This side dish has a twist…

a twist of Lime Juice.

Where I live it’s cold outside. Most days are still above zero, but I’m more of a summer person and don’t do very well eating cold vegetables in winter time. As a result, I have been making a lot of roasted squash and root vegetables this fall and winter. This is one of my new favourite dishes. I first tasted it at Whole Foods Market‘s hot food bar. It’s not everyday that all ingredients will be on my acceptable list. I think I have left out one or two spices from the original, the following is my version. It tastes equally good hot or cold. And really good the next day for sure!

Ingredients:

• 1 Organic Butternut Squash
• 1 Organic Acorn Squash
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Himalayan Salt
• 1/4 – 1/2 Cup Chopped Fresh Italian Parsley
• Fresh Lime Juice Squeezed from half or from all of one lime, (depending on preference).

Preparation: 

• Wash Squashes.
• Cut stem and bottom knot from squash, discard.
• Cut Squash length-wise into halves.
• Remove seeds and strings, discard.
• Placing cut side down, cut squashes into inch thick slices and cut away tough outer skins – as shown below.

Place Cut Squash pieces in a mixing bowl. Splash in:

• 1TBSP. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a light sprinkling of Himalayan Salt
• Stir with a wooden spoon.

• Arrange on a cookie sheet
• Place into 350 degree preheated oven. Or go with whatever oven temperature works best for roasting. I use Parchment Paper. (below)

This next part is the time consuming part.

• I set my oven timer for 30 minutes and let the oven do its work, checking the squash periodically.
• Usually, at the 30 minute mark, I add another 20 minutes AND drop the heat to 300 degrees, or lower depending on how the squash looks.
• Depending on how the squash are coming along I either take them out and turn each piece over or I let it continue baking longer.
• Once each piece is turned I usually bake the squash for another 30 minutes 
• AND lower the oven temperature to 275 degrees
• Again, it all depends on how they look. I like them to develop a little caramelized look on the edges…not burnt nor dried out.

Here’s how my batch looked after approximately 90 minutes. In hind sight, I should have doubled my batch and had two cookie sheets going.

At the time of writing this, there is none left. We ate the last of the left overs tonight.

After they have cooled, slide them into a mixing bowl. I pick up my parchment paper and allow them to slide into the bowl.

• Add 1/4  to 1/2 Cup of chopped Fresh Italian Parsley
• Squeeze the juice from half of one Lime. (You can always add more later if it’s not enough).
• Mix gently. Carefully to not squash your squash!

I find that the oil and Salt that the Squash bakes in is sufficient and there is no need to add extra.

Now, doesn’t this look like a measly amount for all the time spent in the kitchen? In total it equalled about 2 Cups! For this reason, I try to make a double batch. Luckily, my kids haven’t tried it yet and don’t know what they’re missing. Believe me, I’m not encouraging them to try this one, this one is ALL MINE. 🙂

Let me know if you give it a try. ENJOY!

Oh! And I used my iPhone and the Instagram App to take all these pictures, while I was preparing the rest of our dinner.