Dressy Veggies

Have you heard of the 100-mile diet?

From the website 100milediet.org: When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically travelled at least 1,500 miles—call it "the SUV diet." On the first day of spring, 2005, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon chose to confront this unsettling statistic with a simple experiment. For one year, they would buy or gather their food and drink from within 100 miles of their apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia.

While I think it is an awesome goal, I am not close to being there yet. I admit that I love the luxury of buying avocados, lemons, limes and so many other foods year 'round. I am, however, making an effort to buy local, seasonal produce which also means that I am learning how to cook things I've never cooked much before. I picked up a butternut squash at Ridgeway Market in Bangor, MI the other day and cooked it up for my folks last night:

Candied Butternut Squash with Cinnamon and Honey

1 large butternut squash, quartered lengthwise
3 - 4 TBSP melted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Scoop seeds out of squash. Arrange pieces, cut side down, in large baking dish. Pour hot water in the baking dish to a depth of 1/4 inch. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until tender. Cool and peel. Cut into 1/2 inch slices and place in 9 X 13 pan. Mix butter, honey, pecans and cinnamon and pour over squash. Bake 15 - 25 minutes, until glazed and hot.