I know it’s Wednesday, but I am going to write about Monday’s dinner. Mondays suck. It is known. One way to make Mondays more bearable is to prepare a yummy dinner. And that’s what I did this past Monday.

Roasted butternut squash

N. brought home this butternut squash the other day. What we usually do with them is turn them into delicious soup with a bit of curry and maybe some sweet potatoes and apples. Now with Loulou however, I was way too exhausted to battle with the squash in order to peel and cut it. Therefore I decided to roast it. I have attempted that before, but every time some bits were harder than others. This time I decided to give it all the time in the world.

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Salt

Instructions

• Wash the squash and cut a part big enough that will allow you to reach inside and scoop out the seeds.
• Brush the squash with the olive oil.
• Sprinkle with salt.
• Roast at 250 C for 1 hour 15 minutes. This is the key. Don’t rush. And there is no need to cover it either. It is ok if the edges become brown. It means that the flesh is getting caramelized nicely. Trust me on this one.
• Enjoy!

Mushroom spaghetti with vegan white sauce

The other dish of the day was this simple yet uber-tasty spaghetti dish. We had set our fridge accidentally on high, which led the mushrooms to freeze. I was pretty sure that they would become mushy if left to thaw and then get refrigerated again, so I decided to use all of them and make that sauce.

Ingredients

• Spaghetti. We consume around 250 grams between the two of us (that’s when we don’t eat like pigs).
• 3 cups chopped up button mushrooms or other mushrooms of your choice
• 1 big onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon dry thyme
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or other non-dairy milk of your choice
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Instructions

• Start boiling your pasta water.
• Chop up finely the onion and garlic.
• In a deep pan or wok saute the onion and garlic with the olive oil. Add a bit more, if you feel it’s needed.
• Add the mushrooms and keep saute-ing. You can put the lid on as well, to speed things up.
• Add the flour and brown it. You might want to lower the heat for this one.
• Add the non-dairy milk and stir constantly. Your sauce will thicken. You can also add the milk first and sprinkle the flour while stirring, if you are worried that you will burn the flour.
• Add the thyme and simmer for 2 more minutes.
• Boil your pasta.
• Add the pasta into the deep pan or wok and mix well.
• Enjoy!

I made again home-made pasta sauce this week and as I am writing, I can smell the sweet potatoes roasting in the oven. The weather here is just awful today, hence the wintery foods. I really hope it gets better soon.

P.S.: Keep your eyes open for a second post really soon!