Secret Recipe Club: Spicy & Sweet Squash Bowl

It's Secret Recipe Club reveal day!  It's basically the Secret Santa of the food blog world.  It's always fun to discover a new blog and peruse their recipe collection!

I immediately fell in love with my blog assignment this month - The Cookin' Chemist.  Tessa is a pharmacist by day, foodie by night!  I can relate to her in a way because my original career path was to become a pharmacist... but we all know how that panned out.  But anyway, I've always loved the science behind food more than anything, so I have a feeling Tessa and I have quite a bit in common!  And plus, our husbands are our main test subjects for our dishes =)

There's plenty to love about Tessa's dishes.  You'll find anything from Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies to a Whole Grain Artesian Free-Form Loaf.  But because we've been trying to eat healthier around these parts, I saw this Spicy & Sweet Squash Bowl and knew that I'd found my choice!  I only adapted a couple of things - instead of quinoa, I used couscous.  And I had brought home some granola from school, so I used that as my crunch factor instead of some pecans.

Ingredients:
Adapted from The Cookin' Chemist

1 cup couscous
1 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 medium to large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
salt, to taste
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh spinach, roughly torn
1/4 cup crunchy granola

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Coat the squash with olive oil, white sugar, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon curry powder, and salt to taste. Roast until fork tender, about 25-35 minutes depending on how large you cut the squash cubes.

Place the couscous in a medium saucepan with the broth, 2 teaspoons curry, cayenne pepper, and brown sugar. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes until the liquid is completely absorbed. Let sit for a few minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Mix with spinach, cilantro, and butternut squash pieces.

Divide the couscous mixture between plates/bowls. Top with the crunchy granola and dig on in!

This was so tasty!  Everything I expected and then some!  Spicy.  Sweet.  Perfect =)

Thanks for letting me stalk your blog Tessa!

This post is also featured on Danielle's blog Mostly Food & Crafts!