What's Not for Dinner

I've been pretty ill this past week. I'd rather not go into the grim details, but I'm hopefully on the mend now. My family will be so glad to have me back. You see, there was no dinner for three nights straight last week. Unless you count leftovers, and apparently, my husband does not.

After listening to his grumbling about not having a decent meal all week, I promised him I would cook him a nice meal last night. The kids were both going out to parties, so I took the opportunity to make something they both hate: Butternut squash risotto. In my opinion, there is nothing more fabulous than any kind of creamy risotto. It is a meal in itself. It doesn't need anything else to go with it. So imagine my consternation when Dear Hubby started complaining about there being no meat. No Meat? Who needs meat when you you have sweet winter squash and sage and cheese and rice? I mean, really. I placated the man by throwing some chicken sausage with asiago and red pepper on the grill. I ended up having pizza at the party where my son was going, but after several days of not eating, it tasted really good. And I did have a bite of risotto. It was fabulous.

Notes on the recipe: I used a kabocha squash instead of a butternut. You can use a delicata or acorn, or whatever winter squash you happen to have around. I baked the squash in the oven for about an hour and it was so soft I was able to just stir it into the risotto instead of dirtying up the Cuisinart to puree it first.

Today, I'm going to roast a chicken for him. That should make him happy.