I made a great mid-week dinner of lots of roasted vegetables and quick tofu. I bought another butternut squash to try cooking it in a different way, but it required lots of chopping. I also had leftover raw carrots and parsnips, so I roasted them too. And for something green, I added broccoli. It was a lot of chopping with a very sharp chef’s knife. Be careful! That thing scares me.

Roasted Fall Vegetables with Easy Sauteed Tofu

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into bit sized pieces
• handful plain feta
• handful dried cranberries/craisins
• 1 pack broccoli
• 3 each carrots and parsnips
• 1 pack Nasoya Firm Tofu (or any brand)

Instructions:

First, don’t be scared of these vegetables or tofu. They are seasonal, flavorful, and hard to mess up. I really enjoy roasting vegetables for their flavor and ease of preparation. As long as you don’t mind chopping, this meal spends most of its prep time in the oven.

The trick with roasting all this is the timing. The squash takes the longest, so prep and cook that first, then the root vegetables, then the broccoli. And at the same time, you press the tofu and then put it on the stove.

For the squash:

• Peel the squash, cut in half lengthwise, and then cut the halves into strips and bites. Remove the seeds and strings.
• Preheat oven to 400*. Lay squash on baking sheet coated in Pam, then cover in EVOO, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
• Roast for about 50 minutes, tossing about halfway through.
• With about 5 minutes to go, add craisins and feta.

For the parsnips and carrots:

• Peel and cut into strips like french fries.
• Lay on baking sheet coated in Pam, and drizzle with EVOO, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
• Put in same oven and roast for about 35-40 minutes. Toss with tongs halfway through.

For the broccoli:

• Chop into florets and add to root vegetable baking sheet to roast at same temperature for 30 minutes. Add EVOO, salt, pepper, and garlic powder if the pan doesn’t have enough for the broccoli.

For the tofu:

At the same time as the vegetables are cooking, get your tofu ready. Cut a block into six rectangles, or strips like below, and press with something heavy for 15 minutes on a towel. Season with salt and pepper and lay on hot pan with EVOO or Pam. Let cook about 5 minutes on each side, or until browned and a little crispy. I had mine with BBQ sauce on the side.

To assemble, it looks like this. I had about 1.5 servings of what’s pictured. The squash was my favorite part. I can’t get enough of the flavor, and adding cranberries made it even sweeter. Sometimes people add brown sugar or butter or maple syrup to the squash, but I thought those flavors were too strong and sweet for today, so I got the sweetness from the cranberries.

This screams Thanksgiving. Enjoy!