Honey Curry Squash

I saw this recipe on Ken's blog and my eyes lit up. Anything with the word "curry" in it will do that to me. ;) Anyway, Ken got the recipe from the November issue of the Cooking Light magazine. His recipe calls for 1/2 an acorn squash, but since I didn't know what the heck I was going to do with the rest of the squash, I went ahead and cooked the whole thing. Which meant almost doubling the baking time he recommended (I did 30 mins). Which meant I ended up overbaking them a little, but I tend to like my veggies a bit overcooked anyway so they were fine by me. Another snag I ran into was that my 6" chef's knife was apparently not quite large enough for easy cutting of the squash (I'm talking about my Henckels knife too, not the cheap Target one!). Seriously, I was worried about incurring a senseless cooking injury while attempting to cut the squash. Just imagine the headline: Idiot Amateur Cook Stabs Herself in the Eye while Carving Squash. Yikes. Anyway, I just saw a 7" Santoku knife on clearance (and ordered it, of course) so maybe that will help, but someday I think a cleaver would be really awesome. Yeah, petite little me and a huge cleaver. Of course, this was all before discovering this tip from About.com on microwaving the squash for 2 minutes before carving. Hmm...will have to try that next time. Anyway, this dish came out super well and makes a fabulous side dish. And the best part is that it's extremely easy to make. Thanks, Ken!

And without further adieu, here's the recipe according to how I made it:

HONEY CURRY SQUASH

Ingredients:

• 1 acorn squash, cubed, seeds removed
• 1-1/2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 oz (1/8 cup) golden raisins
• 3 tbsp honey
• curry powder, to taste
• cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500°F.
2. Toss squash cubes with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Cover dish and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tender.
4. Toss remaining ingredients and serve.
5. Optional: Sprinkle a little curry powder on top before serving.

The dish was tasty, but I wish my picture had turned out as awesome as Ken's!

Links:
http://kencooks.blogspot.com/2008/11/honey-curry-squash.html