One thing is certain when you join a Winter CSA; You will be getting (eating!) lots of winter squash.

Often times when you roast a squash for a dish at home you will have leftovers, sometimes LOTS of leftover, like I did last week. I had about 2 1/2 quarts roasted squash and no plan for using any. Not a problem! I really love to have cooked squash and vegetables at the ready so I can easily make vegetable forward dishes by just grabbing a few ingredients that are already cooked and throwing them together. Soup and chili are two of my go-to’s.

We had friends over this weekend and I wanted a quick snack and I really wanted something decadent and cheesy. I looked in the refrigerator and saw the pumpkin puree I made earlier and remembered this macaroni and cheese recipe.  I made that recipe and left out the sage and pasta and added some roasted poblano chilis I had in the freezer. I’ll post the recipe modifications at the end of this post.

This was good and so quick and easy because I had the roasted squash and poblanos all cooked and ready. We had leftover queso and ate it the next day with roasted potatoes, sausage and eggs for another easy delicious meal.

Another use for the extra squash is making smoothies. Squash/pumpkin smoothies feel healthier to me than fruit heavy smoothies and homemade roasted squash is soooooo much less expensive than buying fruit.

I usually double this and save the second portion for the next day.

• 1 ripe banana, frozen , if not frozen you might want to add a handful of ice cubes to the smoothie
• 1 cup squash or pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon spice like cinnamon, ginger or mix spice
• 1 cup milk of choice
• 2 pitted dates, or more, depending on how sweet you want it. optional
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, optional
• handful of nuts, optional

Throw it in a blender and let it rip. I like to top it with granola. Creamylicious.

Here is the Queso recipe with the modifications.

• 1 cup of cooked pumpkin/squash. If you don’t have any cooked pumpkin or squash here is a ‘how to’ post from a few years ago.
• salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour gluten free is fine
• 2 cups milk any kind
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded – I used cheddar
• roasted poblano chilies, optional
• squeeze of one or two limes to taste

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium cook until the butter is bubbling and it has turned golden brown.
2. Mix in the flour and let simmer until it returns to a light golden brown.
3. Add the milk and simmer until it thickens and add cheese to melt.
4. Add roasted poblanos if using.

I hope you enjoy the abundant squash we have as much as I do. Have a great week.

Mo

PS I also made a couple little pumpkin pies. Winter Luxury Pumpkins ROCK. I LOVE that they taste like pumpkin and aren’t very sweet. I think some squash are too sweet for pie, which sounds counter intuitive I know.