Roasted Butternut Squash and Spicy Chickpeas Recipe
Roasted Butternut Squash and Spicy Chickpeas
Roasted butternut squash with spicy chickpeas... a perfect 'after run' meal. I found this recipe while trolling the Food and Wine Website... have you done this yet? You have to! Who knew they had so many fantastic recipes? And a great search mechanism... love it.
I'm running a 15k this weekend. Yeah, in like four days. And the thought hit me today (after a weekend of NOT doing my long run and instead enjoying libations, tons of food, sweets and carbs) that I'm probably not ready for such an event. AND... you can't cram for a 15k... oh, and I'm running the Bellingham half marathon in a couple weeks and I'm probably not ready for that either.
So today, after getting up and deciding to blog about my gnocci instead of run, I knew I had to go this evening. I HAD to! Actually, I decided this morning that I didn't have enough time to really dedicate to the run so instead I'd blog and spend a good chunk of dedicated time on running in the afternoon; no distractions. It worked.
I went and it was good... actually I 'basically' ran the race course, minus a mile or so, due to my fantastical 'short cuts'. Hey, I figured I have to save something for the day of. I was just glad that I got through the run (and no, I will not be using the shortcuts during the actual race :)). I did it in pretty good time too... 1 hr 11 minutes. Not too shabby for something like 8ish miles, coming from a girl who took a good two month hiatus from running...
Anyway, so after my run, two things occurred to me: 1. I totally didn't feel like cooking and 2. I was hungry! Luckily we had a ton of left overs from this weekend's festivities; one of which is this amazing chickpea and roasted butternut squash. So good, lots of vitamins, bean protein and high in the flavor department. Works for me.
And of course, as always, I did modify the recipe to what you see below. First I had to veganize it, of course, and then I added/removed some things... quite a bit of things. But thank you, Food and Wine for the inspiration!
Yield: about 12 med/lg servings
Need:
- 1 large butternut squash, seeded, peeled and cut into about 1 inch cubes
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and roasted (see below). You can also work with dry chickpeas
- Extra virgin olive oil, for roasting
- 2 Tablespoons garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper
- 4-5 green onions, chopped (white and green part)
- 1 cup Tofutti vegan sour cream
- 3-4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- Tabasco sauce, optional... only if you want more spice
Do:
Preheat oven to 375
Put butternut squash in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle garam masala on top. Toss to distribute evenly.
Transfer to a baking sheet covered with tin foil. Note: you don't have to cover, but I do. Then roast for about 45 to 1 hour, until tender.
In the same bowl you used for the squash, combine chickpeas, olive oil, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper.
Toss again, to combine then transfer to another baking sheet. Put in the oven to roast as well; these will only take 20 to 30 minutes... check them every once in a while and give them a shake so they will roast evenly.
While squash and chickpeas are roasting, combine the vegan sour cream, lemon juice, cilantro and a little more salt and pepper.
When your squash and chickpeas are tender and roasted, remove from the oven and combine in a bowl. Add to it the chopped green onions and sour cream mix. Using a spoon, fold gently to incorporate. Be gentle so you don't 'break' the butternut squash too much.
Now you get to taste it... if it's spicy enough, don't add anymore tabasco. If it needs a little more of a kick, add it. You can also add more salt and pepper at this point, if you so desire.
Serve:
This particular occassion was all about family style. The nice thing about this dish is you can serve it family style or plate it individually.
Also, it's hearty enough to be a meal or you could serve it as a side dish next to some lovely indian tofu, tempeh or another vegetable dish... get creative!
Enjoy!
Chickpeas
Butternut Squash