Are you suffering from a lingering Thanksgiving coma?  Are you currently looking at a squash that your aunt brought you over the holiday with a perplexion on how to use it.  Squash is one of those winter foods that we didn’t know what to do with during our early cooking days. Now we know there is a multitude of squash available: all that can be turned into awesome veggie meals

Recognize any of these variety of squash???

Pumpkin, Spaghetti and Carnvial Squash (bottom left to right)
Butternut, Acorn and Buttercup Squash (top left to right)

Here’s a starter recipe for the puzzling squash. This week’s Meatless Monday dish features yummy natural cranberry sauce and a winter superstar, Butternut Squash.  If you’re feeling extra lazy, which we’re guessing you still are as we noticed your Santa pajama pants, you can grab pre-cut and peeled butternut squash from the grocery store instead of machete-ing that sucker. If you’re more adventurous, cut open the squash length wise, scoop out the seeds, peel and cut into 1 inch cubes in preparation.

Cranberry Spiced Butternut Squash

Ingredients

• 2 cups butternut squash, chopped in 1 inch cubes, peeled
• 1 cup natural cranberry sauce (no jiggly cran jelly people!)
• 1/2 cup no salt sunflower seeds (no husks)
• Maple syrup to taste

If you’re feeling spicy, you could add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Vietnamese cinnamon is our favorite).

Directions

• Fill a medium sized pot with water and bring the water to a boil
• Boil squash until tender
• Drain water
• Mix all the ingredients while squash is still warm
• Add maple syrup until desired sweetness

Easy peasey butternut squash can  be transformed into other various hearty dishes. You can puree it with veggie stock and spices for a delicious savory soup, mix it with arugula and feta, or, for a sweeter treat, try roasting it with cinnamon and butter. Now put on some real clothes and go attack that squash!