Squashed

If you are like us, you also have a ridiculous amount of winter squash to use up. Just kidding, I don't know why or who else would be in this situation, I was just trying to relate to my readers. We milked what we could out of all those potatoes, but after making one last batch of potato soup last week, we decided to pitch them.
The squash is still good and raring to go.
This Christmas, Nate got two awesome gifts that we will both be enjoying. His parents got him a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, which comes out bi-monthly. We haven't received a new one yet, but the one his parents gave him was full of good ideas.
Like last year, my parents got him Bon Appetit magazine and they had two recipes with butternut squash that we were excited about. We tried one of them yesterday.
[With half of one squash I made butternut lasagna on Thursday. It was amazing and really great, but I didn't take any pics of it. (If you want to try it, it is a combination of this one and this one.)]
Last night I made Butternut Squash Quesadilla from BA.

These meals brought to you by the color orange.
I kicked the kitty off right after I took this picture, promise.

I learned this cooking method from my mother in law: quarter the squash (or only half, it depends on how big it is), then steam it in a steam basket. I think I let it steam for about 30-45 minutes. Then just scoop it out of the skin, quick (hands on time) and easy.
I like this method especially if you are going to puree it for soup or the lasagna. You can also peel it with a vegetable peeler and cube the squash for roasting, but I don't think that my peeler is sturdy enough for that, and I didn't want my fingers to be orange till next week. (The BA recipe called for packaged squash, psht.)

The quesadilla:
toast some tortillas using your broiler

saute an onion, add the squash, set aside

in the same pan saute black beans in hot oil; add chopped garlic and salsa; mash with a potato masher; add more salsa; add chili powder

spread the beans on one tortilla, squash on another, monterrey jack cheese on another, and leave one blank

put them in the broiler till the cheese melts

stack them like so: beans (add some cilantro), cheese, squash, blank.
I popped them back in after the were assembled to heat up, so I think that next time maybe I will skip the broiling that you do before you stack it.


It looked like this:


It is very good, fun flavors, and huge. I made two, we have leftovers.

If you want the real recipe I'll be glad to give it to you. It was in a section for quick and fresh dinners, more of which we'll be trying.

Stay tuned: blanket on commission from Aunt Mary is underway. It's really coming along. I haven't done a whole lot with it since last weekend, but I really knocked a lot of it out while Nate and I had that nasty cold last week. I was waiting to share pics until I show it to her, unless she doesn't mind seeing it on here along with my 6 other readers. Do you?