Roasted Butternut Squash Medley

I cooked something yesterday besides three different desserts... I thought I ought to post about that so you didn't think all I ever make from scratch is dessert.  Although it's pretty close...  I'd cook a lot more if I had a husband that appreciated it.  Jonathan has such a picky palate (like the alliteration? :-)  It's actually a title of one of the cooking blogs I follow) that he doesn't like anything more complex than a grilled chicken breast and side of rice!  Since we moved to CA I've settled into a routine of cereal for breakfast, frozen entrees for lunch, fruit & nuts for snacks and 18 different dinners that consist of a very simple protein, a very simple carb and green salad.  Even when I do find something he likes the chances of him likely it as leftovers are about 1 in 10.  Another constraint - my dinners have to only make enough for two or I have to be willing to eat the leftovers for the whole week.  I don't mind leftovers but I hate throwing out food so...

Back to the recipe, sorry for rambling...  I found this in my latest Kraft foods magazine, you know the magazine Kraft puts out with recipes using their products to sell more products.  Not that I used any of the Kraft products (I always feel a bit guilty about that...), I just used what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

4 slices Oscar Meyer bacon, chopped
3 Tbsp. Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
1 tsp. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1 butternut squash, peeled, cut int 3/4-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1/2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed (I left these out, I don't like fresh green beans)
2 red peppers, quartered (I used green, they were cheaper)
1 onion, cut into 6 wedges

Heat oven to 425 F.
Cook and stir bacon in large skillet until crisp.  Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon; reserve 2 Tbsp drippings and pour into large bowl.  Drain bacon on paper towels.
Add dressing, mustard and sugar to drippings; mix well.  Reserve 1 Tbsp dressing mixture.  Toss vegetables with remaining dressing mixture; spread onto rimmed baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake 30 min or until vegetables are tender, turning after 15 minutes.

Spoon vegetables into bowl.  Add bacon and reserved dressing mixture; mix lightly. 

I started with bacon in my beautiful cast iron skillet...  It was a no name maple flavor.  I've regretted the maple every time I've used it - it burns so easily!!

The recipe had a great tip for how to peel the squash easily.  "Pierce squash in several places with fork and microwave on high 3 minutes to soften."  It made a huge difference!  The last time I tried to peel butternut squash I resorted to a knife and just cut off the outer 1/2" because I couldn't get a vegetable peeller to do anything other than just slip off.  This time it worked easily. 

Once I had the veggies all cut up I started on the dressing.  As I mentioned earlier I didn't specifically buy Kraft ingredients for this recipe.  I had a Balsamic dressing on hand as well as dijon mustard.

A quick mix of dressing ingredients, tossing the veggies with the dressing and it was ready to go in the oven. 

After a half hour all the veggies were soft and yummy and ready to eat!

Hopefully, it will still be good reheated since Jonathan wouldn't touch this with a 10 foot pole.  And it's not really the kind of thing you'd take to work and share with your co-workers... :-)