butternut squash risotto without the risotto recipe

I made a delicious butternut squash and grain dish the other night based of this risotto recipe. I did not have the ingredients to make that but it looks amazing and someone should try it out!!

Here's what I managed: 

and it was pretty delicious!! Even better the next day with pesto chicken sausage :)

Continue for the recipe, but first some book recommendations….

book images from google 

I LOVED this book, China Mieville is amazing.  I have read quite a few of his novels: Un Lun Dun, Kraken, The City & the City, Embassytown, Railsea; I have loved them all. This one was possibly my favorite so far. It follows a woman running from her home city to a far out colony. She gets passage on a ship by getting a job as a translator for the captain who has some stops in foreign nations along the way. The ship they are sailing on gets taken over by pirates and the passengers get taken hostage to this floating city made of ships! The book is actually the second in a series, I am about to being the first, Perdido Street Station, which takes place in a crazy fantasy world full of alien type races as well as humans. The most insane part is that there are these people who get punished by the state for crimes and their bodies get grafted with things like animals and machines. Awesome read.

The Ghost Bride was a really cool book, I love reading historical fiction that takes place in places other than the United States or Northern Europe. This novel is set in Malaysia; Li Lan, the main character, a member of a respectable family, is asked to be a "ghost bride" for a young man who has recently died. This would make her a widow and entitled to benefits as a member of his wealthy family, as well as giving respect to the young man's memory. She declines, she has bigger dreams that automatic widowhood. However, when she starts being haunted by the young man's ghost, she has to travel to the spirit realm to attempt to get her life back. 

The Adjacent was cool but confusing and I don't necessarily recommend it if you're looking for something awesome. Christopher Priest wrote The Prestige, which was made into an awesome movie, and was a really clever book. The Adjacent was something about multiple universes and people reincarnated in different times - i'm still not totally sure what I read.

Station Eleven was a fun book to read! It is a post-apolcalyptic novel that bounces back between the days leading up to and right after the outbreak of a seriously deadly flu and fifteen years later. The storyline follows a young woman who is in a traveling orchestra/Shakespeare group that preforms for the disparate groups of survivors.

Now on to the FOOD!

Ingredients for Butternut Squash and Grains

Made three servings - two large supper bowls and a good portion of left overs for lunch

One large butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided1 tsp. smoked paprika, divided (but extra if you like paprika - I do)1/2 tsp salt3 garlic cloves, minced
Whatever grain you want! I made half a package of Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Blend, rice would also be yummy, or pastina, couscous, any small yummy thing.

Toppings I suggest:
Parmesan cheese
Spinach
Zucchini
Chicken Sausage
Onions
Tomatos 
Anything really! This is a forgiving recipe.

Steps
Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut up the butternut squash in bite sized pieces.  Take a baking sheet or pan and coat it with olive oil, about a tbsp was good for me. Sprinkle the squash with paprika and sea salt, I used about a half a tsp of salt and liberally covered with smoked paprika. Arrange in an even layer and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until tender and caramelized.

While the squash is baking:

Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Dice three cloves of garlic and add to pan when oil is hot. Sautee until lightly browned.

Here's where you can get creative! I then threw in a few handfuls of spinach and two large cut up zucchinis. In my lunch of leftovers I threw in some pesto chicken sausage which was deelish. Tomatoes, onions, anything would be yummy. 

As the veggies cooked, I made half a package of Harvest Grain Mix - it's an awesome mix of Israeli Style Couscous, Orzo, Baby Garbanzo beans, and red quinoa. As I said above rice, regular couscous, or the original risotto in the recipe would be great too. 

When everything was ready - mix and serve! Extra salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese rounded out the dish. 

Even Keegan who often does not like orange squashes said that the supper was delicious!!

eat well, stay warm

xoxo