When I woke up tonight, I knew that I wanted to make sous vide salmon (straight from the freezer) and sautéed spinach but I wasn’t sure what my second veggie side would be. I spied the lonely acorn squash that’s been languishing on my counter for over a month, and decided to try to roast it off. However, roasting it the conventional way (400F in the oven) would take about 45 minutes (not including prep time). Eff that. How about nuking the prepared squash and then finishing it off in the oven?
First I preheated my oven to 400 F. Then, I prepped my acorn squash by cutting off both ends, de-seeding it, and peeling the skin with my trusty vegetable peeler (it’s much easier to slice a squash once the skin is off). Then, I diced it up into uniform cubes put it in my CorningWare (which can go directly from microwave to oven to dishwasher)…
…and tossed it with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. I covered it with a lid and nuked it for 2 minutes x3. Every couple of minutes, when my microwave dinged, I stirred and checked the squash for softness.
Once the squash was tender, I popped it right into the regular oven and let it roast for 15-20 minutes, checking and stirring every 8 minutes or so.
It wasn’t as carmelized as I normally like it, but this method was a lot easier and quicker than doing it the conventional way. I drizzled the finished squash with some aged balsamic when I plated it.
