Serves 2-4
If you love pumpkin and sweet potato, then Kabocha Squash will be your new best friend! A Japanese staple that’s prized for its sweet taste that boosts flavor without adding any extra sugar, velvety texture, versatility and slew of health benefits. My favorite way to cook it is roasting, which brings out the sweetness as well as the savory flavor. The best part is you can eat the skin so there’s no peeling necessary! A great side that your whole family will love!
Ingredients:
· 1 medium Kabocha squash
· Olive oil
· Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
· 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
Tahini Dressing:
· 1/3 cup tahini
· Juice from 1 lemon
· 2-3 garlic cloves
· 2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
· Water
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean the squash, cut in half and remove seeds. Cut the squash into moon shaped slices.
Toss slices in oil or spray with oil if using a sprayer and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking time.
While squash is roasting, toast the pumpkin seeds by preheating toaster to 200 degrees. Spray or toss pumpkin seeds lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 5-10 minutes to slightly brown. Remove from toaster, roughly chop seeds and set aside.
To prepare the tahini dressing:
In a bowl combine the garlic and lemon juice. Let mixture rest for 10 minutes to give the garlic time to infuse the lemon juice with flavor.
Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer into another bowl, pressing the garlic with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the garlic.
Add tahini, salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar to the bowl. Whisk until thoroughly blended.
Finally, add water 2 tablespoons at al time, whisking after each addition until smooth. By 6-8 tablespoons dressing should be perfectly creamy.
Serving:
Place squash slices on plate. Sprinkle with chopped pumpkin seeds and finally drizzle with dressing.
Enjoy!