New Recipe

I am tired of the same old food rotation. One time, Alison and I actually made a list of all the dinners we know how to cook. The list was impressive; when we really put our minds to it, we recalled many meals that we had forgotten. But now the list has been lost, and our home-dining experience lately have been a bit monotonous. (Fortunately, we've also been in the habit lately of watching Seinfeld reruns while we eat -- that's livened things up somewhat!)

Until last night, when I wandered into the produce section of the local supermarket. Butternut squash was up-front and center as being relatively in-season. Orange squash, I thought. What goes with butternut squash? I dreamed up the following recipe, and it was fabulous (all amounts are approximated, as that's how I cook):

-- Top half of a butternut squash, diced in half-inch square pieces.
-- One sweet potato, diced in half-inch square pieces.
-- One half red bell pepper, diced.
-- 1 tablespoon soy sauce.
-- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, ground.
-- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
-- 1 teaspoon black pepper
-- 1 teaspoon red pepper
-- 2 cloves fresh garlic, diced.

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a 9x11 inch glass baking dish with olive oil. Dice garlic; set aside. Spread squash and potato pieces in dish. Sprinkle soy sauce over vegetables. Spread ginger, cinnamon, black and red pepper over veggies. Spread bell pepper over everything. Spread garlic pieces over entire dish. Cover dish with foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Serves 2 adults (if one of them has an above average appetite and doesn't mind stuffing oneself).

We served the dish with white rice, salad, and cheap red wine. There were so many flavors coming at us from so many directions (including the cheap wine, which I enjoyed immensely). For dessert, we microwaved some gluten-free chocolate cake that we had made a few nights earlier. On the cake we served Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

And so ended our dinner-time monotony; it was a most excellent meal, and I highly recommend it to everyone!