Thanksgiving Ideas: Roasted Butternut Squash with Avocado and Pea Cream

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year!  As the rain cascads on all the fallen leaves and the famers markets are filled with beautiful squashes and seasonal fruits, it makes for the perfect time to experiment in the kitchen!  This Stuffed Butternut Squash with Avocado Cream is absolutely delicious and really makes for a great addition to a Thanksgiving meal!  Its not the traditional way of serving roasted butternut squash but I absolutely adore it.  The butternut squash serves as a beautiful golden boat that is stuffed with soft millet and crispy roasted broccolini.  Then it is topped with an incredible creamy avocado and pea dip - so decadent and delicious!  It really is super easy to make this meal as everything bakes in the oven and comes out so tender and moist.  The beauty of this dish is in the avocado and pea cream.  The buttery avocado blends perfectly with the sweet peas and nutty tahini.  It brings another layer of depth and makes every bite that much more delicious.  I promise you will love this!

 Butternut squash is also a wonderful food for your body and skin!  It is rich in vitamin A, which helps to renew skin cells by promoting cell turnover – making your skin look radiant and preventing it from being dry or rough, which can happen a lot during the winter months.  Plus it is high in wrinkle-fighting beta-carotene and vitamin C.  It is an anti-inflammatory food that also provides ample doses of fiber, which is great for your digestive system.  Enjoy eating this butternut squash and know that it is doing so much good for your body as a whole!

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients for the Stuffed Butternut Squash:

- 1 butternut squash

- ½ cup millet (or brown rice)

- 1 cup water

- 1 head of broccolini

- pintch of sea salt

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 garlic clove

Ingredients for the Avocado and Pea Cream:

- ½ avocado

- 2 cups frozen peas (thawed)

- few squeezes of lemon juice

- 1 small tablespoon of tahini

- 1 garlic clove

- pintch of sea salt

Instructions:

Start by preheating your oven to 420F.  Cut the butternut squash lengthwise and remove the seeds and flesh from the hole.  Rub olive oil and sea salt on the squash and bake for 1 hour, until the center is perfectly tender.

At 30 minutes, start preparing the millet or brown rice by boiling 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of millet, and a teaspoon of salt.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the millet cook for 20-30 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. 

When there is 15 minutes left for the butternut squash to bake off, add the chopped broccolini (rubbed with olive oil and salt) to the baking dish. 

To make the avocado cream, simply place all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and mix until thick and creamy.  Once the squash is tender, fill the hole with the millet, roasted broccolini and add a dollop of the delicious cream.  Enjoy!