Roasted Balsamic Butternut Squash with Goat Cheese

I like most variety of winter squash, but Lo isn’t a big fan.  He’ll eat a squash dish if I make it (usually), but he’s not a big fan…just a good sport.  And he probably won’t eat leftovers, so I’ll be like – why have I been eating this for 5 days in a row?!  So I don’t prepare them as often as I would like.  I had a few lurking in a bag in the basement when I heard someone talking about a roasted butternut squash and goat cheese dish (theirs included faro and kale).  And it sounded amazing.  I took the two main ingredients and came up with  my own dish (which has probably been “created” by hundreds of people, because let’s face it, few recipes are invented that haven’t been done before).

I made it Sunday night even though I wasn’t even going to eat it for dinner.  I realized there wasn’t a ton of food prepped for Jenson’s lunch the next day, so I decided to make this and hoped he would actually it eat.  I separated some for him before I added the goat cheese.  I had a couple of bites that night…and I knew it was a winner.  When I was pulling out his dinner the next day, I saw that he’d eaten all of the squash that I left him for lunch, so I knew it was a winner for him too!  Yay!  I’m always so excited when I find something that he likes and that he can feed himself.  Not sure if Lo likes this or not…we’ve been eaten a random assortment of meals and he hasn’t tried it.  I was eating it last night and told him to try it and he said it smelled “weird”.  It doesn’t.  He smells weird.

The next time I was at the grocery store, I bought another squash.  I’ll be making this again soon – probably for Christmas Eve or Christmas, and/or Christmas weekend with my family – it seems like it would pair perfectly with ham.  And maybe the week after that just for kicks.  Better buy more goat cheese!

Note: for goat cheese haters, you could totally use a different type of cheese (or none), but I swear that the creamy taste of the goat cheese is p.e.r.f.e.c.t. with the flavors.  Maybe something else creamy like brie or gouda would be good too?  I decided to call it Roasted Balsamic Butternut Squash with Goat Cheese, because that’s pretty much all it is (plus onions).  You don’t even really need a recipe if you know the name of it.  I’m not even going to give you measurements because it depends on how big your squash is, and your preferences.

Roasted Balsamic Butternut Squash with Goat Cheese

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 of a large sweet onion, sliced thin
• Oil of choice (olive, canola, coconut)
• Balsamic vinegar
• Favorite spices
• Crumbled goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel the butternut squash with a veggie peeler, scoop out the seeds, and cut into bite-size cubes.  It’s not as hard as it sounds.  I didn’t half of it while holding Jenson because wanted to watch.  Or buy peeled and cubed butternut squash – no judgment.

Place squash cubes and onion in baking pan and drizzle a little oil on top – maybe 2 tablespoons.  Stir squash around to distribute the oil onto the squash.

Drizzle balsamic vinegar over squash and onions. You don’t want it pooled deeply in the bottom of the pan, but there will probably be some on the bottom.  You just want the squash to have a taste of balsamic…not to be submerged in it.  If you are a measurer, start with about 2 tablespoons and increase from there if it doesn’t look like enough.  Stir the balsamic to coat the cubes.

Add preferred seasonings.  I used 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe’s and a garlic and peppercorn spice mix that I wanted to use up.  You could make it spicy if you prefer.  Or stick to salt and pepper if you don’t know what else to do.

Place pan in oven.  Forget about the pan while you put the baby to bed and start cleaning upstairs.  Stir cubes after 20 minutes.  Stir again after another 20 minutes.  If your cubes still aren’t very browned or tender, put back in for about another 20 minutes.  I can’t really give you a timeframe, because at some point Lo took them out once I’d forgotten about them – and it will depend on how big you cut the cubes and the size of your pan.  Either way, you want the squash and onions to be a little browned and caramelized-looking.  My onions were sliced pretty thinly and got very browned, but they are so good like that.

Remove from oven, cool for 10-15 minutes.  Sprinkle on the goat cheese crumbles and gently stir.  Use as little or as much goat cheese as you prefer.  I believe I used about 2 oz. from a 4 oz. container.

Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.  It’s good at any temperature.

If you want it to look festive, sprinkle some dried cranberries or cherries on top.  The tart, sweet flavor would pair perfectly.