As I continue to experiment with this diary thing, I’ve decided to cut the day of the week from the post title and include exercise along with my list of foods. Am I going too far? Too much information? Who cares? I’m a little concerned that it throws off the whole “flow” of the diary. But maybe I’m over-thinking things. If you feel like it, let me know what you think!

• Breakfast: Bircher muesli. Oats, apple, flax seeds, apricots, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, and a brazil nut thrown in for good measure. The apples are so good this time of year, and I’ve been including some diced apple in addition to my usual grated apple
• Swim: Freestyle and backstroke with the pull buoy. This was the first time I did backstroke with the pull buoy, which wasn’t bad, and I can actually do some light kicking without causing pain in my shins.
• Lunch: Leftover veggie chili with acorn squash and kale. The squash was delicious – I took a pre-baked acorn squash and slathered it in a mixture of olive oil, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and curry powder, then baked it, orange side up, for about 20 minutes. To the Kale, I added some smoked paprika, inspired by Simply Recipes. I will do this again.
• Dinner: Lentil Dal with Sauteed Chard and Basmati Rice. I love it when I have yummy lentil dal stashed in the freezer. This was the Red Lentil Dal with Panch Phoran inspired by Susan. I sauteed the chard with onion, garlic, mustard seeds and garam masala, almost like a sag aloo without the aloo.