Meal Planning Tips

I was looking for something different to make with butternut squash, and I came across a Kadu recipe. Kadu is an Afghan pumpkin dish, and it is made with sugar pumpkin. Different recipes I’ve seen do different things, but the main idea is that you fry or roast pumpkin, cook it in tomato sauce, and then serve it with yogurt sauce. Some recipes I have seen use meat in tomato sauce, while others make the dish vegetarian by skipping meat altogether.

I really like the idea of making something like that, as I have never made butternut squash with tomato sauce and yogurt sauce, so I decided to adapt the pumpkin recipe for butternut squash. I wanted to make the dish healthier, so I roasted butternut squash instead of frying it. In this recipe I am keeping the three components of the dish (roasted butternut squash, meat sauce and yogurt sauce) separate, and only combine them on a plate. Kind of the same way you would make pasta with tomato sauce - combine the two together as you are serving them.

The next part of the recipe is making the tomato meat sauce. This sauce is pretty simple, it is made from onions, ground beef, crushed tomatoes and spices. Cook onions, then add ground beef, then add crushed tomatoes and spices, and cook until the sauce is done.

Yogurt sauce is even simpler to make. All you need to do to make the yogurt sauce is to combine yogurt and minced garlic. You can mince the garlic or you can just put the garlic through the garlic press.

The combination of roasted butternut squash, meat tomato sauce and garlic yogurt sauce provides a variety of flavors and textures. To serve this dish, place a few pieces of roasted butternut squash on a plate, add meat tomato sauce and then add a bit of yogurt sauce on top.

You can serve this dish with some white rice and a simple salad. Here is an example of meal planning, that includes Roasted Butternut Squash With Meat Sauce And Yogurt Sauce.

Here is a sample grocery list to shop for this dinner. Assuming that olive oil, vinegar, salt and black pepper are pantry items. If not, add them to your list.

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Ingredients For Roasted Butternut Squash With Meat Sauce And Yogurt Sauce

2 Medium Butternut Squashes
2-3 Green Onions (Scallions)

For Tomato Meat Sauce

1.5 Pounds of Ground Beef
1 Medium Onion
28 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes

Olive Oil
Ground Nutmeg
Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

For Yogurt Garlic Sauce

1.5 cups of Greek Yogurt
1 clove of garlic

How To Make Roasted Butternut Squash With Meat Sauce And Yogurt Sauce

Make Butternut Squash

Wash the butternut squashes. Cut the suqashes in halves lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and the pulp from the center of the squash.

Roast the butternut squash on a baking sheet until it is soft.

Cool the butternut squash, then peel and cut into pieces.

Make The Meat Tomato Sauce

Peel and wash the onion. Chop the onion.

Heat up olive oil in a saute pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5-6 minutes. Add the ground beef. Cook, stirring for 5 more minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, and cook for a few minutes, until the sauce is boiling and bubbling. Decrease the heat, and simmer until the beef is cooked. Season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg.

Make The Yogurt Garlic Sauce

Peel the garlic. Put the garlic through a garlic press. Combine yogurt and garlic and stir.

Wash and chop green onions.

Plate Roasted Butternut Squash With Meat Sauce And Yogurt Sauce

To plate this dish, put a few pieces of butternut squash on a plate. Add meat tomato sauce on top of the butternut squash, and then add yogurt sauce on top of the tomato meat sauce. Sprinkle with green onions.

A few more recipes: Meyer Lemon and Asparagus Risotto Recipe, Thai Chicken Salad Recipe, Fried Rice Recipe, Pea Soup With Ham Recipe, Avocado Salad With Feta And Radishes