It seemed a little strange not to watch football this past weekend since it’s the off week before the big game. My hometown team, the Carolina Panthers, have been a serious fixture in our house. M knows it’s game day on Sundays and dresses in her Panthers jersey as soon as she wakes up. The kids don’t really get to see most of the games — they’re either napping or in bed at night — but I love her enthusiasm. She adores Cam Newton or “Camy.” (That’s whose jersey she has. And not a pink one, thank you. She wears a regular black-and-blue jersey.) Their preschool is really into it too. M and J have been having Panther pride days on Fridays to support the team ahead of the weekend games.
And it’s obviously worked. My little ones have pulled us into the Superbowl and I’m seriously so excited. M is having a party in her class — which is probably why she’s so psyched that we’re going to the “Supergoal” as she keeps calling it. Less football during the off week means a little more time for cooking at least. I’ve been testing and tasting and having a ball in the kitchen lately. So much yumminess! If only I could eat more meals every day to be able to make all the food I want to share with you all. (And if you’re not signed up for my free e-newsletter, go do that now. I will wait. And psst, you even get a free e-cookbook of easy weeknight dinners as a thank you!) Alas, I will have to take it one dish at a time. Starting with this one…
Winter squash and peas
Roasted, mashed butternut squash is so tender, so soft, and so melt-in-your-mouth delicious when you’ve also got the butter, Greek yogurt and onion flavors mixed in. Serious flavor bomb. And then it’s topped with buttery peas and it just keeps getting shoveled into my mouth. I love that the peas add such bright green color and also a little pop of freshness to contrast the creamy winter squash. J is my sweet potato man and my pea lover, so he was a happy little camper with this dish. M was intrigued by the winter squash but not so much the peas. Kid, they are covered in butter. Why aren’t you gobbling them down? OK, I was not a huge pea lover when I was little either. Takes time for some of us, maybe. This recipe is adapted from an old church holiday cookbook I picked up at a used bookstore in Asheville, N.C. I had the best time browsing in there. Just the smell of old books makes me feel so calm and happy.
I like how this winter squash dish could certainly be festive enough for a holiday table but it’s also really simple to prepare. You could even sub some frozen pureed winter squash (like I use in my butternut squash brown rice) and just warm and season it up according to the recipe below. I prefer roasting the squash here, but I won’t tell if you want to take that shortcut - it would make this pretty much a 10-minute recipe. Whatever it takes to get dinner on the table sometimes, am I right? 😉 So let’s enjoy ALL the winter squash while we’ve got them. And go Panthers! XO, Kathryn
