Roasted Butternut Squash & Brussel Sprouts

I've been on a mission to consume the contents of the deep freeze.  I have all sorts of quirky things that I have purchased over the last year such as a leg of lamb, andouille sausage, ground pork... stuff that I purchased for a certain recipe that I found online and then discovered that I was missing an ingredient or two so it was shipped to the island of lost food... the deep freeze.  But these items will be abandoned no more!  I shall resurrect them from their frozen waste land and use them to create delicious and healthy dinners!!   Huzzah!  <fist in the air>

So I had these two packages of frozen vegetables that were just dying to be paired up.  I went in search of some recipe that combined them in a healthy side-dishy sort of way... and found pretty much nothing.  Plenty of butter-laid scrumptious looking dishes, but nothing that I felt I could serve my family without impacting their cholesterol levels.  Thus my recipe was born.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and enjoy experimenting with different seasoning combinations (next time I plan to get a little crazy and add some rosemary or perhaps a sliced onion).

Now you could go to the store and buy a large, fresh butternut squash and the spend the next 4-5 hours carefully peeling, slicing and cubing.  And while you are in the produce aisle you could bag up some adorable little brussel sprouts all fresh and new and ready to go home with you.  Or you could wander over to the freezer aisle because its 5:30pm and you don't have time for all that nonsense and grab a bag of frozen diced butternut squash and family-sized brussel sprouts.

Throw them in the microwave together on defrost for about 7 minutes (still in their individual bags).  After that, take out the butternut squash and defrost the brussel sprouts by themselves for another 2-3 minutes.  You want the butternut squash to still be fairly firm and partially frozen otherwise it will get pretty mushy during the roasting process.

While all that defrosting is happening, you can preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare the rest of the ingredients plus a large jelly roll pan.  The next items on the list are probably the most used in my kitchen:  Extra virgin olive oil, fresh minced garlic, and extra virgin coconut oil.  Now the coconut oil is optional, you could just stick with regular ol' olive oil if you don't have any coconut oil or if you aren't inclined to use it.  I have been meaning to write an ode to coconut oil in another blog post and one of these days I will get around to it.  Its magical and amazing and changing my life.  Oh and grab the sea salt grinder and pepper shaker (not pictured cause I got excited about the life-changing coconut oil and forgot to put them in the picture).

With your veggies all nice and defrosted, open the butternut squash package and add to a large mixing bowl.  Open the brussel sprout package and then take a knife to slice the brussel sprouts in half length-wise as you add them to the bowl.  They should still be pretty cold and almost a bit frozen so they are easier to slice.  Once they are all halved, you can stir in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil (it melts at 76 degrees so you may have to warm it up in the microwave), and about 2 tablespoons of minced garlic or whatever you prefer.  I never really measure garlic, I just throw some heaping spoonfuls in because you can never have too much garlic.  Ever.  Give that mixture a good gentle stir to coat everything without ripping apart the brussel sprouts.  They are cute and delicate and once they are halved, they are more inclined to fall apart.  Use about a teaspoon at olive oil to coat the bottom of the jelly roll pan with your very clean fingers (its good for your skin anyway, rub it into your cuticles afterward!) and then spread the veggie mixture evenly over the pan.  You could also use aluminum foil to cover the pan, but its a snap to clean up, so why bother?  Season with sea salt and black pepper to your hearts desire and then place in the oven.

Set the timer for 15 minutes and wait for the aroma of garlic.  Its coming and its heavenly.  After 15 minutes, remove the pan and use a wide spatula/flipper/whatever is handy to turn everything over.  Place it back in the oven and set the timer for another 15 minutes.  Brace yourself for opening that oven door to take it out when its done, you might pass out from garlic overload.

Here's the recipe:

Roasted Butternut Squash & Brussel Sprouts
1 package of frozen butternut squash cubed or diced
1 package of brussel sprouts, family size
2 tbsps garlic, minced
2 tbsps olive oil or 1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp coconut oil
Sea salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tsp olive oil (for pan)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Defrost butternut squash for 5-7 minutes and brussel sprouts for 7-10 minutes.  
Add butternut squash to large mixing bowl.
Slice brussel sprouts lengthwise and add to large mixing bowl.
Stir in olive oil, melted coconut oil (optional) and garlic.
Spread mixture into a large jelly roll pan and season with sea salt and pepper.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, remove and turn.  Bake for another 15 minutes until brussel sprouts are starting turn slightly golden brown around the edges.

Serves: 4
Per Serving according to calculations by MyFitnessPal:
Calories - 169
Carbs - 20
Fat - 7
Protein - 400-600 (depending on how much you use)
Sugar - 6