Brown sugar butternut squash, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula over quinoa

One of my favorite things about fall is the abundance of squash. I love acorn, butternut and kabocha (also known as Japanese pumpkin). During the holidays, you can assume I will make my maple syrup, brown sugar-smothered butternut squash. The other night, rather than making this as a side dish, I served it over quinoa with sun-dried tomatoes and arugula. Delicious!

Brown Sugar Butternut Squash, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Arugula over Quinoa

Ingredients:

Butternut squash

Brown sugar

Maple Syrup

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup quinoa

Sun-dried tomatoes

Arugula

Directions:

Squash: Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the insides. Cut into one-inch pieces and put on greased tin foil-covered shallow baking dish. Coat pieces of squash in maple syrup. Sprinkle pieces with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper to your liking (I prefer lots of brown sugar). Bake pieces for 25 minutes and then flip to other side. Put squash back in oven and bake another 10 to 15 minutes until soft. Take out of oven and let cool.

Quinoa: Bring two cups of water to a boil. Add in one cup of quinoa and reduce heat to low. After 12 minutes, remove quinoa from heat and let cool for five minutes. Fluff with fork.

Prepare: Scoop quinoa in a bowl and top with arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and butternut squash.