Vegan Kabocha Squash Curry with a little help from Trader Joes

Hubs has a thing for squash. Whether it be Summer, Autumn, or Winter types, his eyes light up at those round or oblong, hard-skinned vegetables. We were the couple you saw leaving the local U-Pick-It farm this summer with ten pounds of yellow squash and zucchini in our trunk. And last week when we popped into Whole Foods for some goods--like a kid to a giant chocolate bar--he ran over to the orange and green orbs and picked out a kabocha squashed, exclaiming, "I don't know what it is but we should eat it!"

Kabocha squash, according to Wikipedia, is revered by some cultures as an aphrodisiac...yet another vegan substitute. Who needs oysters? 

It looks like a green pumpkin and when cut open resembles one with orange flesh and larger white seeds. The skin is TOUGH so caution when cutting. I enforced the YOU WANTED IT YOU CUT IT rule with this one and let hubs chop it. 

So what to do with it after I roasted it in the standard fashion, aka, 400 deg F for 40 minutes? 

    WELL...make CURRY of course! 

Now sidebar here...I love to cook but I am also a foodie. I love fun, ingredients and when I see something I want to to try...I buy it..even if it is in a jar:

So with the vegan Viagra vegetable,  or Kabocha Squash, (NOTE: this statement is not approved or tested by the FDA. I have NO idea if Kabocha Squash will help your love life.)


I made...

Kabocha Squash Curry
Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup Onions, diced
1/2 cup Shallots, diced
4 cloves Garlic, smashed and minced
Kabocha Squash, 2 lbs COOKED (see roasting method above) and chopped into 1" chunks
2 cups Chicpeas, cooked and drained
1 Jar Trader Joe's Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce
1 13.5 oz Can of Coconut Milk
1 tbsp Fresh Ginger, minced
1 tbsp Curry Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Turmeric
2 cups, Cherry Tomatoes
2 tbsp, Shelled Hemp Seeds
2 tbsp, Tomato Paste
11/2 cups water

Instructions;

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook onion and shallots until soft about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes. Add curry powder, turmeric, salt and tomato paste and stir cooking for 2 minutes.

2. Add hemp seeds, chickpeas, and stir until all mixed then add squash and mix again.

3. Add Thai sauce, coconut milk and stir until all incorporated. Add tomatoes and water, mixing again. Bring to a boil then turn heat to low and simmer for 35 minutes. Serve over a brown basmati rice. mmmm.

From pot to plate this makes a soul warming, happy vegan! The squash had a sweet, nutty flavor almost like a roasted chestnut. I could really eat this everyday!