Curried Butternut Squash Surprise

It's Fall! Yes, here in sunny South Florida, the weather has changed from 100* to 80*, its getting dark at 7:30pm instead of 9:00pm, and the spicy smell of cinnamon is in the air....well, at my house, at least! I LOVE this time of year and wish that the weather would cool off a bit more!

This meal certainly put me in the "cold weather" mood. Its easy, and although it does cook for about an hour in the oven, you can do other things while it cooks!

Curried Butternut Squash Surprise:
2 small or 1 large butternut squash (about 2 pounds total)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
3 tablespoons (more more) unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons (or more) dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375˚. Cut and peel squash; chop into 1- to 2-inch pieces. Place in a large bowl, salt and pepper to taste, and add remaining ingredients except coconut and cranberries; toss well to coat. Pour into a large glass casserole dish and bake for about an hour, stirring once or twice. Squash should be soft.
2. Top with toasted coconut and dried cranberries, put back into over for 5-10 minutes, and then remove.

I served this over quinoa and lightly steamed baby broccoli on the side.

Here is another version of this recipe. Same ingredients and cooking instructions as above, except this time I used a different type of squash (Heirloom Squash), added the brussel sprouts to the squash in the oven about half way through, and served it over this awesome "6-types of rice mix" I get in bulk at WF.