Monday, September 3, 2012

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!

15 comments:

  1. Looks really good...and the granola definitely makes it interesting!

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  2. My butternuts are looking good in the garden, this recipe has been saved for when they move into the house :-) Thanks have a grate week Diane

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  3. I love savory and sweet together, this looks so tasty!!

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  4. Such an unusual recipe but it sure sounds wonderful.

    If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC entry: Fried Green Tomatoes.

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

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  5. Mmm, that looks so good! I love roasted butternut squash, so I definitely need to try this. Great choice, Peggy!

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  6. What a lovely dish! North Afican flavors are so warming, too.

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  7. This sounds great - I love the addition of the granola. I make a savory granola and I bet it would be perfect with this.

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  8. This sounds delicious! I'm a huge couscous fan, and love the idea of adding granola (or pecans) for a crunch factor. Awesome SRC pick :-)

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  9. Thanks for the wonderful Peach Ice Cream recipe! I had A LOT of fun being assigned to your blog.

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  10. This looks so good - the blend of squash and curry sounds just perfect now that fall is just around the corner. Love the idea of using granola for crunch!

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  11. This delicious always spicy means my kind of dish Peggy.

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  12. I've been so absent that I didn't even know you'd switched your blog! Congrats on the wedding, you look gorgeous :-) And this dish sounds amazing. The granola is an awesome touch.

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  13. This looks really good. I like the idea of the couscous more than the Quinoa.

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  14. Hi there. This week's Food on Friday is all about chillies and other spicy stuff. So it would be great if you linked this in. This is the link . Have a good week.

    PS I am following you now. If you like Carole's Chatter it would be great if you followed me back.

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  15. Good morning! I wanted to let you know that I featured this on my "What I Bookmarked This Week" post this weekend. Stop by and see!

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