A Side of Fall

I must be on an orange food kick. That, and I still have a ton of leftovers from my trip to the farm over Labor Day weekend. The other night I roasted a beautiful butternut squash, and wanted to try something new. Since everything is obviously better with cheese, I tossed cubes of roasted squash with some goat cheese, dried cranberries, and pistachios, and fell in love with this easy fall-inspired side. It takes some time to roast the squash, but you don't need to do much else beside halving it and throwing it in the oven. You can also very easily roast it a day or two ahead of time, and make the side dish when you need it. For the first time ever(!!!!) we'll be having Thanksgiving at a restaurant, but this is exactly the type of dish I'd love to enjoy during a holiday meal. Can be served cold, warn or room temperature.

you'll need...

1 medium-large butternut squash

1/2 cup (or more) or dried cranberries

1/2 cup (or more) of crumbled goat cheese (feta would work nicely too)

1/4 of shelled pistachios

1 tablespoon of olive oil

salt and pepper to tast

to make...

De-seed, halve and roast butternut squash at 350 until tender. (Use a very sharp knife to cut it long ways, drizzle with a little olive oil and throw it into a pre-heated oven on a cookie sheet.) It should be easily pierced with a knife (about 45-60 mins, depending on size). Once cooled, carefully remove the skin with a paring knife or vegetable peeper. Cut into cubes and add to a serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Add the dried cranberries, goat cheese and pistachios and toss to mix well. Add a pinch of salt and grind of fresh pepper, if needed. Sometimes goat and feta can be a bit salty, so taste it before seasoning. I love the salty-sweet combination of the flavors...and also how pretty it is!

#butternutsquash #feta #sidedish #cranberries #pistachios #easy #healthy #glutenfree #fall