I sometimes write about meals I've made with week-old vegetables. It's time for me to come clean. Sometimes they're even older than that. I have a personal rule that I think of as the "Little House on the Prairie Rule." If I can remember (or imagine) Laura Ingalls Wilder or her sister Mary fetching a piece of food from the root cellar in the winter, I figure it's probably okay to let it age awhile before I cook it.
Earlier this week, it was time to break out the butternut squash I bought in early September. (I won't say how early in September. I have to preserve SOME dignity, folks!) I bought it to make soup, but I made a lot of soup in September. In October, I've just been tired, and I've been nuking spaghetti squash and eating Jack-in-the-Box salad instead. (More on nuking spaghetti squash later. It's great.) I was finally feeling better, and up to the challenge of cutting up squash. Maybe aging helps, because it actually wasn't all that hard to cut. Here's the squash before I prepared it. It has a little character from being on my counter for, um, awhile:
I cut it open, and it seemed a little dry but mostly okay.
To roast:
I cut it in 1" cubes, put them on foil on a baking sheet, sprayed with cooking spray, and roasted at 450 for 25 minutes.
Then I whisked up a quick mustard sauce:
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
And drizzled it over the top. I love mustard with anything sweet.
It was not dry or tough or rotten tasting. In fact, it was very good. So eat old squash without (too much) fear, faithful readers!