Monday, July 27, 2020

Roasted Squash and Zucchini



If you have a garden, or live next to someone with a garden, you probably have quite a bit of zucchini and yellow squash in your life right now. While I like a casserole as much as most people, I tend to eat lighter, especially in the summer months and I was looking for different ways to use up all that squash!

My favorite way to cook vegetables these days is to roast them in the oven. I have learned a few tricks that make it a little easier.

1. 400 degrees is perfect. Go higher than 400 and you run a very serious risk of scorching your veggies. Lower than 400, and they take too long to cook and they come out sort of, well, baked.

2. You must slather them with oil.

Generally speaking, it's best to spread them out on the baking sheet so that nothing overlaps. Except for the way I'm about to show you. Instead of dicing or slicing thick chunks, I sliced them with a vegetable peeler. It worked great. The thin slices roast much faster and it's a nice change visually, too.
I added onion and red pepper, but this is very flexible and you can certainly add your own favorites.

When they're done, you can serve them as a side dish. Or you can add whatever else you like and make them into a main course. Think nuts, grains, and cheese! Zucchini and cheese are very good friends. It's amazing how good they are together, so crumble your favorite cheese into the zucchini and enjoy. You can squeeze a little lemon on top or toss them with your favorite vinaigrette. The options are endless. And they're just as good the next day as a cold salad!

Roasted Squash and Zucchini

1 yellow squash
1 medium zucchini
1 red pepper
1/2 red onion
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a lipped baking pan with aluminum foil.

Using a vegetable peeler, "peel" the squash and zucchini into ribbons on the prepared pan. Cut the red pepper into thin slices and add to the pan. Slice the red onion as thin as you can and add to the pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables. Scatter the salt, pepper, and garlic powder over the vegetables. Toss to combine, taking care not to tear the aluminum foil. Spread out evenly in the pan.

Roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and toss to make sure everything is getting roasted. Spread evenly in the pan and roast another five minutes.

Remove from oven.

Dress with your favorite vinaigrette, sprinkle with lemon juice, or eat plain as a side dish. Or add grains, nuts, or best of all, your favorite cheese!






Ribbons!


Add red pepper and onion.


After roasting.

I added quinoa to mine.

Available now!

3 comments:

  1. Red quinoa in a red bowl, accented with lovely veggies.
    Nicely done.

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  2. I made this dish Saturday, just didn't cut the squash into ribbons! Great idea, and everyone loved it!

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