Easy and yummy, that’s really what we want in a home cooked meal right? Maybe to feel good in the tummy, too? :)
So I’ve had these two kabocha squash sitting on my counter long enough to make me feel just a little neglectful. To be honest, I think I felt a little intimidated by them.
Kabocha squash is actually a type of pumpkin (I’m pretty sure) and it is one of our staple starchy vegetables here on the Big Island. It’s super delicious – sweet, slightly earthy, and filling – and I think I put it off just because it’s kinda hard to cut through, but other than that it’s actually pretty easy to cook! And a lot of times I’ll ask Ryan to make the first chop.
If you can’t find kabocha, look for other types of starchy squash, such as butternut, acorn, or edible varieties of pumpkin. Even sweet potato is pretty similar.
After a quick search for new ideas on how to prepare it, I found a recipe from the Sweet Simple Vegan blog on how to roast the squash to perfection. I pretty much use that technique here, and it worked great. The main difference is the sauce pairing.
Ryan and I chose a slightly different take on one of our go-to sauces. For some reason the combo of tahini, light miso, ginger, and dijon mustard just works really well. It’s super creamy, and a little tangy, with a mild kick.
Okay let’s get to it…
Left-to-Right, Top-to-Bottom: wash, bake whole, cut in half & de-seed, slice into eighths, season, bake.
Cooking the Squash
Here is the steps for the squash:
Preheat oven for 400ºF
Wash squash well - since you’ll be eating the skin, you want to make sure you do this step!
Place the whole squash in the oven on a pan with parchment paper for 18 minutes - we do this so it will soften and make cutting it up much easier
Take squash out of oven and cut in half
Remove seeds
Cut squash into strips and season with salt and pepper
Place back in the oven for another 30 minutes, flipping halfway through cook time.
Preparing the Dressing
Place all ingredients below in a blender and blend until well incorporated.
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup tahini
1/8 cup white miso
1/2 tsp mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp diced ginger
1 tsp onion powder
Serving
When the squash is done, place on a plate and drizzle the dressing on top. We paired this with a delicious tofu recipe (coming soon!).
Suggestions / Alterations
This dish is pretty rich, so it helps to use some clever pairing to balance it. We had it with marinated pan-fried tofu, and it was a nice dinner, though Ryan and I both thought it would have been great to have something to lighten the meal up. Here are our suggestions…
Pair with steamed green veggies or a light salad as this recipe is dense and filling!
Squeeze a lemon wedge on top after dressing to brighten the flavor.
Again, feel free to try this dressing on other squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, salad, veggies, anything! It is very versatile and generally a crowd-pleaser.
If you make it, we would love to see your results or hear your feedback! Place a comment below or tag us on IG/FB @spacenlight
Thanks for visiting! <3
