butternut squash

One of my favorite Fall ingredients is butternut squash. It's incredibly versatile and lends an autumnal, pumpkin-ish flavor to everything from salad to soup to macaroni and cheese. Unlike the seasonal produce of Summer, many cold-weather vegetables can not be enjoyed raw. However, once you know the simple steps to roasting butternut squash you can put it to use in just about anything.

The roasted chunks can be tossed with arugula and white beans. Or, blitz the squash in a food processor and use the puree to make lasagna. Not only are there unlimited ways to cook with roasted squash, there are also plenty of ways to season it. Fresh sage, thyme, or rosemary add an earthiness to the squash, while honey or maple syrup caramelizes the flesh. Doesn't experimenting with different flavorings and preparations sound like fun? To get started, check out my basic recipe for roasted squash.

Here's a new twist on hummus from FitSugar reader Sprint2theTable. She posted her recipe for butternut squash hummus in the FitSugar Snack Attack community group.

A light, squash-based hummus perfect for dipping veggies or using as a spread.

See the recipe after the break!

I'm always looking for a way to cook with butternut squash. It's one of those vegetables that has me stumped. Luckily, CheesePlease provided us with a very interesting take on macaroni and cheese, but with a butternut twist.

Just like the boxed mac-and-cheese stuff, but healthier! Butternut squash is roasted and combined with cashews, turmeric, and other nutritious ingredients. Brown rice pasta is used in place of regular pasta. It is everything you want when it's cold and you are trying to be good — comforting, nutritious, and delicious!

For this healthy, heartwarming recipe, visit her blog and make sure you upload your inventive ideas in our Kitchen Goddess group.

If you're like me and love to make pizza at home, with tomatoes and bell peppers out of season right now, one sometimes has to get a little more clever when it comes to Winter pizzas. If you have already tried all of those, experiment with butternut squash as an unexpected pizza topping.

Of course, you will have to preroast the squash; I find it easiest to just roast it the night before but you could also pick up a bag of frozen butternut squash and precook it in a saute pan.

Once the squash is roasted, assembling the pizza is cinch. Drizzle the finished pizza with a touch of walnut oil, which adds even more flavor and richness. Serve it with arugula salad for an easy dinner, or slice it into smaller pizzas for an simple vegetarian appetizer. Skip delivery and make your own pizza pie by reading more for the recipe.

Change things up this holiday with a Thanksgiving dish from the queen of easy, delicious, and quick meals, Rachael Ray! On a recent episode of the Rachael Ray Show, Rachael unveiled her new favorite recipe, bacon and butternut squash risotto.

Risotto is an inexpensive and delicious meal for entertaining. It's sounds fancy and everyone loves it — including kids! — but it's just rice. This quick recipe only takes 20 to 25 minutes to prepare and works well as an entrée or main dish, so consider adding it to your Thanksgiving menu. Keep reading for the delicious, kid-friendly Thanksgiving recipe!

FitSugar reader For the Love of Fiber has a healthy recipe to warm you up on a cold day. She shares it with us in our Healthy Recipe group in the Fit Community.

This soup offers up a lot of flexibility, ingredient-wise. Since buttercup squash might not be readily available at your local store or farmer’s market, it can be swapped out for butternut squash or even pumpkin.

If you haven’t jumped on the coconut oil train yet: 1. What are waiting for? and 2. Extra virgin olive oil or butter can be used in lieu of it. Finally, your broth can be either chicken or vegetable. Obviously, if you’re going for a vegetarian soup, choose the latter. I used both because of what I had on hand: remaining chicken broth from a previous recipe, and a mind-blowing vegetable broth fresh off the stove that was made from vegetable scraps (carrot and sweet potato peelings, garlic and onion ends, herb stems, celery stalks, asparagus pieces, and bell pepper ribs) that would have otherwise been composted. It was a fantastic idea I stumbled upon from the kitchn. And because this girl hates to waste, I roasted up the seeds Sweet ‘N Salty Pumpkin-style, and used them to garnish the soup. So green, it’s scary. Oh, and it’s gluten-free. Hi-Yooo!

See the recipe after the break!