Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

I love butternut squash. It's one of my favorite veggies. I throw it in soups or stews, bake it in the oven, and even serve it mashed on occasion. This salad is a favorite around my house. It seems I can never make enough of it. I personally love the color of it, and think it's so festive-looking.

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized butternut squash
1 can black beans, or equivalent amount of home-cooked black beans
1 can sweet corn, or equivalent amount of frozen (thaw before using) or fresh-cooked.
Half an onion, finely minced or diced. Red onion gives a nice dash of color, but I prefer the sharper taste of yellow.
1 tblsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Juice from 1 lime (use 2 limes if needed)
additional salt and pepper, to taste, for the salad

Drain the black beans and corn. You want them as dry as possible. Put them in a bowl with the minced onion and lime juice. Add a bit of salt and pepper, to taste, and mix well. I think it's best to do this step in advance, even the day before, and store it in the fridge. The extra sitting time helps the flavors meld nicely.

Peel the butternut squash. I use a veggie peeler. It does the job quickly and easily. Cut off the ends to get rid of the stem, then cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Cut the squash in half lengthwise again. You should end up with four long, wide, triangular pieces of squash. Then, put your knife at the tip of the triangle and cut each quarter in half lengthwise one more time. This will give you eight long triangular pieces. Cut the pieces widthwise to give yourself triangles about 1/4-inch thick. You can cut your squash into squares, cubes, curlicues, or whatever you want, but I think the triangles are prettiest.

Put the squash pieces in a bowl and toss them with the olive oil, salt and black pepper until they're all well-coated. Put the pieces on a cookie sheet with sides or a shallow baking pan. Be sure to spread them out so that there's only one layer of pieces. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. Stir the pieces around midway through baking so that the sides all brown evenly.
Mix the squash pieces with the salad.

I think the salad is best served at room temp, but it's also good when served cold.