When I came home from Paris yesterday, Fall was here, loud and clear…
As much as I miss Paris and OSGMOM and sis, there is something very comforting about being home and back on Canadian soil.
When I heard that we were expecting guests for dinner tonight (my brother in law Steve and his fiancée Joanne <—newly engaged!), I decided a Fall-like dinner was in order.
Oh how I missed my kitchen.
Baking. Cooking. Creating. Experimenting.
EATING MY DELICIOUS FOOD! I’m pretty sure I am going to eat myself into a food coma this week in all the excitement.
This huge CSA organic Butternut squash was the main feature…
It was a big one- about 4 pounds!
Maple Butternut Squash & Apple Casserole
Inspired by Kitchen Parade.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 pounds butternut squash, washed, peeled, chopped into 1” cubes
- 3 tbsp Earth Balance
- 1 tsp curry powder (I used Arvinda’s Garam masala)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 3 small apples, cored and chopped into cubes
- 3.5-4 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2-3 cups cooked Brown basmati rice
- 3-4 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp Sucanat or brown sugar, optional
Directions: Preheat oven to 375F. Wash squash and place in microwave on high for 3 minutes to soften. In a medium sized pot, cook the brown rice. While the rice is cooking, peel and chop approx. 1.5 pounds of butternut squash. Place into a large bowl. Add in pumpkin seeds and stir again. In a small bowl mix the melted Earth Balance, curry powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup. Add sauce to butternut squash in the large bowl. Mix well. Pour into a large casserole dish and cover with tin foil. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 375F. While baking, core and chop apples. In a small bowl mix 2 tbsp of maple syrup and 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar. Add chopped apples and mix well. After 20 minutes, remove squash from oven and scoop on the apple mixture. Stir in the cooked brown rice. Cover with tin foil and bake another 10 minutes. Uncover the dish, stir the mixture, and sprinkle with Sucanat or brown sugar. Place into oven for another 30 minutes uncovered, stirring every 10 minutes until squash is fully cooked. Just before serving, drizzle with another tbsp of maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Adjust seasonings if necessary and enjoy!
Butternut cheese cubes? ;)
The sauce.
I actually ended up changing the sauce significantly in the end. I doubled the quantity and I brought out the cinnamon and maple more! It was much better after the modifications. The recipe above reflects all my changes, don’t you worry.
CSA Macintosh apples! Just little guys.
The apples in this casserole were so good. Leave the skin on for extra nutrients and better texture.
and bake!
(This picture was taken before I added in the Pumpkin seeds- they were an after thought and I strongly suggest using them!)
Oh yeaaaaaa. This rocked my socks.
It screams FALL….cinnamon…maple…spice…squash…pumpkin seeds…Oh my.
I paired it with a strawberry, coconut, and Power House Glonola spinach salad.
Along with my Better than Bottled Balsamic Vinaigrette! It was lovely.
The dining area:
We had to move this shelf down from our bedroom (I will be showing you why soon, it is part of the surprise I came home to!), so I decided to put it in the kitchen and add my Crazy Dish Lady plates & bowls. ;) It won’t be here forever, but it’s fine for now.
I am off to check on the exciting things going on upstairs. Here is a hint…
Ahhh!
I’ve been reading your blog for about a month now and I love it! I thoroughly enjoyed living vicariously through you in Paris ;-) That butternut squash casserole sounds amazing. I’m definitely making it this week – thanks!
I love those floors! How exciting! I’m not a big fan of home improvement stuff only because I hate having dust everywhere, but sometimes its worth it!
I loved your Paris photos but I’m really glad to see your recipes again :)
More home reno’s and they look aweeesome! Hardwood!!! And the recipe looks wonderfully fall-ish and delish! Definitely one to be trying very soon :) Welcome home!!
Angela, I herby command you to not post anymore yummy recipes until our kitchen is finally done being renovated and I have bench space and a sink!! :) This looks SO good!!
haha uh oh that is a sentence worse than death!
You would be going crazy!! :) Well, we have a stove – but the bathroom is a temporary place for washing up and I think I might have clogged the sink in my attempts to not eat out . . . ooh er! However I have an excuse to use the Whole Foods salad bar :)
haha! Oh man I feel your pain. You can come over and I will cook for you, how does that sound? ;)
Don’t tempt me – I’ll take you up on it! Especially after those vegan tarts . . and I’m not even vegan!! :)
haha sure, they are in the fridge. The banana ganache one is gone though!
I no longer have a microwave. Do you think it is possible to soften the squash in the oven?
Softening the squash is not necessary…it just makes it a bit easier to cut. You can certainly do it without :)
Isn’t it so nice to come home? As amazing as your vacation must have been, I’m sure you missed home!
And oh wow on the hardwood! Is your husband installing it himself? That’s so great! And what a beautiful color for the wood! You’re going to love it!! :)
yes he is!
This dinner looks delicious! My mom brought home some squash today (what a coincidence :) ..I may have to take over the kitchen tonight and try this out!
That casserole yummy! Now I know what to have for dinner tomorrow!
I also love your butter rice recipe–best way to eat rice ever.
I’ve got the casserole in the oven—yes!! I am so excited to try it. It smells so wonderful!
I made this last night. I used toasted almonds instead of pumpkin seeds (that’s what I had on hand). The crunchy texture of a nut or seed is very important. Very nice dish. thx!
I made this last night and it was fantastic! Thanks for the great recipe!
Mine is in the oven and my whole house smells amazing. Can’t wait to try it!
Mmmm I made this casserole last night and also tried your amazing dressing on some spinach. Both parts of the meal were simply divine and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers! This is my very favorite casserole ever! It tastes like Fall in your mouth. =) Thanks for sharing it!
I just wanted to let you know I made the casserole last night and it was fabulous! There is plenty of leftovers and I look forward to eating again this week! SO GOOD! Thanks so much for sharing such wonderful recipes. Being a new vegan it helps out a LOT!
This was absolutely delicious and definitely one of my favourites since becoming vegan!!! I plan on serving with Thanksgiving dinner this weekend. Would it be possible to prepare a day in advance? Could I make it a day in advance and then simply reheat it in the oven?
I made this last night for my family and it turned out phenomenal! It was so easy to make, too! Thanks so much for posting :)
Just made this casserole, so delicious and dessert like! I added some golden raisins and it was so yummy! Thanks also for all of your awe inspiring recipes!
Tried this tonight with just a few tweaks. Had run out of the Basmati so used brown rice and had some wild rice already cooked just screaming from the freezer to go into this dish. Added a few more pumpkin seeds too. Loved by all… I was even thinking of having it for breakfast…
I love your blog and I’m in the process of going through your recipes. This one ended up a little sweet for me (and I did omit the sugar). It tasted a bit like breakfast, but as you said, it was a very autumn-y recipe full of warmth and spices. I think I might add less cinnamon, up the garam masala, and maybe add some sauteed onions next time in addition to cutting the amount of maple syrup. Delicious though!
Hi Angela, I made this casserole yesterday (with a few slight modifications) and featured it on my latest blog post. Check out jameepalmer.tumblr.com to see how it went (here’s a hint–delicious!) Thank you for posting this recipe, it was exactly what I needed!