I’d like to introduce you to the best meal I ate all weekend.
This lunch was a long time coming since I had a lot of time to think this past weekend.
It all started on Friday after school. We were getting slammed with snow – as much as one inch per hour. And of course, much to my dismay, it started pouring out of the sky at a heavy pace right about the time I was leaving from school. Great for my time for thinking, not so great for making it home at a reasonable time. At one point, I was driving four miles per hour down the interstate for approximately 4 miles. In case you have yet to do the math, that’s about one hour of my life. In fact, I probably could have ran home faster than that. Which reminds me, if you’re in the middle of a huge snow storm on the highway, do not – I repeat DO NOT – exit your vehicle for any reason. Common sense, right? Not in Chicago apparently.
For this very reason, I had a lot of time to think – to ponder – to concoct – while I was on my 30 minutes turned 2.5 hours commute on Friday night. Mainly I thought about how I wished I could teleport myself back to my living room. Then I thought about how I was glad I wasn’t having to travel 65 miles an hour in the two inches of snow that were already layering up on the interstate. Then I wondered where in the heck all the snow plows were.
In the middle of all of that though, I thought of this lunch – deliciously simple, packed with nutrients, and oh so satisfying. And then I promptly counted down the hours until I could make it with natural lighting on my side.
The funnest (yup, I’m a teacher) part about this meal is that you can make it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (or all three), and it would be completely acceptable. Don’t you love meals where you feel like you’re being a rebel? No? Just me?
And for all of my single ladies (or men) out there, this is a single lady (or man) meal – sometimes having a husband who works when it snows worked out to my benefit this weekend – cooking for one!
Butternut Squash and Kale Hash
Serves: 1
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
- 1/4 butternut squash, shredded
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 kale leaves
- 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. garlic
- 1/4 tsp. chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Begin by carefully peeling your 1/4 butternut squash with a vegetable peeler. Once it has been peeled, use a food processor attachment or shredder to shred the squash. Once shred, place a paper towel in a large bowl and pour the butternut squash into the bowl. Cover the butternut squash with another paper towel and press the excess liquid from the squash.
- Dice one half onion and onion. Then, de-stem the kale and cut into bite sized chunks
- Preheat a skillet with 1/2 tbsp. olive oil to medium high heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, and butternut squash to the skillet. Allow to cook for ~10 minutes, stirring every few minutes to avoid burning.
- After the butternut squash begins to brown like hash browns, add the chopped kale and stir occasionally until wilted (~3-4 minutes).
- Crack an egg over the top of the kale and butternut squash and lower the skillet heat to medium low. Cover the skillet and steam cook the egg until the whites have cooked.
- Enjoy!
Did I forget to mention we got 9’ish inches of the white powdery stuff? That right there is reason to celebrate with kale.
{ 85 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha, I feel the same way when my hubby is working. I hate that he’s gone but love the idea of cooking only for myself. I can spend so much more time on my meal alone. Selfish but true.
We’re basically the same person.
LOVe the egg on top!! my favourite part of this- and the butternut squash.. I ADORE b-nut squash
that egg looks perfect. much better than my eggs this morning!
That is the funnest part of it! Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner deliciousness!
….I am praying for snow! It’s not looking promising but I’ll keep praying. As teachers, I can tell that we haven’t had a snow day all year- we neeeed it! Enjoy your fluff!
Unfortunately, we had rain all day yesterday and it’s all melted now. It’s pretty much the saddest thing ever.
This looks so yummy!!!! I just used up the last of my butternut squash last night
Looks like I will be heading to the store tonight to pick some up!! Thanks for another great recipe!!
You could also use sweet potatoes!
Ahhhh-freaking-maaaaazing!
I am obsessed with kale right now and this just looks PERFECT
Thanks for another winner!!!
I’ve been obsessed with it too! I can’t get enough!
What a perfect dish! Every flavor I love, plus nice and easy
Thank you Chelsea!
No problem! Enjoy!
omg, this sounds and looks amazing. Looks like I’ll have to make a trip back to the grocery store and pick up some butternut squash (already have kale)!!
What was up with those roads Friday?! I was on 90/94 forever!!
Ugh – 88 was a MESS!!!!
And PS – If you have a sweet potato, you could totally use that instead!
9 inches? yuck! i’m sorry, lady! can you really peel butternut squash with a vegetable peeler? i have never bought it because it looks intimidating and hard to deal with.. also, do you have to peel it? is it one of those veggies that you can’t eat the outside? i’m just used to yellow squash (no peeling required!) and spaghetti squash (cooking forever before even attempting to cut it open!). i need to branch out.
You sure can! It takes no time at all!
As a fellow butternut squash lover, I am sure you will understand why I had to ask my sister who just reached from China to bring me back a mini squash (she had the luggage and I’m super deprived of squash in Mumbai)! Thanks for this recipe although because I am rationing, I think I have to stick to my beloved roasted squash! Next time this will surely make the cut
I totally understand – I don’t think I could survive life without squash!
I have never thought of shredding squash before–brilliant! I will have to buy some as we just finished up our last squash from our garden. Looks like ketchup would go good on this too;-)
Do you live somewhere warm or are you still working through your fall harvest?
Too bad it was a Friday, and you didn’t get a snow day out of it. That’s one of the better parts of being a teacher! LOL
I keep hearing so much about Kale. I really need to try it. I love squash.
To be honest, I don’t think we would have gotten a snow day out of it anyways! It stopped around 9 PM and by the morning, the roads were all cleared!
That’s the recipe for one of my Kale Tuesdays! Love it!
making this! I love kale and eggs together! So good
Mmmmm this looks SO good! I love the idea of topping it with a runny egg! I would sprinkle a few raisins on top too…for a little sweet and savory combo! YUM!
Never thought about the raisins – yum!
Yay for single lady meals!! This looks delicious and simple, good idea! And I love Being a meal rebel too, haha which is easy when you live alone!
You had me at “serves 1″. Love me some single gal recipes! Now I just need to buy a shredder. Hmphhh.
If you don’t have a shredder, just cube the butternut into small pieces instead!
With 9 inches, did you guys have school yesterday? When it snows even an inch here, we shut it down. crazy.
The roads were clear by saturday morning – they’ve got it down to a science around here!!
This looks delicious! I love butternut squash!
Oh I love a runny egg on top of anything! Looks delicious!
Glad you made it home safely and didn’t get out and sprint home lol. Last winter we got let put of work because of the threat of snow. Silly TX. You would think all these pick up truck driving folks would be excited to try and do some snow driving!
Thanks Lindsay – my husband has a ball in the snow when he’s driving. me? I’m a nervous wreck!
My go to single lady meal when the husband is working late is an egg bake with kale. Very similar. I like where your head’s at
I’ve seen that from you – I have got to try it!
this looks so so so good and i have all the ingredients – yay!
p.s. do you think you could use sweet tater and maybe you a simple cheese grater rather than a food processor (too lazy, lol)?
YES! Definitely!
looks delicious! i would substitute a big glob of ketchup for the egg.
glad that you made it home safely, with a fabulous food design as a result of the extra drive time! xxx
Don’t you worry – ketchup was added!
this looks delicious! i love eating at home by myself… don’t have to hear any complaints about what i’m cooking. i swear, if my husband complains one more time about the smell of brussels sprouts i’m going to lose it. newsflash — your beef jerky doesn’t smell great either!
annnnyways! yes, that snow was ridiculous. travel times were up to 4 hours (normal 28 minutes) up by us. insanity.
HA! The joys of marraige. I’ve tried to get him to eat Brussels sprouts one too many times!
oh – and the further north it was, the worse it was! once I got off of 88 and onto 355, it was smooth sailing! (if you call 40 mph smooth sailing!)
The food looks great and cooking for yourself isn’t always the easiest but you made it look yummy…and that 1st picture…beautiful!! Do I smell a little Lightroom 4 in your world? Seriously…gorgeous image.
You sure do!
I love my Lightroom – I honestly cannot live without it anymore.
Ok so all those months…Year(s) that I’ve been telling you to get it, okay, I am vindicated
Totally making this this week while the non vegetable eating boyfriend is out of town
I’m obsessed with this and I haven’t had it yet. I want to take a nap in that skillet. Weird.
Holy goodness — my two favorite things magically combined = perfection! I will definitely be making this recipe thanks to you!!!
I mentioned you in my post today — I hope you stop by and maybe even join in on the fun! Check it out: http://www.jennsadventures.com/2012/01/11-random-things.html
xoox’s
Thanks Jenn – clicking over now!
Ugh being stuck on the highway in all that snow sounds brutal! I probably would have passed the time by concocting meal ideas too haha.
This hash looks awesome! I’ve made something like this with sweet potato before, but never squash. Also I didn’t shred it like you did. I love that idea!
If I didn’t have b-nut, I would have definitely used sweet potatoes!
Don’t you love how Chicago shuts down during snow storms? I mean this is the midwest and it snows a lot, don’t you think people would know better than to get out of their cars on the highway or try to weave through traffic while going 5 mph. Apparently not
Also, I”m going to make this recipe ASAP!! Looks delicious!
Believe me, I would have rather driven that slow than gone fast – it was NOT good to drive in!
Oops, I meant that slow speed is good but that people still drive recklessly. Trust me, when I do drive (especially in Chicago) I go like turtle speed
It look really yummy but I would have to triple the recipe to feed me and the kids lol. Hope the roads are better and you don’t spend too much time in traffic.
triple away!
I friggin LOVE kale, so I’ll be all up in this biz right here…thank you!!
xxoo
i need to experiment more with kale… this gives me another idea on how to use it! looks SO good. it’d definitely be a meal that i’d have by myself because i know my husband wouldn’t go for it, but it looks amazing to me!
More for us!
That looks fabulous – also, I have never shredded butternut squash so I like the idea of preparing it differently!
Ha I know that feeling of coming up with a dish this time of year and then having to time when you are going to make it perfectly to the ideal daylight time. One of the plusses to working from home means I can take a break during the middle of the day to make food or take photos of leftovers.
This hash looks amazing, thanks for sharing.
Sometimes I wish I could haul everything to school with me to take pretty pictures!
Minus the egg, I think I’m gonna try this recipe out
Man– I remember those snows. We lived in Indiana and Pennsylvania before we moved to Alabama, and I have to say, I don’t miss the feet of snow we could get in just a few hours!
I think it’s pretty, but I’m over the cold!
I love when a meal can fit into all 3 categories, and if it can’t I will usually make it anyways
This dish sounds delicious! I cannot wait to try this out!
Glad you made it home safely! I am so over winter!!!
You and me both – I’m ready for warmth!
That looks great! My kind of meal! I love anything with lots of veggies that you can plop a nice gooey egg on top of!
This looks amazing! You have helped me find so many healthy and tasty vegetarian/vegan recipes. I’m looking forward to adding this one to that list.
Thanks for the kind words Tim!
My husband could eat frozen pizza or grilled cheese every day for the rest of his life. He claims to be “allergic” to healthy foods! Every time I try to make something new, he gets REALLY scared! So I LOVE it when I am home along or cook for myself! I can make whatEVER I want!!
This dish looks yummy – I would have never thought of the combo.
HA! Sounds like my husband. If I don’t make him food, he won’t eat. For real.
yumm cant wait to get some butternut! love that u use runny eggs wen i eat mine like that people think im disgusting <3
so weird! i had almost the same thing for dinner last night. Ours had garlic, chopped onion, kale, trader joes shredded hashbrowns, gimme lean ground veggie sausage, and eggs scrambled into the mix! topped with some salsa.mmmm.
looks delicious! we love our kale! we love it in any kind of recipe, for us can never go wrong
this looks so delicious! Your egg looks perfect.
This looks yummy and nutritious! I have been trying to eat more fruits n veggies..so far so good but now I need to venture outside my comfort zone and I think this would be perfect, you see I’m a graduated pastry student so I love my sweets. I’ve recently become interested in being better to my body!
I’m so happy I found your blog! Several times I have wished I could teleport myself home, while living in Chicago! What a nightmare it is sometimes!!! Hubby also plows! This would be a good go to hubby snowplowing one woman meal 
thanks for sharing!
I’m really confused about this recipe. In fact, this has confounded me so much, I am actually posting this while attempting to cook this dish for the first time.
The ingredients list cumin and chili powder, but the instructions never say when to add them into the dish. When WOULD I add them?
YIKES! I’m so sorry Skip! You can add the spices at any time during the butternut squash cooking time period. I hope it turns out okay!
I have a similar recipe that calls for boiled chunks of squash, with kale and red onion, dried cranberries, and minced sage.
Looking forward to trying your variation!
{ 2 trackbacks }