Roasted Delicata Squash Recipe

If you see all types of fall squashes at the grocery store, but are intimidated by preparing them, I’m here to take the mystery out of roasting delicata squash, at least.

Delicata squash is one of the easiest fall squashes to turn into a side dish, because it’s easy to cut, the skin is edible (no peeling), and the sweet, mellow flavor pairs well with a variety of entrees.

To go above and beyond most roasted delicata squash recipes, this one has a no-cook, two-ingredient glaze that transforms the humble squash into something you’d find at an upscale restaurant.

What is Delicata Squash?

Delicata squash, which is also sometimes known as sweet potato squash, is a winter squash with a creamy texture and sweet, nutty flavor.

It has thin, edible skin, which sets it apart from many other winter squash varieties. It’s easy to prepare because you don’t have to peel it!

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Get ready for the Best Thanksgiving Salad

For me, Thanksgiving dinner usually isn’t complete without a salad, and I’ve made this same really good Thanksgiving green salad recipe year after year. 

This salad for Thanksgiving is a combination of sweet and savory flavors using seasonal ingredients, and it’s easy to prep a lot of it in advance. Simply toss it together right before dinner!

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Remember 2016, when we were spiralizing everything? Or was that just me? I bought a spiralizer and for at least a year, I was making “noodles” out of every vegetable I could (even pickled veggies for grilled pork banh mi).

But since then, the spiralizer has collected dust, and now when a veggie noodle craving strikes, I’ll often just buy a box of butternut squash spaghetti at the grocery store, as it is widely available and so much easier than spiralizing myself.

But, if I’m not making butternut squash soup with goat cheese, and decide I do want to make my own noodles, the large size of a butternut squash makes it ideal to get nice long strands of “spaghetti.”

This makes it an awesome healthful alternative to pasta, although a decadent creamy salmon pasta will always have it’s place in my heart.

Whether you buy it or spiralize it yourself, this butternut squash noodles with garlic and lemon recipe is my favorite, simple way to prepare it.

These noodles are delightful as a main course, but also great alongside Greek chicken meatballs, black bean meatballs or a grilling flat iron steak.

“The garlic lemon butternut squash recipe was wonderful!! Just made it tonight & have sent it on to three people.  Thank you so much for your delightful cooking!”

—Gerry Ann

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These Roasted Acorn Squash Slices are the perfect side dish

I’ve always believed that sometimes, the simplest dishes are not only the most flavorful, but the most beautiful as well. Just like my honey roasted carrots and balsamic green beans, today’s recipe is the epitome of that sentiment.

These roasted acorn squash slices on their own would be the perfect addition to a Thanksgiving salad, or all dressed up with parsley and pomegranate and added as a side dish to your Thanksgiving recipes binder (I’m not the only one with one, right?).

I especially love the sweetness of this dish paired with Cajun turkey and chorizo stuffing. And like my mini Hasselback potatoes, this dish may LOOK pretty fancy, but couldn’t be simpler to execute.

This roasted acorn squash recipe is also the perfect side dish for any dinner this fall. I particularly love it paired with Instant Pot short ribs or salmon with my bourbon glaze recipe for salmon.

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If there’s one thing in my kitchen that I kind of, sort of regret buying, it’s my very expensive, very fancy blender.

To be fair, I didn’t really buy it out of pocket, but used Williams-Sonoma gift cards that I had received for many birthdays and Christmases to purchase it. But still, it was a big purchase, and I’m not sure I use it enough for it to have been worth it.

Aside from the occasional lemon smoothie or blended lemon margarita, my fancy blender sadly doesn’t get a lot of love most of the year.

With one exception. Every fall, without fail, I make some sort of blended squash soup. While I like butternut squash noodles, roasted acorn squash slices for my famous Thanksgiving salad, and roasted delicata squash, for soup, I love sweet dumpling squash.

If you’re not familiar with this variety, this post will explain what sweet dumpling squash is, how to cook it, and why Sweet Dumpling Squash Soup is the best kind of squash soup.

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It’s kind of a big day around here, because this is the first Instant Pot recipe I’ve shared on this blog! I actually bought an Instant Pot this past spring, because a client requested some freelance recipe development using one.

I borrowed an Instant Pot cookbook from the library and made a bunch of recipes to learn how to use the appliance (including Instant Pot short ribs and Instant Pot sweet and sour chicken), then completed the freelance project.

Then, I kind of tucked the pot in my office and forgot about it all summer.

Until now, because this Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup with Goat Cheese is on the scene! While I love a long simmered crockpot soup and Old Fashioned Ham and Bean Soup on my stovetop, the depth of flavor of a pressured cooked soup just can’t be beat.

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When it comes to clean-out-the-fridge meals, usually, that’s my husband’s territory. His calling in life is opening up the fridge and all the cabinets, finding a handful of the most random odds and ends, and turning it into a meal so terrific that nobody would know he didn’t plan it.

Me? I usually like to have a solid meal plan for the week, with my dinner ideas all mapped out in advance. But sometimes, like when you really ARE trying to clean out the fridge before a vacation, you gotta do what you gotta do. These Summer Salmon Bowls were my very own clean-out-the-fridge creation, and the results were delicious.

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So, I think it’s time to have our annual heart-to-heart again. Just hear me out, OK?

I don’t like pumpkin.

It’s considered sacrilegious in the food blogger community, but I’m willing to admit the truth. It’s just not a flavor that appeals to me. I made a few pumpkin recipes in the early days of this blog to try to fit in with the cool kids, but the truth was, my heart just wasn’t in it.  (more…)

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Through my partnership with Milk Means More, I had a chance to interview a local farmer last month as part of the Meet #MIFarmFamilies campaign. I was able to have a nice chat with Gertie van den Goor, a farmer who moved with her husband and three children from the Netherlands to Marlette, Michigan in 1999 and established Goma Dairy Farm, LLC. Gertie describes her farm, where they milk 2800 Holstein cows, as a modern, clean dairy that is proud of producing a safe and nutritious product.

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Sometimes I hear voices in my head when I’m cooking.

Well, one particular voice. Chef Shawn, one of my culinary school instructors. I hear him yelling “That’s free flavor, chef! You’re not going to throw that away, ARE YOU?” More tips on all the ways to recognize free flavor in my “What I Learned In Culinary School, Part 3” post, but today, I’m focusing on swiss chard. I knew I wanted to use chard leaves in this autumn rice salad, because I love their slightly bitter, earthy flavor, especially when paired with sweet things like pomegranate seeds and dried cranberries.  (more…)

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