no. 121: brown butter honeynut squash with peanut chili crisp and pickled grapes!
no. 121: brown butter honeynut squash with peanut chili crisp and pickled grapes!
Plus, my hot new workout sneakers!
This week was FULL of victories. For starters, I WON my tennis match last weekend after missing the first 5 matches of the season because I was out of town (sad). Feels good to be back on the court, baby!!!
Speaking of glorious wins, I’ve also been knee deep in Fishwife’s caviar (launching next week) because I’m working on some fun recipe reels. The caviar so insanely tasty and I, of course, have been eating like a queen all week. Returning to work after taking nearly a month off is fun when there’s caviar waiting for me.
Another small win is this new neighborhood coffee shop, Good Friend, that recently opened up. They have a PB&J latte and it’s so ME and so GOOD. I will be returning to see how their IVL (iced vanilla latte) holds up. I also experienced my first pop up dinner at Foodshop last week, and it was EXCELLENT.
As if my week couldn’t get any sweeter, I also saw Remi Wolf at the Greek Theatre (my favorite place in Los Angeles) with my sweet friend Harper and it was SO MUCH FUN. She is wickedly talented (and I’m also receiving some insider intel that she, herself, is also a Fishwife). Remi, come on over sister. I have so much tinned fish and caviar for you.
Here are some other sweets I’ve been loving lately!
Lioness Countryside Top
This top was one of the items in my Nuuly bag last month and it is so good. I feel like I never have any cute tops. How do you all shop for tops and then pick which ones to wear? To me, tops are so hard. Anyway, I wore this top (with these jeans, also from Nuuly) on three different occasions (the Kacey Musgraves concert, the Foodshop pop up dinner, and on a date…more on that below). Highly recommend!
Nike Metcon 9 Easy On
I have not purchased a new pair of workout shoes since before I ran the NYC marathon (brag) last November. That’s, like, really bad! Since I’m not doing a whole lot of running these days, I wanted a shoe that was more geared towards general workout training, and these are perfect. Black workout sneakers are HOT, and that’s just the truth.
Brown Butter Honeynut Squash with Peanut Chili Crisp and Pickled Grapes
Serves: 4-6
Active time: 35 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
This recipe was inspired by a dish that I enjoyed at Lolo wine bar this week while I was on a first date (please applaud). The date itself left something to be desired but this squash dish certainly did not. I was so into this dish that I decided to recreate it the next day.
It incorporates a peanut chili crisp, a brown butter vinaigrette, and pickled grapes. The best way I can describe the flavor of this dish is a spicy, autumnal PB&J. If that sounds like something you’d be into, then you’re going to like this.
While I’m sure they’re making their own house made chili crisp, it’s easy enough to mix in some toasted peanuts into your favorite store bought chili crisp. For the pickled grapes, you’re simply giving some quartered grapes a quick red wine vinegar bath that’s seasoned with salt and sugar.
Finally, for the brown butter vinaigrette, you’re going to zhuzh up some brown butter with fresh thyme, lemon, Dijon, and honey. All of the ingredients are individually quite simple, but they come together to create a very powerful, very tasty dish. Feels like a very restaurant-y dish that’s easily pulled together in the comfort of your home kitchen. Of course, if you can’t find honey nut squash, any winter squash will do.
For the pickled grapes:
1 cup red seedless grapes, quartered
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ tablespoon kosher salt
½ tablespoon granulated sugar
For the squash:
2-3 medium honeynut squashes, cut into 1-inch wedges
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
For the peanut chili crisp
¼ cup chili crisp (such as Trader Joe’s Crunchy Chili Onion or Barnacle Foods Kelp Chili Crisp)
3 tablespoons toasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt, to taste
For the brown butter vinaigrette:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ lemon, zested and juiced
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Make the pickled grapes. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients. Let sit while you prepare the rest. Grapes will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Preheat oven to 425F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Add squash to the sheet pan and toss with oil and salt, placing the wedges cut side down. Roast until tender and lightly golden brown, 25-30 minutes, rotating squash half way through.
Make the peanut chili crisp. In a small bowl, mix chili crisp and peanuts. Season to taste with salt.
Make the brown butter vinaigrette. In a small skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat until butter begins to foam. Cook until butter is browned, nutty, and fragrant, 4-5 minutes. Once browned, pour into a heat proof bowl. Add thyme, honey, mustard, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.
Once squash is roasted, place on a serving platter. Top with grapes (using a spoonful of the pickling liquid to drizzle on the squash), peanut chili crisp, and brown butter vinaigrette. Serve immediately.
Top is so cute.
Recipe looks amazing. My honey doesn’t eat squash. Any inspiration for a sub? If not, I’ll make just for meeeee.