SOLSTICE SQUASH SENSATION An Elegant, Simple, and Memorable Dish for a Holiday Meal
	DECEMBER 2005

by Kristie Knoll
Photos by Russell Byrne

Someone once said that he had a simple test for healthy eating: “If the food tastes good spit it out.” I’ve been on a mission for years to demonstrate how untrue that principle is.

This month’s recipe is for a squash dish that might provide a tasty alternative to the candied, caramelized, and dripping-in-fat dishes that serve to stretch the waistline and shrink the life expectancy of some holiday diners.

Ingredients
The recipe calls for seven simple, easily-obtained items:

• Butternut squash
• Yellow onion
• Fuji apple
• 1/4 cup raisins
• Cinnamon
• Maple syrup
• Olive oil

Recipe
There are 16 easy steps to your squash creation:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Cut onion into quarters; cut quarters into thin slices.
3. Dice an apple into 1/4 inch pieces.
4. Put onion, apple, and raisins into a bowl.
5. Sprinkle cinnamon over ingredients — to your taste.
6. Shake cinnamon down into other ingredients; toss together.
7. Add a tablespoon of maple syrup.
8. Add a tablespoon of olive oil.
9. Mix well.
10. Cut squash in half; scoop out seeds.
11. Hollow out squash halves a bit to create additional space for the filling.
12. Spoon filling into squash halves.
13. Pack it down tightly into hollowed-out cavity and mound it up.
14. Place squash in an uncovered dish or pan.
15. Place dish on lower shelf to discourage filling from burning.
16. Cook until squash is tender. (1 to 1.5 hours, depending upon your oven.)
You can enjoy the Solstice Squash Sensation with guilt-free abandon: the sweet spiciness of the apples, raisins, cinnamon and maple syrup in concert with the rich flavor of the squash will leave you feeling contented and satisfied without compromising your healthy lifestyle or your waistline.
Note, however, that if friends and family think the holidays are about rich, decadent foods, don’t burst their bubble by telling them this dish is actually good for them!

Notes
The cinnamon and maple syrup provide a festive, “holiday” flavor to the squash. If you would like something less holiday-ish, substitute curry for the cinnamon and honey for the maple syrup. (If you opt for this variation, I suggest you try Frontier Seasonings’ Indian Curry. It has an exceptional taste unrivaled by other curry blends.)

You can also bake squash in a covered dish with about 1/8 inch of water in the bottom of the dish. When squash is almost tender, remove cover to allow filling to “toast” to a nice, golden brown.

You can clean pulp from squash seeds, toss lightly with oil, and toast them in the oven for a tasty snack to nibble on. Or dry roast them for a somewhat healthier snack. Or add Indian Curry, ground cumin, or Eden Organic Tamari Soy Sauce when tossing with the oil to add a little more flavor “interest” to the equation.