Roasted Butternut Squash with Sauteed Lentils

What did I find on Pinterest this week?  I found The Sprouted Kitchen, and the recipe for Sauteed Beluga Lentils + Butternut Squash.  Jackpot!  We got butternut squash in our CSA last week, and I was looking for something different.  I didn't make it exactly according to the recipe, though I admit the recipe there looks a LOT prettier than what I came up with.  But, I had green lentils on hand, and fresh farm yellow onion...  So, I made some adjustments based on what I had on-hand.  I also made it for half the size, because it's just the two of us here...  So, here's what turned into delicious!

Ingredients
2 c Butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 Tbsp curry powder
1/4 Tbsp oregano
1/2 Tbsp brown sugar (I used Sugar Twin, a substitute that turned out to work.)
salt & pepper, to taste

1 c cooked green lentils, drained
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp dried basil
4 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 small yellow onion
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
Grated parmesan/romano, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450F.  Combine the cubed squash, olive oil, oregano, curry powder, and salt & pepper in a bowl and mix to coat the squash evenly.  Spread in a single layer, with as much space as possible, on a shallow baking dish.  Roast on the top rack for approximately 30 minutes, or until the edges get brown and crispy.

While the squash is cooking, place the olive oil and minced garlic in a pan over medium heat.  Stir together and allow the garlic to crisp up in the hot oil.  Add the lentils, basil, parsley, and yellow onion and stir to allow even coverage of oil and herbs to the lentils.  Continue to stir occasionally, and saute about 10 minutes, or until the lentils are heated through.  Turn off the heat, but continue to leave them in the warm pan until the squash is finished roasting.


Remove the squash from the oven and set aside.  Take the lentils from the pan and place them into a bowl.  Add the apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard.  Stir.  Place the squash chunks on top, and then add some grated parmesan/romano on top of the lentil mixture.  Serve and enjoy!  Serves 4.

It's delicious.  I can't tell you how amazingly full of great flavor this was.  Mark loved it, even though he came into the kitchen while I was cooking it and said "What is that?" in reference to both the lentils and the squash.  The recipe says you can do this with ANY squash.  I happen to have another in the fridge, so I think I might go get another variety of lentils and try again with new lentils and new squash.  If it was this amazing with what I had on hand?  YUM.

I'm already looking forward to leftovers.