I got the idea for this recipe from the Wegmans Menu magazine and a Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook. It’s one of the sides for their $6 meals right now and the picture looked pretty delicious so I thought I’d try making it.
It’s a lot of trouble. Here’s the thing — first you have to peel a butternut squash and dice it into small pieces. I had never even cooked a butternut squash before so I didn’t realize this would be difficult but it was the most stressful part of the entire dinner. It takes a long time. Sharon suggested slicing it and then taking the peel off after it was cooked, so we did that with most of the squash. However, it does get a little mushier that way and I liked the look of the pre-diced squash when it came out of the oven.
So here is my recipe…
Roasted Butternut Squash with Spinach and Craisins
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
A few handfuls of Craisins
A few handfuls of fresh spinach
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400. (You can do 375 — I did because I was baking frozen chicken breasts at the same time — but 400 is probably better.)
Peel and dice your butternut squash.
Get out a sheet pan with sides. Pour the olive oil and maple syrup onto it, then add a few shakes of salt and pepper. Add the squash and stir it around to coat it in the glaze.
Roast for about 20-30 minutes, checking to see when it’s tender. Add the Craisins for the last 5 minutes.
While the squash is roasting, rinse and chop a few handfuls of fresh spinach, then put in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute.
Once the squash is tender, take out of the oven and toss with the spinach.
gettin' fresh! 
You can precook the squash in the microwave to make it easier to peel and cube. Place whole squash on a plate, poke once with a knife and cook for 10 minutes or so. If you don’t cook it completely, it will still cut nicely & not get too mushy in the oven, but you should shorten the baking time.