Winter Squash- Sweet and Savory

Every fall, I look forward to winter squash. Acorn squash, butternut squash and pumpkin are our favorites. Acorn squash with apples, butternut squash mac and cheese, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin crunch…I could go on and on!

Today, I want to share two favorite recipes with you using winter squash-one savory and one sweet. I hope you will like them as much as our family does.

Rice with Butternut Squash

*I adapted this recipe from one that I’ve had for years. I am not even sure where I found it. LOL The original recipe calls to bake it in the oven and top it with parmesan. This is our favorite savory squash recipe. Other than this recipe, we usually eat our winter squash topped with butter and brown sugar…YUM!!!

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash (about 1.5 lbs)
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage (I actually don’t use this…mostly because I didn’t have any the first time I made it and we liked it just as I made it.)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup uncooked Arborio or other short-grain rice
1/4 cup dry white wine (I’ve used chicken broth instead but it’s better with the wine)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Place squash on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until tender; cool.

Peel squash; cut in half lengthwise. Discard seeds and membranes; cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 6 minutes. Add garlic; saute 2 minutes. Add rice; saute 1 minute.

Stir in squash, broth, water, sage, wine, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

*I’ve tried quite a few different pumpkin bread recipes and this one always turns out moist and delicious. But in all actuality, it’s not really the one that I make most of the time (because I rarely have fresh ginger and oranges on hand.) It’s definitely a recipe I have to pre plan for and remember to buy those ingredients. This recipe came from a magazine but I didn’t write down which one…oops! I think it might have been from Family Fun but don’t hold me to that!

Ingredients:
Bread:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup pure pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tsp grated orange peel

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-1 ½ TBS milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp grated orange peel

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and baking powder in a bowl.

2. Beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy (a couple of minutes). Add pumpkin, eggs, ginger, 2 tsp orange peel and beat at medium speed until well-blended. (It might look curdled but that’s ok!)

3. Slowly beat in flour mixture at low speed until just combined. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake for about 60 minutes or until edges pull away slightly from the pan and the center springs back when lightly touched. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before removing loaf from the pan to cool completely.

5. Whisk glaze ingredients together. Pour glaze into a small plastic bag and cut off a small corner. Drizzle glaze over bread. Let stand until glaze is set. (Warning-little fingers are tempted to catch the drips from the glaze! LOL)

And I have to include this photo because my sweet hubby had the idea to do this and positioned the fork himself. :)


I would love to hear if you try either of these recipes and what you think. Happy eating!!!