Here is a nice salad featuring kale and butternut squash. I like to make a batch and take it to work for lunches. This recipe is from the blog, Tartelette.

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa (I used red)
• 3 cups water
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, cored and diced butternut squash
• 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped kale (previously washed and cleaned)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
• vinaigrette (recipe here)

In a large pot, bring the quinoa and water to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered until all the water has been absorbed (about 20 minutes). Remove from the heat, fluff with a fork and place in a large bowl to cool for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, heat one teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet, add the onion and cook until it turns translucid. Add the garlic, butternut squash and kale. Cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat. Remove the lid, check that the butternut squash is tender but not mushy or hard when you poke a piece with a knife. Add the thyme and continue cooking until the all the liquid creating by the cover has evaporated.

Let cool to room temperature. Gently fold the cooked quinoa and the cooked vegetables together along with the vinaigrette.

Serve room temperature or cold.

Makes 4 to 6 servings as a main dish.

A delicious vegetarian soup that features roasted butternut squash. This was adapted from a recipe that was in an issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 Butternut Squash (1 1/2 pounds) halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 3/4 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 6 cups (plus more if needed) vegetable broth, divided
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus sprigs for garnish
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon minced seeded serrano chile (optional)
• Course sea salt
• Plain nonfat yogurt

Preheat oven to 400. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Sprinkle halves of squash with salt and pepper. Arrange, cut side down, on prepared sheet. Roast squash until tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Turn squash cut side up and cool. Scoop squash out into a medium bowl.

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until pale golden, about 10 minutes. Mix in the celery and garlic. Add 1 cup of the broth. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add squash, 5 cups broth, and cumin. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Being very careful, take a hand blender and work it through the soup until smooth. Thin squash soup to a desired consistency with more vegetable broth. Add the red bell pepper, cilantro, thyme and serrano chile. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Season soup to taste with coarse salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish each with a dollop of yogurt and sprig of cilantro.

You can make this in a pan, free form or in a muffin pan. One big one, or multiple smaller ones. Don’t be afraid to experiment with seasonal ingredients. You could even sweeten up the ricotta a bit when summer comes around and do a stone fruit or berry version.

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Choose a winter flavored ravioli, I used a fresh (but store-bought) cheese ravioli  but a butternut ravioli would be delicious as well. I sometimes precook the raviolis and keep them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet until I am ready to use them - this helps prevent the raviolis from melding into one another after cooking. I used a butternut squash version of the potato “croutons” shown here. Substitute butternut squash for the potatoes, you can make them a day ahead but they loose some of their structure overnight. The flavors is still great, but you’ll loose a couple points for eye-appeal. I sometimes do a big batch of the onions and keep them in a jar in the refrigerator to use in recipes like this one.

• 3/4 lbs. raviolis (see headnotes)
• 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• fine grain sea salt
• 2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch swiss chard, deveined and cut into 1/2 inch ribbons
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 cup butternut squash “croutons”
• zest of one lemon
• 1/4 cup chives, minced

Into an extra-large pot of well-salted boiling water add the raviolis. After a few minutes, when the raviolis float and are cooked through, drain them and toss with one tablespoon of the olive oil. this prevents them from sticking together. Set aside.

To caramelize the onions, heat another tablespoon of the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed skillet with a pinch of salt. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions collapse and turn deep brown in color. You can do this ahead of time (or just before serving) - whatever you prefer. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Just before serving heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, again in a big skillet over high heat. Add the raviolis. Stir in the onions, and then the chard. Wait until the chard begins to wilt, then stir in most of the cheese and most of the hazelnuts. Gently fold in the butternut squash and lemon zest. Remove from heat.

Serve on a big platter garnished with chives and remaining hazelnuts and Parmesan.

Serves 6

CALORIES 330 (48% from fat); FAT 18.3 (sat 5.45g, mono 10g, poly 1.75g); IRON 2.48mg; CHOLESTEROL 89.5mg; CALCIUM 236mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.7g; SODIUM 806mg; PROTEIN 12.9g; FIBER 2.56g

Source:  www.101cookbooks.com