Roasted Squash, Lentil, and Chicken Bowl with Cilantro Tahini Dressing

Phew!  Isn’t THAT title a mouthful?!  And that’s barely half of the amazing flavours that combine to make this magical dish.  First off, you have the fleshy sweetness of the acorn squash, the slight crunchiness of the roasted lentils, and the definite crunchiness and burst of flavour of the pomegranate seed garnish.  Then you have the rich depth of flavour that only fat (in this case, olive oil) can add, the smokiness of the chipotle, the sweetness of the maple syrup, the tartness of the lime, the florality (totally a word) of the cilantro, and the umaminess from the tahini.  (I don’t even know if tahini is considered an umami flavour, but in this recipe, it 100% fits the bill.)  And then there is this taste from the red onion in this thing that I can’t even identify…in a good way.

Together, it creates this unbelievable dance party of flavours on your tongue.  Seriously.  I could eat the dressing for this recipe all day long the same way I could eat real parmeggiano (in/on anything or simply in whole chunks) all day long; only this dressing doesn’t make my hands break out in itch bubbles!  Win!

Start cool side note:  I just did some research on umami (because, yes, I’m that easily distracted, but also because I love learning things about food), and this is what I learned.  Umami is our ‘fifth’ taste (the other four being: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty).  ‘Umami’ loosely translates from Japanese to that ‘richness’ or ‘deliciousness’ of flavour that you get from things like parmeggiano and meaty mushrooms.

While nothing was mentioned on whether tahini itself is considered an umami flavour, I did find out that winter squash is AND that roasting anything enhances the umaminess of any food. This is because the umami flavour that our tongues recognize is actually free-floating glutamate (an amino acid) from proteins in our food.  Roasting foods makes it even easier for our bodies to access the glutamate because high heat denatures proteins and makes them more easily digested by us.

Forgive me now for the total nerd out session which is about to go down, but here we go…Proteins are made up of amino acids.  I’m sure many of you have heard of the 20 essential amino acids that our bodies need to function.  For those of you who haven’t, what makes them ‘essential’ is the fact that our bodies can’t naturally synthesize them.  This means that we have to get these amino acids from our diet.

There are also non-essential amino acids, of which glutamate is one.  So, while our bodies can synthesize its own glutamate, we can also get it from our diet.  The thinking behind the evolution of our umami taste buds is that because our bodies need amino acids to function, our taste buds have developed in such a way that they identify these acids in our food.  Therefore, when we eat foods containing the amino acid our body needs, our taste buds will send a ‘yum’ signal to our brains so that we eat more.

So, the moral of this story is that I still think tahini is lousy with umami (because the ‘richness’ of this recipe is mostly in the sauce and because of the aforementioned yearning to eat it all day long like parmeggiano), but the roasted squash in this recipe probably makes it umamier!  (If any of you want to read more on umami, this website has just about everything you would need to know.  I can’t speak to its academic merit, and I am definitely not a certified nutritionist, but this article combined with what I two degrees have already taught me about human physiology and evolution made things pretty clear in my mind).

End cool side note:  I can’t say what initially drew me to this recipe on Well and Full a couple of weeks ago.  It may have been just the utter cacophony of flavours. (Seriously, on one hand you have the classic Mexican flavours of chipotle, cumin, cilantro, and lime, while on the other, you have the traditional Middle Eastern flavours of lentils, pomegranate, and tahini.  Add some calliope music to this whole scenario and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how this combination of flavours played out on my mind’s taste buds.  How could I not give it a shot!?).  The photos of this acorn squash bowl also made it look so delicious I couldn’t NOT make it.  Seriously, Sarah over at Well and Full has some mad foodography skillz.

I also think that this recipe is a good segue into winter foods; totally ignoring the summery cilantro-lime flavour blend. (read: Christmas goodies are coming your way folks!)

Acorn squashes come in a host of colours, all of which hail fall, except the ghost ones.  (I didn’t even know there were ghost acorn squashes until last weekend.  Unfortunately, while they look super cool and foodograph well, they aren’t as tasty as their variably orange, yellow, and/or green brethren.)  But, while acorn squash is definitely a fall food, the farmers up at Jean Talon Market sell their squashes well into winter; hence the term winter squashes, I guess. (What is the difference between autumn and winter squashes by the way?  Is there one?).  Then, if you add the pomegranate seeds (which are in season in the winter) and consider again the green acorn squash and the bed of salad greens, you’ve got Christmas in a bowl folks…colours-wise!  See?!  Segue food!  Makes total sense!

Regardless of the reason, I am so freakin’ happy I made it; and even happier that I tweaked it for my own liking/dietary needs. (Apologies to Sarah for adding meat to her wonderfully vegetarian recipe, but apart from lentils, there are no plant-based sources of protein that my system can handle, so added chicken I did.  Obviously, the chicken can be omitted for those who DO follow a vegetarian diet).

And here’s something even more awesome about this recipe.  It’s wicked easy to make.  I would say that it’s a ‘chop ‘n’ stir’ recipe like my Tomeato, but it isn’t even THAT hard.  It’s pretty much a ‘chop, toss, ‘n’ roast’ kind of recipe.

Now, while this recipe contains lentils (and is therefore Paleo-ish), they can easily be omitted if you’re a die-hard Paleo-er.  You would be missing out on some of the crunch, flavour and protein, but otherwise, the recipe isn’t going to fall into a shambles without it.

Apart from that, there are no huge tips or tricks to making this recipe guys.  It really IS that simple.  I could add that you could easily make use of any other squash (though butternut may be too bland and watery for this recipe), but apart from that, the ingredients aren’t ALL that obscure and the flavours are awesome.  In other words, you should make this beaut of a dish pronto!!!

 

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Ok!  So, that’s that.  Stay tuned next week guys.  Seriously.  I started testing and making the first of my Christmas goodies for you last week, and BOY does it come with a story.  There will be laughter (from you)(…I hope), and tears (from me)(…for sure), followed by smiles of gastronomic joy when you finally get to taste this dish.  So yea…stay tuned.

In the mean time, I hope you guys enjoy this epicurean Middle Mexic-Eastern umami dance party and have a fabulous week(end)!

Per usual, if you have any questions or just want to leave a note, please do not hesitate to comment below or contact me via email!

Ciao for now!