Welcome to the first recipe for The Food Matters Project! Sarah and I have worked hard to make this project happen and I’m so glad we’ve finally begun. Sarah picked a gorgeous recipe to start us off—it’s vibrant, vegetarian, and strikes just the right balance between spicy and sweet—all of my favorite recipe elements in one.
By the way, The Food Matters philosophy is all about eating more plants and fewer animal products and processed foods—and the positive impact this has on our health and the environment. The project is fueled by food bloggers but everyone is welcome to cook through Mark Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook along with us! Find out more at our website, and contribute your opinions and recipe photos on our facebook page.
Back to the recipe: I hope you’ll give this one a try. Slow roasted delicata squash, basted in an addictive chipotle and honey sauce, is delightful on its own but turns into a healthy, complete meal when served on a bed of “refried” black beans and cilantro lime rice. I improvised the black bean recipe, and the rice was inspired by aptly-named Chipotle Mexican Grill, the sustainable burrito chain we all know and love.
I raced against the setting sun to photograph this recipe late Saturday afternoon. Feeling rushed, I took several shortcuts, fortunately without undesirable consequences. I used organic canned beans instead of home-cooked beans, skipped the wooden skewers for the squash, and cooked the rice in my hand-me-down rice cooker. I hardly measured ingredients and tossed saucy spoons all over my messy kitchen counters, but the end result was a smashing success.
This recipe deconstructs well. Spiced rice and beans always make a great pair, on their own or served as sides for quesadillas, enchiladas or a baked sweet potato. Dress up rice and beans with diced avocado or a few spoonfuls of salsa for an easy meal of leftovers. To my surprise, apple slaw makes a nice relish for beans and rice as well. I’m eager to roast sweet potatoes in the chipotle and honey glaze; sweet and flavorful vegetables seem to be the best base for this sauce.
Chipotle Glazed Squash with Cilantro Lime Rice and Refried Black Beans
Serves 4
Squash
- 3 delicata squash, sliced in half lengthwise, seeds scooped out, then sliced into 1/2 inch arcs.
- Additional ingredients: olive oil, canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, honey and garlic.
- Follow Mark Bittman’s recipe on 20something cupcakes, but skip the skewers.
Cilantro Lime Rice: Just mix together the following ingredients.
- 1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice, cooked (you’ll need 3 cups of water)
- 1 small lime, zest removed and juiced
- 1 small lemon, juiced
- loose 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional but highly recommended)
- salt, to taste
Refried Black Beans:
- drizzle of olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 white onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 2 cans cooked black beans, with juices
- 1/3 cup roasted red pepper, chopped (I used jarred)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions for black beans:
- In a 10″ skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add the cumin and stir for a minute.
- Pour in one can of black beans with all of its juices, then drain the other can, reserving the juices for later if necessary. Pour the remaining beans into the pan.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and simmer the beans for 7 to 10 minutes. Use a fork or the back of a wooden spoon to mash up about 1/3 of the beans. Add more of the juice if the mixture seems too dry. Add the roasted red peppers, stir, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the beans on a bed of cilantro lime rice. Top with chipotle-glazed squash. Garnish with a couple of lime wedges.
Next Monday, The Food Matters Project continues with stove-top popcorn, my favorite salty snack. I hope you’ll all join in!
40 Comments
I love this idea. The squash would make the meal so hearty and delicious. I’ve got some squash in the fridge calling my name right now…
I’ve been meaning to try delicata squash forever and guess who has had an open can of chipotle chiles in adobo for what seems like forever in her fridge? Perfect!
I really like how you just sliced the delicata squash- it looks delicious over the rice and beans. It’s dried chili pepper week at la Domestique, and I’m loving the smokey, spicy flavors here.
Yum! I love the use of delicata squash (yay for not having to peel!) Congrats on the first post and I think this project is going to be great. I can’t wait to keep cooking along!
So glad you’re on board with the project, Erin!
That sounds and looks soooo good!
Mmm such a yummy sounding squash!
This needs to get in my belly asap. I love the fact that you don’t have the take off the squash skin! I never would have guessed you could eat it. Yumm.
Honestly, I picked delicata squash because you don’t have to peel it! I’m lazy. The skin is so thin that once it’s cooked, you hardly notice it’s there! I love the green stripes on it, too.
Oh, I love the look of the delicata squash…and this is such an awesome, complete meal. So happy to be a part of this wonderful project. :)
ILOVEEEETHIS.
Delicata squash is one of my absolute favorite winter vegetables. I don’t usually glaze it, but I love the taste of chipotle – sounds like this will be making an appearance at my dining table very soon. Separately, I love that you’re doing this project. What an awesome concept and cause!
Love the way you served yours! Gonna cook up some rice and beans tonight and follow your lead!
Bah I’m still waiting for my copy to come in the mail! But this squash looks boooomb! So stoked to get cooking with everyone. Also, I can’t even make rice without a rice cooker so you probably shouldn’t feel bad about that shortcut.
I seriously can’t wait to see your interpretations of Mark Bittman’s brilliant recipes, Laura!
Beautiful and delicious!
Looks fabulous. Thanks for anither vegetarian dish!
Gorgeous! Beautiful! ANDDD Stunning!!!
so good!! i made it tonight. yum. thanks. this project is so awesome!
Love that you made this already! Amazing. Hope you’re doing well, friend. :)
I was going to the store anyways, so figured why not? Doing pretty well out here. Will I see you in Tulsa in July?
Yes! Of course! That wedding is going to be so fun. Can’t wait to see you!
GORGEOUS! so excited to be a part of the project. Thank you for putting it together with Sarah. Also looking forward to following your blog
What an awesome project. This dish looks so beautiful!
Stunning photos as always :-) I love the idea of the Food Matters project – I think it’s so important in this day and age that we think about what we are putting in our mouths, how it’s prepared and where it comes from.
Thank you, and I couldn’t agree more!
I love love love the Food Matters Project! The whole idea behind Food Matters is so near and dear to my heart, and I love this first recipe. Just beautiful!
cilantro, lime, rice, squash. perfect. so fun to see everyone’s rendition, glad to see you used delicata… cheers to a great project launch, kate!
Such a beautiful and vibrant recipe!
Squash is delicious and nutritious! I love it in every form and although I’ve never tried the delicata, I’d probably adore it too from the looks of it. Fabulous recipe!
I cannot wait to try this; like tomorrow for lunch! Delicata squash is one of my favorite foods, but I never get too creative with it (being that it’s fabulous all by itself). Still, I love the sound of chipotle honey glaze. And with beans! Oh, I’m totally down!
I hadn’t heard of delicata squash before and assumed it wasn’t grown in my region, but a visit to a local farmstand showed me otherwise! I bought two of the beautiful looking things and will be making this tonight!
This was fantastic! Thanks for the recipes!
What an amazing, well-rounded meal! I made this recipe tonight and it was perfect for me and my husband– plus lunches tomorrow. I think the delicatas should probably cook a little longer or at a higher temp. because the skin was still at little crunchy on mine. Not a problem, though– the flavors were amazing together. Thanks in particular for the rice recipe. He and I are admittedly addicted to Chipotle’s Burrito Bowls, and this was perfect. I skipped the lemon since my lime was so juicy but it tasted just like Chipotle’s rice! For anyone thinking about making this recipe– DO IT!
Glad you liked the recipes, Ruthie! I’m surprised that the delicatas still had some crunch to them—maybe they had thicker skin or a wider diameter than mine? I don’t know!
I’ve been wanting to try this for a while, and finally had some time to make it tonight–it’s deliciouuus! Chipotle and delicata squash is such a brilliant combination. Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome, thanks Katie!
I want to eat this right now. But i dont have ANY of the ingredients, so sad! :(
I am loving all your recipes lately, this one was so delicious. The next day stuffing all the leftovers in a tortilla made an awesome burrito! I shared this recipe in my latest meal plan on my blog, thank you!
Thanks for letting me know, Emily! I’m delighted to hear that you’ve been enjoying my recipes. I’ll have to bake up some more chipotle-glazed veggies for burritos, that is such a great idea!
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[...] combination of flavors was Cookie + Kate’s idea. She added the beans and rice to the meal. Really, I can’t ask for much [...]
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[...] In a skillet over medium heat, pour in a little drizzle of olive oil. Add black beans and their cooking liquid, and mix in some hot sauce and red pepper flakes. Mash the mixture with a potato masher for five minutes or longer, until the beans have reduced to your desired consistency. (This is the lazy way to do it, if you’d like to go all out, make the beans as directed in my my chipotle-glazed squash recipe). [...]