Boy I can’t wait to make them again and with ingredients from our garden, they would taste even that much more amazing.  Oh and CHEAP, these two meals were very inexpensive and relatively quick, the chickpeas take a while to cook, but they don’t need supervision.  The local co-op had the Tahini and it cost less than $1.50 compared to the $7.00 it was at the grocery.

This first recipe is much healthier than the second, and vegetarian, but you wont miss the meat, there is so much flavor going on and it is so pretty!  Nathan and I had the full recipe for dinner and we weren’t hungry, but for a light lunch you could cut the recipe in half serve a slightly fuller 1/2 pita with fruit and it would work.  I started the chickpeas first off boiling while the oven was preheating and I was prepping everything else and took them off the stove last thing after about an hour and they were still slightly too undercooked, but it was ok as they added a bit of texture against the squash.

Warm Butternut Squash & Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing in Whole Wheat Pitas

Makes 6 half pitas

For salad:

320g Butternut Squash
1 Garlic Clove – pressed
1 tbs Olive Oil
A pinch of salt
1/3 Red Onion – diced
3/4 cup dried Chickpeas
1 handful of Coriander – chopped
3 whole wheat pitas cut in half and warmed

For tahihi dressing:

2 tbs Tahini
1 Garlic Clove – pressed
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 tbs Olive Oil
2 tbs Water (or more)
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Directions:
For salad:

Soak Chickpeas in water overnight.
Drain and rinse.
Put in a pot and cover with water and add a pinch of salt and boil for an hour to an hour and a half or until just soft.
Drain chickpeas and put in a bowl, keep warm.
Preheat oven to 450.
In a baking sheet/ dish, toss together butternut squash, pressed garlic, olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Roast until soft (about 20 mins).
Remove and place in a bowl with chickpeas.

For Tahini dressing:

In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, lemon juice and pressed garlic.
Mix in olive oil.
Whisk in water. Add more water to get the consistency you desire.
Add salt and sugar to taste.  I didn’t think that I would need salt or sugar let alone both but it tastes the edge off of the strong flavors.

To assemble:

Toss together butternut squash, red onion, chickpeas and coriander.
Mix with the tahini dressing, stuff the pita pockets and serve.

To be honest we didn’t use the Swiss Chard, we didn’t have any, and I made my own butternut squash puree.  We would definitely have this recipe again but I would recommend having the Swiss Chard or substituting it for Spinach, it needed a stronger flavor to cut through the sauce which got a little heavy.  I also added a little chili powder to the sauce while it was cooking, and used cheddar cheese instead of the Parmesan as we only had a little parm and I needed it for breakfast.

To make the squash puree, peel and chop squash, put in a pan with just enough water to cover, boil for about 10 minutes, using a slotted spoon remove squash and put into a blender.  Blend until smooth adding just enough cooking water to get it to blend but not too much that it gets watery.

Swiss Chard & Bacon Linguine with Butternut Squash Cream Sauce

makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound swiss chard, preferably rainbow or red-stem
1/4 pound bacon
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup butternut squash puree’
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 pound whole wheat linguine
salt + pepper

Directions:
Wash chard and separate leaves from stems.  Course chop both, separately.   If using wash and course chop, or if they are smaller spinach leaves you can leave them whole.
Fry bacon in large, nonstick skillet.  Set aside on paper towels.
Saute’ onion in nonstick skillet for 2 minutes, until translucent.  Add chard stems and saute’ for an additional 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add 1/2 cup of water to pan along with chard leaves.  Cover with a cookie sheet and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes until stems are tender. Remove from heat and keep warm.   For spinach add to the pan and saute’ for about a minute until they are wilted.
Boil linguine for 10-12 minutes, until al dente.  Drain and set aside.
While lingquine cooks whisk squash and cream together over medium high heat.  Bring just to a boil then lower heat to simmer, whisking constantly.  As sauce thickens add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.
Pile noodles on plate.  Drizzle with a bit of sauce.  Add chard mixture and crumble bacon on top.  Drizzle additional sauce across the chard.