Roasted Autumn Vegetables

Every season I get so excited by the prospect of fresh seasonal vegetables.  Fall has always been my favorite season.  I love the crispness of the air, the smell of smoke in the air, the sweetness of apple cider.  The thing I have been missing is an enthusiasm for fall vegetables.  That has been gradually changing, and this year I found myself as enthusiastic for the colors of autumn as for the taste of various squashes.

I brought home this loot from the farmer's market last Thursday. Clockwise from the top, yellow button squash, kale (for pizza!), delicata squash, zucchini, apple, acorn squash, and butternut squash.  The only thing I haven't had experience cooking before is the delicata squash.  They seller at the market said you can cook it like butternut squash but it doesn't even need brown sugar.  I have never thought that butternut squash needed brown sugar anyway, so I was a bit reticent that it might be too sweet, but I gave it a try anyway.

I roasted the delicata squash, the zucchini, some onion, garlic, green beans, and cherry tomatoes in the oven all together.  I put in the squashes, the onion, and the garlic first, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, and roasted them about 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven before adding the green beans, and tomatoes. I then roasted the rest about 25 minutes until the squash was tender.

 I did something I had never done with roasted vegetables before.  When I opened up the delicata squash, it had seeds, like a pumpkin or butternut squash.  I thought they would be great roasted, so I drizzled them with olive oil and seasoned them with salt and garlic powder.  They roasted just like other winter squash seeds.  I then used them as a garnish when I served the roasted vegetable over quinoa.  It was a success, adding texture to the dish.