Couscous Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
From the cookbook Pumpkins & Squashes
Makes six servings as a side dish

2 tbsp. honey
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 butternut squash (I used half a large butternut squash), peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
Couscous
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Butternut squash is one of those vegetables that always looks like so much work. Which it is.


The trick to cutting a butternut squash is to start with the ends. Slice the top and the bottom off of the squash. This makes it stable and safer to cut. Then use a peeler (the same kind you use for carrots) to take off all the skin. Cut it in half from top to bottom. Use a large spoon to remove the seeds, like you would a cantaloupe. Then lay each side on its flat side and keep cutting at it in ways that make sense until you get to 3/4-inch squares.

Take that butternut squash. You're not so intimidating anymore.

Now that the dangerous cutting is done, I'm pouring myself a glass of wine. It's Cupcake Petite Syrah. I have no idea whether petite syrah pairs well with butternut squash. I am not that fancy, but I do like fancy wine. I am also listening to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds because it is fall and I am baking hardy food.

It's also because the new Divine Fits album came out (which has Britt Daniel from Spoon and Dan Boeckner from Handsome Furs and Wolf Parade, plus drummer Sam Brown from New Bomb Turks).

Divine Fits

The Divine Fits did a cover of "Shiver," which Nick Cave did a cover of in one of his early bands. So that got me thinking about the fact that Nick Cave is one of those singers that I say I like (and I do), but that I rarely go out of my way to listen to—like Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, and like butternut squash, sort of. I love butternut squash, but I rarely cook it because it's a pain. So you get the connection? Carry on.

I stirred the squash around halfway through, so at about 30 minutes. I also cooked it longer then the recipe called for to make it extra tender, about an hour.

Cook the couscous. Follow the directions on the package. I made mine with organic vegetable broth, added a little oil and salt.

Now it's time to start dicing the other vegetables. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the honey, olive oil, juice from half a lemon, and salt and pepper. Whisk. In a large bowl, combine the couscous, vegetables and honey-olive oil concoction.

Spoon it onto a plate or bowl, then put a big serving of the roasted butternut squash on top. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm.