Roasted Butternut Squash Casserole

    Did you know that I didn't always know how to cook?. Up until I was 20 I didn't even know how to cook a piece of chicken or even a fried egg. Little did I know that at age 26 I would never have to know how to cook either of those anyway.
     So how did I learn to cook then? It was really just a survival method. I moved out on my own and couldn't afford to eat out every night, or at all for that matter. I worked in several restaurants throughout my life so I started asking the chefs for some cooking tips. 
"Pan fry the chicken on high for a couple minutes and cook in the oven to keep all the juices in" they would tell me when I admitted to my chicken being super dry. 
"add more salt" when I admitted to my soup having very little flavour. 

   I had soon befriended the chef who was responsible for creating menus at the whole foods across the street form the bar I worked at. The lovely guy would bring me over some truffle oil and fresh peppers when ever he could. He was truly a person who was passionate about food and creating recipes. I learned tons from that guy. 
In very small steps I started learning to cook and create dishes. I would have friends over to cook for them in exchange for bottles of wine. Super resourceful me :) 

And then I kinda stopped cooking for a while. work and travelling took priority and I didn't feel passionate about it at all. Last year I became a vegan, I wanted to learn more about our relationship with food and I especially didn't want to make any sacrifices on flavour. So I started cooking again and now I have this blog. 

 Developing recipes isn't all that easy. for this one I thought it would be a great idea to cook quinao in vegetable broth, because why not!?! After 30 mins of it still being hard with ultra boiling water  I realized maybe the quinoa was unable to absorb anything other than water. so I wasted a cup of quinoa, my only shallot, and a cube of vegetable broth. 
it's a learning experience really.

This recipe has tons of flavour and is a great little side or a hearty full meal. even my Brazilian carnivore husband loved it. 

I hope you enjoy 

Roasted Butternut Squash Casserole With Tahini Maple Dressing

Squash Casserole Ingredients :

1 butternut squash 

1 cup quinoa 

1 shallot 

2 cloves garlic 

1 cup chopped Kale

1 cup of vegetable stock 

1 tsp salt 

1/2 cup bread crumbs 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

Maple Tahini Dressing Ingredients :

2 tablespoon Tahini 

2 table spoon olive oil

1 tsp salt 

1 table spoon maple syrup 

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Squash Casserole Instructions : 

preheat oven to 400 degrees

put squash in oven for 30 minutes. once soft take out of oven and let it cool 

While squash is cooking put 1 cup quinoa in 1 1/2 cups of water let boil until quinoa has absorbed all the water

Put 1 Tbsp olive oil in pan and sauté minced shallot, and minced garlic for 3 minutes on medium heat. add in 1 tsp salt. 

Once squash is cooled down cut into medium sized cubes

mix cooked squash, cut up kale, shallot, garlic, and quinoa in a baking dish. 

Pour vegetable stock over top of mixture 

generously spread bread crumbs over the mixture 

bake dish in the oven for 30 minutes. 

Maple Tahini Dressing :

Mix all ingredients in  bowl 

pour over casserole once it's out of the oven.