BSI: Acorn Squash (Roasted Acorn Squash with Walnuts)

Come back tomorrow for a birthday give away!

Blogger Secret Ingredient (BSI) this week is being hosted by Megan of MegaNerdRuns and she chose acorn squash!

I love acorn squash and have utilized it as a vessel for stuffing other foods into, mainly. Otherwise I cut it in half and bake, or cut it in slices and roast.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Corn Pudding
Couscous Stuffed Acorn Squash
Stuffed Acorn Squash
Acorn Squash Soup

Yesterday Pioneer Woman posted Sweet-Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash Wedges and I put them on the menu for dinner - my way of course!

First time ingredient alert! I used two new types of acorn squash I'd never even seen before! Gold acorn (orange) and white acorn (yellow).

2 small acorn squash, cut into 8ths
olive oil
garlic powder
onion powder
salt
pepper
~2 Tbsp brown sugar
~1/4 cup maple syrup
~1/2 cup walnuts

First, I cut the acorn squash into 8ths, and spread into a casserole baking dish. Next, I poured a little olive oil over them and rubbed it around so they were all coated.

In a small bowl I mixed together the remaining ingredients for a savory-sweet topping. I spooned this around the top of the squash wedges in the baking dish. Into a 350° oven for approximately an hour and out they came really tender, moist, and caramelized. (Watch the topping, because mine started to brown pretty rapidly at the end!)

There was a savory bite of the garlic and onion powder in the back, but a nice sweetness from the brown sugar and maple syrup. The nuts were absolutely delicious and became almost like a nut brittle topping.

Johnny's friend Goran was over for dinner and while I started to tediously peel the squash away from the skin because I thought it'd be tough, he went for it and tried it with the skin. I'm happy to report it was tender and completely edible!

I kept switching back and forth, taking a bite from the white, and a bite from the gold, seeing if I could distinguish a difference. There really was not a difference in taste, only a small difference in the texture, because the white acorn was larger, so it was a bit juicier.

Served alongside Alisa's cauliflower risotto and pan fried cube steaks. Both posts will be up in a few days!