• Home
  • Recipes
    • Vegan
    • Raw
    • Salad
    • Soup
    • Treats
    • Smoothies & Juices
      • My Awesome Smoothie Book
      • Favourite Products
      • Smoothie & Juice Recipes
      • Juicing Articles
  • Happiness
  • Adventures
  • Work with Me
smarterfitter

Food Diary

Food Diary: Easy Meals with Whole Roasted Squash

November 11, 2008 · By Monica Shaw

Spicy Maple Acorn Squash“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:

Food Tip #2: Roasted whole squash is both convenient and delicious.

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.

Bircher Muesli

Veggie Chili with Greens and Acorn Squash

Dal with Cauliflower, Greens and Basmati Rice

About Monica Shaw

Veg lover, dog owner, hill walker, wild camper, avocado addict, nerd. I write about how to be awesome through a "smarter fitter" approach to eating, drinking, living and working.
Learn More →

Share

Share
Tweet
Email
Pin
Comment
Previous
Next

Comments Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  1. caitlin says

    November 11, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    thanks for visiting my blog 🙂 your pictures look amazing!

    Reply
  2. Andrea says

    November 11, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Thanks for commenting on my blog! I’ve just read a few days of yours, and am already hooked! You have beautiful photography too…what kind of camera do you use? Thanks for adding me to your blogroll, as soon as I have time to work on mine you’re going on too! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Sagan says

    November 11, 2008 at 7:22 pm

    Thanks for the link! And those pumpkin recipes look tasty… your meals sound so delicious.

    Reply
  4. Julie says

    November 12, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Hi, Monica: Whatever improvements you do to your posts should please you. But since you asked!… 😉 I like the idea of adding the exercise bit. As one who doesn’t get as much as I need, a reminder that diet is just one part of the whole is always welcome. (My yoga mat’s drying up in the corner.)

    Btw, I have now started making my own Bircher Muesli. It’s incredible! Without your posts about it, I’d never have known… You’ve some other suggestions that I’m planning to try and, thankfully, my husband’s game. My “Becoming Someone Else” post laid out a whole lot of gunk about wanting to become vegetarian, and I want you to know that, since then, your site has been a GREAT source of inspiration.

    So, thank you. Very much! For several reasons! 🙂

    Reply
  5. maris says

    November 12, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    You really can’t go wrong with maple + cayenne pepper!

    Reply
  6. monica says

    November 12, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    You guys are so awesome.

    @caitlin – you’re welcome, and thanks for the props!

    @Andrea – I’m hooked on your blog, too. =) It rules! I use a Canon Rebel XTi.

    @Sagan – No worries! Let me know how you get on with that pumpkin of yours.

    @Julie – I’m so glad you’re diggin the bircher!!! And I’m touched that my site has inspired you. This encourages me to keep plowing on with this thing… thank you!

    @maris – too true. what else would it be good on?

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Search





Instagram

Unable to communicate with Instagram.

Follow Me!

About

  • About
  • Work with Monica
  • Contact
  • Smarter Fitter Smoothies

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Buy my book

Smoothie eBook

Copyright 2023 smarterfitter