This delicious and plentiful dish is perfect for hearty Fall suppers, and would be a healthy alternative to some of those traditional Thanksgiving side dishes that are made with cream, butter or condensed mushroom soup.  You’ve probably noticed the large bins of colorful and oddly-shaped squash in the produce section at the grocery store, but maybe you don’t know how to prepare them.  My goal every Fall is to find out how to take advantage of these fresh and (dare I say it) cheap vegetables!  Here is a great recipe for roasted vegetables that includes acorn squash– the dark green squash that looks, well, like an acorn!  The peel of this squash is fine to eat when it’s cooked, but in my pictures you will see that I peeled the protruding edges to see if it made a difference.  In the future I won’t bother peeling them at all.

Although the recipe calls for acorn squash, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts and beets, you could certainly substitute vegetables like butternut squash, turnips, carrots, or other root vegetables.  If you’re nervous about trying Brussels sprouts or beets for the first time, I’ll tell you that everyone I offered this dish to enjoyed it!  Roasting vegetables brings out their natural flavor while giving them tasty, brown caramelized edges, and adding a vinaigrette to the veggies when they’re warm allows them to absorb the liquid, adding another dimension of flavor.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

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