Spicy Squash Satay -- posted by Jessica

I saw this recipe on the Sorted Food youtube channel last week and it sounded interesting. I had a butternut squash sitting on my counter for awhile now begging to be used so I decided to give this one a try. At first taste, I wasn't sure about it. It was okay, but not great. I added some fish sauce and a bit more hot sauce and chili flakes to spice it up a bit then stuck the leftovers in the fridge.

Now that I have tried the leftovers, the flavors have melded much better and I really like it! Good thing, as it made a lot and I have several containers of it in my freezer for future meals!

It was a bit of a project cutting up the squash (I used the microwave to soften up the tough skin of the squash first before cutting it) and making the cashew butter. I have made cashew butter before and they do not turn into butter very easy! But I had cashews in the freezer to use up and store bought cashew butter is so expensive, so I made a tiny batch of my own. It was just enough for this recipe.

I did change up a few things according to what I had on hand - used a couple shallots and some diced onion from the freezer for the red onion. I did not use the red chili; I put in some hot sauce and some dried chili flakes to taste. I did not use beansprouts; I used three stalks of sliced bokchoy instead. I added the sliced stalks in with the green beans (frozen from the summer garden bounty), cooked for a couple minutes and then added the sliced bokchoy leave in with some chopped basil. I used basil instead of cilantro. I used honey instead of rice syrup and used chicken stock powder for the veg stock.


Here is the Sorted Food recipe:

INGREDIENTS

Veg Base
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 knob of fresh ginger
• 1 red chilli
• 1 butternut squash
• 2 shots of vegetable oil
• 1 handful of green beans
• 200 g beansprouts
• 50 g cashew nuts
Satay Base
• 4 tbsp cashew nut butter
• 2 tbsp rice syrup (or honey)
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 750 ml veg stock

Peel and dice the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli so they are fairly small. Fry them all in a large saucepan with the 2 shots of veg oil over a low-medium heat for 5 minutes until the onions are soft.


Peel and cube the squash into bite-sized pieces. Toss the squash into the pan, turn up the heat a little and continue to fry for another 5 minutes.
 
Spoon in all of the ingredients for the satay sauce, including the stock and heat the mixture to a bubble. Simmer for 20 minutes until the squash is just soft.
 
Top and tail the washed green beans and cut them all in half. Throw the prepared beans into the pan and simmer for a further 2 minutes before stirring in the beansprouts and a generous amount of chopped coriander.
 
 
Toast off a handful of cashews in a dry pan and serve the spicy vegetable satay with a scattering of warm nuts and rice noodles on the side.