Fall Dinner with Butternut Squash

Today was a butternut squash attempt. I bought some of the pre-cubed butternut squash on a whim at Fairway yesterday. Shopping early in the morning is never a good idea since I end up buying random or unnecessary items that I have no intention of cooking!


But, this recipe ended up coming out really great! Whitney was planning to order dinner but tried the dish and liked it so much she had it for dinner as well. The spices in the recipe does end up being pretty intense, so if you do not like things spicy, I would recommend reducing the measurements significantly. I already modified the measurements from the blog linked below since I felt that the recipe called for too many spices. If needed, reduce them even further!


A few ingredients were excluded since I didn't have them and didn't want to buy them. I was a little worried because I know butternut squash usually takes almost an hour to cook in the oven, but adding it to the pan with all of the ingredients worked out well and it did cook pretty quick. I'm not sure why the blog (linked at the bottom) said 10 minutes, because I'd estimate about 25 or 30 min for the squash to cook and become soft. Once cooked it was really nice and soft. I've also never cooked quinoa with other things in a pan but it also came out really delicious; the quinoa really absorbed all the flavors and seasoning of the dish. One thing to keep in mind, if you like your quinoa more on the chewy side, I'd recommend adding it into the dish towards the end, instead of with the rest of the ingredients. I found that since the squash took about 25-30 minutes to cook, the quinoa ended up being on the soft side. 

Moroccan Butternut Squash, Chickpea and Quinoa Tagine

What you need:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 2 1/2 cup vegetable broth and/or water
• 1/2 can (19 ounce) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon agave
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup olives, coarsely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces (pre-bought and cut is the simplest!)
• 
  
• What to do:

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the quinoa, broth, chickpeas, honey, raisins, olives, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
5. Add the butternut squash and continue to simmer, covered, until tender, about 25-30 minutes. Add more water or broth as needed if squash is still hard. 
6. Remove from heat once squash is soft and quinoa has formed spiral ring around each grain. 

Instruction and Inspiration credited to the following blog: http://www.closetcooking.com/2011/04/moroccan-butternut-squash-and-chickpea.html