I really do apologize for the long recipe title here. Normally, I would prefer to keep it condensed but this time I just didn’t want to leave anything out. I also wanted to make sure I was able to grab everyone’s attention, and sometimes the person who likes squash isn’t the person who likes sour cream, you know? And sometimes the person who actually eats butternut squash on a regular basis isn’t the same person who wants ALL THE TACOS (all the time). But that taco person should probably consider being that butternut squash person once in a while because clothes don’t just randomly expand when you need them to. But don’t worry taco person, we’ve got sour cream for you. And squash person can just calm down because it’s not going to kill you to have a little (dairy) fun once in a while. Also, avocado! Healthy fat!
(Do you guys know where I’m going with this? I sure don’t.)
Um, anyway. The idea for these definitely came when I realized my local Safeway sells really convenient, already-cut, packages of squash. I’m nothing if not the laziest person you’ve ever met so we know I was ALL over that. And I know it’s not really the “right” time for butternut squash, but what was I supposed to do?! Someone had taken the time to cut a damn squash for me – they deserved a taco!
Plus my life is not dictated by a seasonal Starbucks menu so squash in July (when I made these) seemed really normal to me. I’m aware that it was probably fake squash because they aren’t technically in season, but I still really don’t care. I’m sure you’ve already figured out that I just constantly do what I want, whenever I want. If I could get a damn pumpkin spice latte right now, please believe I would be drinking it. I also wear dark nail polish in the spring, watch TV shows years after everyone else, eat dinner for breakfast and frozen yogurt for dinner.
And if none of that is a good enough for you, also remember I live in a city that doesn’t believe in summer so it was definitely 50 degrees outside when this was all going down. (P.S. I love you San Francisco)
I do most of my blog cooking on weekend mornings for time and natural light purposes. It’s also the time of day when I know I’ll have the kitchen to myself, and there have been multiple occasions where I’ve caused the entire apartment to smell like garlic and onions before my roommates have even woken up. But I make up for it by paying my rent on time and being an all-around charming person. Also, let’s be honest – there are definitely worse things then the smell of garlic and onions. Recently, I’ve been house-sitting so I didn’t need to worry about hogging a kitchen with these. Though I can sometimes be a creature of habit so I definitely found myself making tacos at 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, and more importantly, eating tacos by 9:00 a.m.
This is my life. Embrace it.
Roasted butternut squash and chickpea tacos w/ chipotle sour cream
Serves 2 (6-8 small tacos)
1 lb butternut squash, cubed
1 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup sour cream
1 chipotle in adobe + 2 teaspoons of the sauce
1/2 lime
1 ripe avacado
1/4-1/2 cup cheese (I used crumbled queso fresco, but I think mozzarella or even goat would work!)
6-8 small corn tortillas
Preheat oven to 400.
Lay squash on one side of a large baking sheet, and pour chickpeas (make sure they’ve been patted dry) on the other side. Drizzle squash and beans with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss gently with your hands, making sure to keep the squash and chickpeas fairly separate (alternatively, you could do this on two separate baking sheets). Sprinkle the cumin and red pepper flakes on the chickpeas only and toss again. Bake for 20 minutes, take out the pan, remove the chickpeas and set aside until everything else is ready. Flip the squash and then continue roasting those for another 15-20 minutes until it’s slightly caramelized and cooked through.
While those are roasting, chop the chipotle pepper into tiny pieces. Mix with sour cream, reserved chipotle sauce and lime juice. For a really smooth sauce you can do this in a food processor. Otherwise, a spoon and some elbow grease is just fine. This is also a good time to slice your avocado and crumble/shred your cheese.
When you’re ready to assemble, heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Heat each tortilla for 15-20 seconds on each side, until completely warmed through and you see a little blistering action happening. Immediately top tortilla with squash, chickpeas, cheese, avocado slices and chipotle sour cream. Squeeze a bit of lime juice over and enjoy!
One girl. One kitchen. 