Easy Autumn Side Dish

Fall to me is all about roasting. Roasting vegetables, particularly. (My husband would say roasting in general ... I am always the one wearing multiple layers, heat on in the house, space heater blowing on my feet, and fireplace a-blazin'.)

Recently I put together this side dish and it was all sorts of amazing. The best part is, it's totally customizable with what you love to eat! This is a sweeter take on the dish, but you could easily make a savory version with a few simple swap-outs.

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HARVEST ROAST

1 lb butternut squash, cubed

1 medium baking apple, peeled, cored and cubed

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cubed squash and apple in an 8'x8' baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons water and roast uncovered, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes, or until almost cooked through. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine butter, honey, pecans, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Remove squash from oven, and pour honey mixture over squash. Stir lightly to coat. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from oven and serve.

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I wish I had a photo of it out of the oven, but just imagine the above photo with pecans and a rich, caramelized glaze coating all of the chopped fruits and veggies. So delicious. And so delicious it wasn't worth taking the extra time to go grab my camera!

My annotations:
I used a regular cookie sheet rather than the 8x8 and skipped out on the water part. I did toss everything in a drizzle of olive oil, though, because well -- I just love olive oil. This made a HUGE amount so be prepared to have leftovers. I froze our leftovers and plan on turning it into a soup with my immersion blender and some broth and/or cream when it gets chillier!

Oh, one other annotation. I hate, hate, hate cutting butternut squash. It is hard and it rolls around and I'm deathly afraid I'll chop off a thumb or sever an artery (sorry, I know I'm crazy). I watched a YouTube video before chopping it this time just for a reminder of how to be safe while cutting it. But, for what it's worth, I think buying it pre-chopped is worth every bit extra that your grocery store may charge you. :)

Happy autumn roasting!