National Grain Free Day: Butternut Squash Topped With Vegan Granola

Happy Grain Free Day! We love all of our grain-free customers and wanted to feature a recipe that shows it is not difficult to be grain-free. The below recipe is grain-free and vegan. Try it out and let us know what you think in the comments!

Butternut squash is one of the easiest winter vegetables to cook and it’s so good that you barely need any ingredients. It also helps that it’s a family favorite in my house including my one-year-old son (who has yet to pop any teeth). It’s a yummy way to get those veggies in and the kids won’t even realize what they’re eating! This recipe is super simple. Basically, you just need olive oil, a few spices and some of our vegan Grainless Granola to sprinkle on top. The vegan granola adds a crunch that is so needed over this soft dish and also adds some protein and fiber.

The hardest part of this recipe is actually preparing the squash. Depending on the size of your squash, it can be pretty difficult to cut it in half. Make sure you wash and dry the squash thoroughly, you don’t want it to be slippery. Then, with a large knife, use all of the strength you have to slice into the top part of the squash first, cutting into it lengthwise. I find it helpful to slice off the stem as well as the bottom of the squash before cutting it because it makes it a little easier to slice through.

Once you have your squash cut, there aren’t many steps! Just brush with oil, sprinkle a few spices and you can throw it in the oven. Oven recipes are my favorite this time of year when the days are short, makes it easy to set it and forget it! I make sure to set a time to go off about five minutes before I think it will be done. Once a fork can easily go through the squash, it’s done! I hope you enjoy this dish and it becomes a favorite in your house.

 

What you’ll need:

Cutting board

Large knife

Oven

Oven safe dish (I like to use my glass Pyrex, but you can also line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup)

Silicone basting brush

 

Ingredients:

1 Organic butternut squash

1 tbsp Organic olive oil

Black pepper

Salt

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Vegan granola topping: Ocean Ranch Organic Original Grainless Granola

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Using a large knife, cut your washed and dried squash in half lengthwise
3. Scoop out the seeds and strings. You can roast the seeds if you’d like!
4. Position your squash cut side up. With your basting brush, brush the olive oil all over the open squash. No need to do the skin as you will cut that off later.
5. Sprinkle black pepper, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg as desired. I will usually do a small pinch of seasoning on each half. I think the more the better, but if you’d rather have it more plain, sprinkle a little less. You can even add brown sugar if you’d like it to caramelize in the oven 🙂
6. Place squash cut side down in the baking dish. I usually put a little oil in my glass dish so it’s a little easier to clean, but you can always put down foil as well.
7. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, checking with a fork as stated above. Once the fork moves through the squash easily, it’s done!
8. Remove from oven and let cool. Scoop out the flesh of the squash or cut off the skin and cut long ways in strips (see photos)
9. Sprinkle more cinnamon, nutmeg, & Ocean Ranch Organic Original Grainless Granola on top. Enjoy!