Vegetarian roasted butternut squash medley/ chipotle pumpkin

Raclex · November 2011

Vegetarian roasted butternut squash medley / chipotle pumpkin seed pesto

This renders 4 servings so you can keep for lunch or supper the next day:

BUTTERNUT SQUASH
- one and a half cups of butternut squash, diced

- one half of a cup of red onion, diced

- one third of a cup of celery, diced

- 1 tsp garlic, chopped

- 1 tbsp of tomato paste

- 1 can of red kidney beans (540 ml), drained and rinsed

- 1 cup vegetable stock

- 2 tbsp of olive oil

PESTO
- one half of a cup of raw pumpkin seeds

- 4 tbsp parsley, chopped

- 2 tbsp of cilantro, chopped

- 3 tbsp of olive oil

- 1 chipotle pepper (I use one from a small jar that I but at the grocery store).

OTHERS
- one quarter of a lemon

- 1 cup basmati rice, plain

- 3-4 stalks of cilantro for decoration

PREPARATION
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in medium sized pot and brown butternut squash until golden and soft (salt and pepper to taste). Add 1 more tbsp of olive oil along with the onion, celery and garlic. Cook until soft (approx. 5-6 minutes). Add vegetable stock, tomato paste and beans and simmer until liquid is almost completely absorbed.

Roast pumpkin seeds and add to food processor along with the parsley, cilantro, chipotle pepper and 3 tbsp of olive oil and chop until desired texture.

Prepare 1 cup of rice (recipe calls for basmati, but surely you can modify with any other rice if you prefer).

Once rice is done, serve in bowl and add butternut squash mixture on top, along with a small amount of pesto and stalks of cilantro. Just before serving, squeeze in a little bit of lemon juice to tasting. We add a lot more cilantro simply because we love it!

You can really adjust this recipe to taste. More heat in the pesto, more cilantro, less oil, more butternut squash, etc….Really, it's pretty fool proof! Also, you can soak your own beans if you do not want to buy canned. I love this and so does my husband! Hope you enjoy it just as much as we do! I do not however have the nutritional info such as calories, sodium, etc. But it's not too hard to break-down.