Cooking with... Acorn Squash

I love to grocery shop. 
I know many people feel it's a chore.  I choose to look at it this way:  I can shamelessly put as many items in my cart as I choose, and it doesn't matter what the bill is, because I NEED TO EAT.  That's how I justify my grocery shopping sprees to my husband, anyway.

While rummaging through the fresh produce aisles in Superstore (if you've been to my Superstore location, you know that it does take "rummaging" to find the produce you want), I passed a whole barrel of acorn squash.  I looked longingly at the beautiful squash, unsure of what I could even make with it!  I passed by twice more and finally stopped to pick the cutest squash I could find, and bring it home to be mine, all mine.

And then I did a lot of Googling.

If you don't like squash soup or baked squash topped with nuts and dried fruit, and if you don't have the time/patience to make ravioli, Google can't help you use up that squash.

So I got inventive. 

Here's my recipe for Thai Peanut Squash Noodles:

I prepped my squash (cut in half, removed seeds, drizzled olive oil, sprinkled salt) and roasted it in the oven at 400 F for 45 minutes. 

While my squash roasted, I fried up half a white onion, and half a yellow bell pepper in some olive oil. 

And I mixed my peanut sauce in my blender:  1/2c peanut butter, 1/4c water, 2 Tbsp tamari, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1/2c unsalted peanuts, 1/4tsp red chili flakes (optional).

And then I boiled some white rice vermicelli (150g or so) for a few minutes.

When the squash was fork-tender, I removed the skin from one half, roughly diced it, and threw it in with my fried veggies until it was a little caramelized.  Then I combined everything (veggies, peanut sauce, noodles) in the noodle pot and mixed.  The squash was so tender, it mushed up and became part of the sauce.

And then I offered some to my hubby.  He doesn't think much of squash and was surprised that it blended right into my sauce.  He ate his entire bowlful... and then asked if I was going to finish mine!

Variations:  top with cilantro and peanuts.  Substitute lime juice for rice vinegar in the sauce.

And then I had half of a roasted squash left in the fridge.

So for lunch today, I made Thai Squash Curry:

I put 1c brown rice into 2c boiling water and let it simmer on low for 45 minutes.

Then I fried up the other half yellow pepper and white onion from yesterday, and added 1/4 head of chopped cauliflower.

In my blender, I pureed up 1/2 of the half squash that was left (so 1/4 of a whole squash!) with 1/2 can coconut milk and 2 Tbsp red curry paste, with salt to taste. 

Then I added the other 1/2 of the half squash to the pan with the mixed veggies, and poured in the squash sauce from the blender.  A cup of veggie stock will thin out the thick sauce.

Served over brown rice.

What I love about these recipes is that they don't take much effort (just throw it into a blender!) and they taste great!  ANNND you're getting vitamins you need!

Hope you enjoy!