I love honey. Like, I really love honey, a maybe-I’ll-stop-after-3-spoonful’s-straight-from-the-jar kind of love. It’s light sweetness is perfect for sweet and savory foods which make it a chef’s best friend. Here are a few of my favorite dishes with honey in them. Hopefully you’ll find something you like enough to make for your honey(aren’t I a hoot?).
Vegged-Out Quinoa
Roasted Squash With Caramelized Onions and Craisins
Hot Honey Asian Chicken Marinade
Honey Butter Blondies
Speaking of honey…
It’s the 2nd ingredient and only sweetener in Perfect Foods Bars, and there’s still 2 more days to enter the giveaway, so go do so if you haven’t!
If I could have dinner catered by Whole Foods every night, I would. There’s something so fun about going to the salad bar and picking out what you want to eat from so many options. Or at least it’s fun until they weigh it for you and tell you how much you eat and you stop wondering why your jacket’s a little snug.
Last time I was there, I had this roasted squash and onion casserole that made me go back and buy all the ingredients to make my own. It was mind-blowing, and now this recipe is, too. It’s deliciously sweet and could get the pickiest eater to eat their veggies.
Roasted Squash With Caramelized Onions And Craisins
Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.
If you haven’t already, dice the squash and onion into bite-sized pieces.
Combine the onion and squash in a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and sea salt. Toss all the ingredients together.
Lay the vegetables out on a baking tray and bake for 90 minutes
Add in the agave and craisins and mix the all the ingredients together. Drain any excess liquid and serve hot.
I truly forgot how much I loved caramelized onions until making this, which was gone in a flash. My breath probably still smells from them and it was entirely worth it. I’ve never been a fan of dried fruit in savory dishes but the strong, tart sweetness works really well here. It might be too soon to be planning Thanksgiving dinner, but if I were I’d add this to the list.
Even though Winter is ending, I still love eating any squash I can my hands on. They aren’t exactly Spring or Summer fare, but neither are the temperatures, so as long as it’s cold I’m going to figure out how to eat them in new, seasonal ways. Honey and olive oil are a natural pair for any dressing, but it turns out they work together well in this cooked recipe, too. The squash came out sweet and slightly fruity; if I closed my eyes I could almost imagine it weren’t 30 degrees outside.
Honey-Olive Oil Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
- 1 butternut squash, halved and deseeded
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Roast the squash by itself for an hour until soft and tender.
Remove the squash from the oven and poke holes in the flesh. Pour on 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil and honey on each side of the squash. Put it back in the oven and cook for another 30 minutes.
Pour off the excess liquid and serve hot with a pinch of salt on top.
I was impressed with how strong the flavors of honey and olive oil were even after cooking; they make the squash taste more Summery and less earthy, so it was a nice depart from plain butternut squash. And because it was olive oil and not butter, it felt light.
We had plenty of side dishes at our Thanksgiving table this year. Aren’t they the best part? I love sweet potatoes, but sadly they didn’t make the cut this year. We all eat enough of those regularly. Instead, we made this acorn squash recipe for something equally delicious. This is something I make whenever I have an acorn squash around; the sweet maple syrup pairs perfectly with some heat from the curry powder. Even though it might not be a “traditional” Holiday side, it’s surely one to please.
Maple-Curry Acorn Squash
Ingedients(Makes 4 servings)
- 2 medium acorn squashes, cut into 1/6ths or 1/8ths
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Indian curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
Add all of the ingredients into a large ziploc bag and toss around to coat. Once the squash is covered, lay each piece out individually on the tray and bake for 50-55 minutes, until the squash is tender. Serve hot.
Not only is it flavorful, but it’s simple, too! And the maple syrup-curry glaze that forms during cooking is warm and comforting. This is one of those dishes that will have everybody eating their vegetables.
It amazed me that Rachael Ray has made an empire with 30 Minute Meals, mostly because 30 minute meals are all I eat and they don’t seem so special. My little secret is—save roasting a chicken or potatoes where all you have to do is put them in the oven and wait—I cook a total of 5 meals that take longer than 30 minutes(we’re excluding brownies and all other desserts from this; some things are worth waiting for).
Especially during the week, I don’t have time for elaborate meals; I want something delicious and want it fast. I’ve been eating my weight recently in pumpkin quinoa. It’s really easy to throw quinoa in the rice cooker and forget about it for 15 minutes while it cooks. Here I use that time to sauté some beef and bok choy; on other days I’ve added leftover chicken right into the rice cooker and made my whole meal in there.
The other pumpkin dish I can’t get enough of is autumn stuffed acorn squash.
This one even got a “That smells good” from whomever happened to be around the kitchen while I was cooking. I must admit—anything with sautéed onions and peppers does smell amazing. And it was fast to whip up, too! You can vary the spices and seasonings to change the flavor so it doesn’t feel like eating the same dish(I used chili powder and cumin instead of maple syrup and rosemary this time around).
So no, I definitely don’t think balanced and flavorful meals have to be long and elaborate. In fact, the less equipment I have to dirty to make it, the better. And one of these days I might even eat something without pumpkin in it(but don’t hold your breath).
You could call this a light bulb moment recipe.
I really love starchy vegetables almost as much as I love chocolate, and that says a lot. They’re warm and comforting and everything you could want on a plate.
The squash has been excellent at the farmers’ market this Fall; I’ve been roasting it so much, I’ve been thinking of any which way to eat it otherwise.
And that’s when it hit me: Butternut squash home fries.
I started by roasting the squash to get it tender, and finishing it off in some fat and seasoning over a low burner. It was perfectly tender with a bit of a crust. The secret to any good home fries is time, so I left plenty for the pan-frying.
Butternut Squash Home Fries
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1/4 cup butter, separated
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 sprig of rosemary
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and roast the butternut squash for 45 minutes or until tender before starting. Warm a pan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and the diced onion. Once the pan has come to temperature, add in the squash. Toss every couple of minutes for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the salt, pepper, rosemary, and remaining butter and continue to toss for 10 more minutes or until the moisture is gone and the home fries have begun to char.
Usually you want to treat food delicately and keep it tender and fresh—not so with home fries. The best home fries I’ve had at restaurants look like they’ve been battered and beat and have often been cooking for near an hour. That’s how they develop such rich flavors that intermingle.
Going back to “just” roasted squash is going to be hard.
