for E: butternut squash salad recipe

I made this last night and my sweet friend requested the recipe, so here it is ... It's modified from a British budget cooking cookbook I'm a little enamored with.

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. In a large bowl whisk together 3 Tbsp olive oil, 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or chopped fresh chili), 2-3 minced garlic cloves, and 1 tsp dried thyme, plus dash of ground pepper.
3. Toss 2 onions, chopped in 1" pieces (I used one red and one yellow). Dump on rimmed baking sheet, and roast for 15 minutes.
4. Add to pan 1 peeled, deseeded, and chopped butternut squash; stir or toss to combine. Roast for 30 more minutes, until tender, stirring once or twice.
5. In the meantime, wash and chop 1 bunch parsley, place in bowl, and mix with 4-6 oz. crumbled feta.
6. Remove vegetables from oven and let cool on pan a bit before adding to parsley mixture. Taste and add more vinegar, salt, or pepper as desired.
7. To serve, pass with 1/2 C chopped walnuts.

I think this would also work beautifully with other forms of squash or with sweet potatoes. I thought about serving it on beds of lettuce leaves. If you left out the cheese, it would be a great vegan dish (maybe with more walnuts for the protein), or you could probably try some crumbly goat cheese. You can make this ahead of time and serve it room temp, or serve it fairly warm. (Tonight we ate cold leftovers, and they were also great.) Let me know if you try it!

two things, including a recipe for Kari

First off, issue 26 of This Joy+Ride is beautifully autumnal and features both a Chicagoan and photos of NYC.

Second, here is a recipe for last night's dinner:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Peel and chop a few pounds of winter squash into 1" pieces. (Caveat: I used acorn squash, which is a pain to peel. Butternut would be much easier. The jury is out on eating acorn squash skin, but if you were into that you could just leave it on.) Peel and chop one yellow onion (or red or white) into 1" pieces. Toss all this on a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of oil, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder (I was out of real garlic -- a few chopped cloves would be even better), and 2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary (fresh would obviously be fabulous). Bake for half an hour or so, tossing with a spatula after 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook 8 ounces of pasta (rigatoni is good, or anything bite-sized). Chop 6 ounces of feta cheese into little bits (or crumble). After draining the pasta, add the cooked vegetables and cheese--mix well.

Serve with a green salad. This makes about 4 servings. The squash takes on this buttery texture so that it's almost a sauce, and the ratio of vegetables to pasta is calculated to make a pretty healthy but hearty dish. I think it would also be lovely followed by a salad of chopped apples in a bit of plain yogurt with a dash of cinnamon and a handful of walnut pieces.

Oh, food.