On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a text that said call me cause your scooter has been hit and it won’t start up and I’m very sorry! What a bummer, as you Californian’s would say, but at least it’s just a scooter and pretty cheap to fix. And plus, Andy saw the whole thing so he was able to get the girl’s name and info so her insurance can pay for it… Amen for that. We are one of the only couples I know to share a car/scooter and it works well for us and we save hundreds a year on the gas and expenses another car would cost us!
My scoot, Orangina!
So imagine my surprise when I came home the other night and Andy was looking through the Auto Trader magazine, and specifically at a 1962 red convertible VW Beetle… for me!! It’s my dream car and has been since I was old enough to play “Punch-Buggy” in the car with my Ma, almost everywhere we went. She had one when she was 16 and my Ma would tote along her Saint Bernard, Wendy, in the backseat. I picture this but with Corduroy and Sugar in the back, strapped down so they don’t jump out of the car… it’s happened in the past… twice… don’t even ask! My Ma and I would also watch all of those old Herbie movies and we would laugh our heads off at the audacity of that little car! Here’s hoping I awake Christmas morning like one of those ladies in the Lexus commercials except my big red bow will be on a VW…call me a hippy, I don’t care. I’d take an old Beetle any day over a brandy new Lexus!
Since we’ll probably have to deal with the scooter stuff later tonight, I prepped dinner this afternoon so it’ll be ready to heat and eat when I get home. I was inspired to use this tamarind paste that’s been sitting in my cupboard for God knows how long and I thought it might pair well with the butternut squash I picked up at the Farmer’s market yesterday. And since I didn’t feel like leaving the house, I used what I had “in house” to prepare this dish. It’ll take you less than 15 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook. And plus you’ll get an amazing arm workout peeling and chopping up the squash so it’s a win-win!
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Find this at your local ethic grocery store.
Tamarind Butternut Squash- serves two
Ingredients:
-1/2 butternut squash, peeled and de-seeded
-1 T tamarind paste, seedless
-1 orange, zest and juice
-1 T brown sugar
-1 red onion, diced
-1/2 head broccoli
-1 bunch cilantro
-2 T olive oil
-3 cloves garlic
-salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Peel the butternut squash and cut in half. De-seed and cut butternut into tiny bite sized chunks.
2. Chop up the onion, garlic, broccoli and cilantro and place aside.
3. In a large sauté pan, heat 1 T of olive oil and add squash. Stirring occasionally, add the brown sugar, tamarind paste and the juice from the orange. Leave on heat until squash starts to brown.
4. Then add the onion with 1 T olive oil and let them brown.
5. When the squash is soft, add the broccoli and the cilantro and turn down the heat. Add 1/4 cup water. Cook for another 5 minutes.
6. When the broccoli is soft, remove from the heat. Add the zest on top.
7. Serve with a massaged kale salad (like I will) and enjoy!!
Clean eating!