butternut squash sandwich
by Bella Black
This week I was running a little low on groceries but I had bread, squash and onions in the pantry. Dinner was going to be sandwiches, I guess. But I wanted to try to make them actually taste great even though I only had a few ingredients. I’ve also been trying to cook with minimal to no oil, so this is a pretty healthy one. This sandwich ended up tasting SO GOOD. Like a bbq sandwich but with fall flavors. This makes 4 sandwiches. So make a few for dinner and pack the rest for lunch. Here’s how to make it…
INGREDIENTS
8 slices of bread (whatever you want, I like the real whole grainy kind)
1 butternut squash
2 medium white onions
1 small red onion
1/4 cup vinegar (I use half distilled white and half apple cider vinegar)
2 tsp sugar
1 cup spring mix
4 Tbsp BBQ sauce (I use G Hughes, it’s vegan and oil free)
Seasonings- fresh sage, harissa, garlic powder, salt & pep
METHOD OF PREPARATION
Pre-heat the oven to 425°F, collect a small sauce pan and a frying pan.
Pickled Onions: Slice up your small red onion into thin half moons and toss into the saucepan with the vinegar, sugar, a big pinch of salt and about 1/2 cup water (enough to just cover the onions). Bring this to a boil and then remove from the heat. You can let them cool and then refrigerate (up to a week). Super easy pickled onions.
Caramelized Onions: Slice up your white onions and add to the frying pan with 1 Tbsp of water. Cook on medium/low for about 30 minutes, stirring just a few times. If the pan gets too dry, just add a bit more water. You want to cook these until they are soft, sweet and rice golden brown color.
Butternut Squash: Peel your squash and cut to separate the round bottom from the neck part. Cut the neck of the squash into 1/4-1/2 inch planks (they end up being the size of a slice of bread!). With the round part of the squash, cut in half and remove the seeds, then cut into the same size half moons. Spray with cooking spray and put on a foil lined sheet pan. Sprinkle with garlic powder, harissa and fresh sage, then flip and repeat on the other side. Pop them in the oven for 15 minutes, take them out and flip each piece over, then cook for another 10-15 minutes until they’re cooked through and start to brown on the top.
Sandwich Time: Toast your bread then add BBQ sauce to all your bread slices, top half of them with about 1/4 cup of spring mix. Top the spring mix with a few slices of squash, then a layer of caramelized onions on top of that. Sprinkle with your pickled onion and pop the top slice of bread on top. That’s it!