Pinteresting Discovery: Oh She Glows!

Oh, Pinterest.... beautiful, wonderful Pinterest. How I love thee. It's hard for me to believe that when I first signed up for an account on this dandy little site I couldn't really get into it for some reason. Now... things have definitely changed. It is without a doubt my #1 go-to for recipes and fitness inspiration!

So. Much. Delicious. Food. Ahhhh!

It was through Pinterest that I found Oh She Glows, another lifestyle/health blog that focuses on fitness, food, and photography. Something unique about this particular blog, set up by Angela Liddon, is that it features vegan recipes. Although I'm not actually vegan, I definitely don't mind eating that way most of the time! So many of her recipes look delicious; I couldn't resist making one of them. 

Her Butternut Squash Mac and Cheeze was one dish in particular that caught my eye! First of all, I love, love, love butternut squash. With a passion. I'm not kidding. Yum.

Secondly, I've been seeing a lot of nutritional yeast talk lately. Weird, vegan, yellow powder that tastes cheesy? What? How is that possible? I thought maybe I should give it a try to see if I was into it or not. So, finding a recipe that combined butternut squash, pasta, and a nutritional yeast "cheese" sauce seemed like the perfect solution for my curiosity! Let's do this!

I did need to change the ingredients a little bit based on what I had. Here are some pictures from when I made the recipe a couple days ago! 

First, I chopped up the butternut squash and put it in a pan. Instead of coating it in olive oil like the original recipe called for, I sprayed it lightly with some Pam and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. 

Then, I let it roast in the oven at 425 degrees for about 40 minutes. See you later, squash!

While the squash was roasting, I had some time to make the "cheese" sauce. I used a teaspoon of olive oil instead of Earth Balance...

and one tablespoon of cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder. Also, I happened to only have unsweetened vanilla-flavored almond milk instead of plain. That may have influenced the flavor in the end, but I'm not sure how much!

I weighed out my pasta and got the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients ready.

Then it was time to combine the almond milk, cornstarch, and other sauce ingredients with the olive oil on the stove. I whisked them all together and let it sit over very low heat to allow it to thicken.

Getting the water ready for the pasta!

Tada! After a few minutes, the sauce was thick enough to coat a fork. 

Now, because I wanted to use the butternut chunks as an add-in for the pasta, I decided to use canned pumpkin in the sauce instead of blending in the roasted squash. An easy mix and the sauce is done!

Fun fact: putting a wooden spoon overtop of a bubbling pan will keep it from spilling over! ... For a minute or two. Then it will eventually spill over anyway. So basically, your best bet is to just turn the heat down a little.

When the pasta was nearly done, I added in about three cups of fresh spinach and let it wilt in the water. Mmmm greens! 

The pasta and spinach, drained, with the roasted squash added in.

The last step was to stir in the sauce... just like that, the pasta was done! Easy peasy. 

Here is the final product! Mine doesn't look anywhere near as pretty as hers, but hey - I'm still learning. Maybe someday I'll get the hang of this whole food photography thing! :)

So how was it? It was alright! I think I was expecting something a little bit different, but overall it was a very satisfactory meal. I would be interested to know how much my substitutions changed the original flavor. It actually came out pretty sweet, so my housemate Hannah and I added a generous shake of red pepper flakes to up the heat a little bit and give it some depth. Also, the nutritional yeast aspect was certainly interesting - I'm not sure if I'm a fan. It has a unique flavor that I wouldn't necessarily consider "cheesy" per se. Just another reason I'm not making the leap to becoming a vegan! I love my honest-to-goodness cheese. Actually, I might try making this recipe again using real cheese. I love the idea of using squash as a pasta sauce! 

Hannah and I enjoyed this simple dish and are both REALLY looking forward to trying another of Angela's recipes... her Glazed Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf. Oh my goodness. Yes, please!! 

Until next time, friends! Enjoy your weekend.

- Rebekah

Original recipe:
http://ohsheglows.com/2011/10/03/butternut-squash-mac-n-cheeze/

My Adaptations (4 servings at 9 points+ each): 

1/2 lb butternut squash, cut into 3/4" cubes

1 tsp olive oil1

3/4 cup almond milk

1 tbsp cornstarch

6 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt 

pepper, to taste

8oz whole grain rotini pasta

3 c fresh spinach