Lots of squash

BY JULIE SEYLER

I walked over to the Farmer’s Market at Union Square with the goal of making an autumn soup, specifically a butternut squash soup with apples and leeks. I had been inspired by a recipe that arrived in my email from the website My New Roots.

The market was laden with apples and all sorts of squash, (which turns out to be a fruit), but leeks were not to be had. I switched culinary gears. Rather than making a spoonable food I would make something forkable.

I washed the squash, pricked it with a fork and rubbed it with cinnamon because this spice is supposed to have a beneficial effect on blood glucose levels. Roasting is the best solution for conquering this tough old bird of a fruit that masquerades as a vegetable. It becomes a peelable, malleable, cuttable piece of putty and in the process metamorphosizes into a sexy, savory side dish exploding with nutritional benefits.

I whisked together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, more cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and hot pepper flakes and doused my squash. It was divine and I felt so nobly healthy as I chowed down with a glass of red wine, which as we all know, also packs a positive nutritional wallop!

Two days later, the craving for squash hit again. This time I scattered cinnamon dusted apples and pecans around the squash and roasted the whole kit and caboodle at 450 degrees. Thirty minutes later I removed the apples and pecans; (they are caramelized and crisped way before the squash). I tossed all of the ingredients together. One bite confirmed that this ould be my contribution to Thursday’s feast.