Sides – Bake with Andrea

This is one of those undiscovered gems for me. I’ve always associated butternut squash with soup and most of the time, not well-seasoned soup. Also, any time I saw it at the supermarket I just didn’t know what else to do with it, so I’ve never really been very into it! And then one day I saw one of the YouTubers I follow make a veggie dinner and she used butternut squash as part of the meal – it looked so interesting to me I decided to try it and since then I’ve made it a bunch of times at home. I’ve tinkered with the method and found a way to make it my own and let me tell you, it’s become one of our favorites!

Butternut squash is actually quite sweet – kind of like pumpkin or sweet potato. So whichever way you make it you really need to think about your seasoning as this will make the biggest difference! I think the best flavour to compliment the sweetness of the squash is smokey. So I love to use smoked paprika and smoked flakey sea salt to finish it. I think it really does make all the difference here. If you have any seasoning that’s good for steak or big cuts of meat (stay tuned for my smoked brisket recipe!) that would work really well here too.

First things first:

Preheat your oven to 220C
Wash and dry your butternut squash

Ingredients:

Butternut squash
Seasoning of your choice (see below)
Olive oil

How to make it:

Even though we’re not going to be eating the skin of the butternut squash, I like to wash the skin a bit to get rid of any soil or anything else that might be on it. Just a quick scrub will do!

Cut the top and bottom of your squash and then cut it in the middle, lengthwise

With a spoon, remove the seeds from your squash. It’s a lot easier to do with a spoon than it is with a knife, but still be careful when you do this! It starts to get a bit slippery in there so just be patient.
- Note: you don’t have to discard those seeds if you don’t want to. You can just remove all the flesh and then rinse the seeds, pat them dry and roast them in the oven until they become fragrant.

Grab a baking tray, line it with aluminum foil (trust me, it’ll make the biggest difference when it comes to cleaning!) and place your squash on it, open-side up. Season it however you like and drizzle with some olive oil
- Note: My favourite way to season it is with a blend that I make which has salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder (if I have it), and lots of smoked paprika.
- Sometimes I also add mixed dried herbs or fresh herbs – usually rosemary and sage.
- On this day I used some leftover seasoning from my smoked brisket which is basically the same thing!

Once your squash is all dressed up, put it in the oven at 220C for about 45min. Keep in mind that depending on your oven and the size of your squash, the cooking time may change.
When you think it’s about done, poke the thickest part of your squash with a knife and if it goes in and out super smoothly (as if it was soft butter) then it’s all good to go. If you get any resistance, pop it back in for another 5-10min and re-check.
- Don’t be alarmed if the top looks really dark and almost burnt. This is just the top and in my opinion it’s actually the best part! You’ll see.

Let it rest for 5-10min and serve it however you like! I like to just use a spoon to scoop it out. I use a fork to help myself with holding the skin down (it’s too hot for my fingers!). It should come off from the skin nice and easily.

And that’s it! Sprinkle some flakey (smoked if you can) sea salt over the top and it’s good to go!

I like to serve it “messy” because I feel like that way the ratio of seasoned and not-so-seasoned flesh is nicer but if you want to just cut it up into neat little chunks you can too – it’s up to you!

I hope you give this recipe a try and if you do, let me know if you like it! It’s one of those super simple things to make that are just so yummy! It’s also super easy to prepare and great for a weeknight dinner.

Also, I always serve this as a side dish but if you’re veggie it’s great as part of your main meal – I’ve had it before with a serving of quinoa and some greens and it’s really filling and delicious!

Thanks again for reading me and stay tuned for more yummy recipes!!

My husband Mike is a true meat-eater. For years he’s been saying that “if it doesn’t have meat it’s not a real meal“. He’s never been into veggies, soups and much less salads. So when he kept insisting that I made this salad over and over again, I thought there must be something to it – and I should probably share it with you!

I love to try new recipes and follow the guidance that other people are giving me, but when it comes to certain foods – particularly salads – I tend to go “off the cuff” and just mix stuff up based on what I’m feeling like. I tend to just open the fridge and see what I’ve got and what speaks to me.

On this day it was the middle of fall and I just wanted to have a “wintery, fall-like” salad. I had some pomegranate seeds in my fridge that I wanted to use up somehow and Mike had just bought some feta cheese at the store because “it spoke to him”. So in my brain these two were a match made in food heaven. So with a few more ingredients I found around the house I somehow made this little concoction and it’s been a winner ever since!

First things first:

Wash and dry your lettuce
Mix up the dressing
Toast your almonds

Ingredients:

2 heads of lettuce – I like to use romaine but you can use cos lettuce or any lettuce you like to eat
250g of pomegranate seeds
200g of feta cheese
1 cup flaked almonds – roasted
Cucumber – about a 10cm chunk or 150g
1 apple – we usually have pink lady but use whatever you like to it. Something that’s relatively sweet and not too tart.

Dressing:

1/2 cup good quality olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp honey
Squeeze of lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Mix your dressing ingredients until they become uniform (the honey will help bind it all together)

Toast your almonds on a dry pan for about 5min – you should stir frequently so that they all get toasted evenly. You’ll know they’re done when they start to look beautifully golden and you can really smell them

- Cut and wash your lettuce
- Chop your cucumber, apple and feta cheese into small cubes

Note: I don’t like to peel my cucumber or apple but you’re more than welcome to do so if you like!

Mix all your salad ingredients except your almonds – save these for the end

When you’re ready to serve, pour the dressing over the salad, mix until everything is coated and sprinkle your toasted almonds on top

And that’s it! Just a simple salad that takes no time at all to put together but is super satisfying and different to your everyday “lettuce, tomato, cucumber” mixtures. I’ve really enjoyed having it this fall / winter season but you can have it all year round!

Top tips:

If you’re not the biggest fan of balsamic vinegar or feel like it’s too tangy you can swap it for balsamic glaze instead – it’s a much thicker consistency and it’s pretty much like caramelised balsamic vinegar. I don’t think you’d need the bit of honey if you were using the glaze instead.
You can get all the salad ingredients ready, toast your almonds and mix your dressing and just leave it at that until you’re ready to serve. I like to mix it all in a big bowl and then serve directly from there but you could also mix the salad ingredients and then add the dressing and almonds directly onto each plate (this is also a good option if you’re meal prepping and want to have this salad more than one day).
Most of the time we have this as a side salad when having steak or fish but you can also have it just as a main dish! It’s actually fairly filling and this recipe makes a good amount. I’d say as a main it’ll serve 4 people happily but as a side this amount will probably be good for 6-8 people.

I really hope you give it a try and that you enjoy it as much as my husband has! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and whether you’ve tinkered with it – have you changed anything? Have you found any other ingredients that you think go really well in here? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

As always, thanks for reading and see you on my next post!

Category: Sides

Roasted butternut squash

Mike’s favorite salad

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