Sunday, November 6, 2011

Roasted Autumn Medley

As the seasons change, so does the produce section.  The onset of cold weather means, “Goodbye” to some summertime favorites, but also, “Hello” to a new set of ingredients to play with in the kitchen.  When foraging through the store, looking for something to throw together for a family gathering, I started to ponder primal/paleo options for the upcoming Holidays.  Like every year before, there will be no shortage of creamy mashed potatoes or savory cornbread stuffing at my parents’ house.  With thoughts of integrating the menu this year (I’m not looking for a hostile takeover), I decided to try this one on the family at a dinner this weekend…
Roasted Autumn Medley

What you’ll need:
An oven preheated to 375
A 13x9 baking dish

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash
4 or 5 parsnips, peeled
2 apples (I used Red Delicious)
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup raisins
Salt
Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

The toughest part of putting this dish together was peeling the butternut squash.  Unless you’ve got the world’s most incredible peeler, use a knife.  Cut the butternut squash and apples into 1-1 ½ inch chunks.  Cut the peeled parsnips into smaller chunks, no bigger than 1 inch.  Combine the squash, apples and parsnips in a large mixing bowl and toss with salt, pepper and olive oil until lightly and evenly coated. 

Transfer the mixture into your baking dish and put it into your 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Stir the mixture around in the baking dish after 15 minutes.  At the 30 minute mark, stir the mixture once again and top it with the chopped walnuts and raisins.  Turn the oven up to 450 degrees and return your baking dish to the oven for another 10-15 minutes.  When your squash is easily skewered with a fork and your raisins have slightly plumped, your dish is done.



The apples and raisins will give the dish sweet notes while the parsnips provide a bit of spice.  I’d love to tell you if the leftovers were any good eaten cold… but there weren’t any.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Roasted Autumn Medley.

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