Laura J's Crock Pot Butternut Squash Risotto

1. Peel the butternut squash, cut in 1/2 and scoop out seeds. Put in crock pot on low for 2 hours with a small amount of chicken broth (maybe 1/2 a cup? Just enough to coat the bottom)

2. Remove the butternut squash and cut into bite sized pieces (this part was a pain but way easier than cutting a raw squash). Chop onion (about 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup) and cook onion/squash with a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper on low for 2 hours.

3. Measure 3 cups of the squash/onion mixture - remove the rest and store to use as a side dish later this week. To the 3 cups of squash add 1.5 cups arborio rice, 3 3/4 cups chicken broth, 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 -4 minced garlic cloves and 1/2 cup white wine (I didn't have white so I used a bit less of red). Cook this on high for 2 - 3 hours - it took mine about 2.75 hours. When the rice is softened, stir in 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese.

OMG - it had a lot of steps but seriously - YUM.

Laura J's Roasted Beets

It's really easy - I break the greens off of them, just leaving about an inch of the stems on the top, wash them and wrap each individually with foil. I place them in a baking pan and cook at 450 for about 45 minutes and then check them - if they can be pierced easily with a fork they are done, if not, I'll give them 15 more minutes. Then I let them cool a bit, unwrap them and use a piece of paper towel - rub that over the skin/stems and it comes right off, really easily. I usually need to use one paper towel per beet.

I learned how to do this with my first CSA share a few years ago and made the best salad with them. I roasted and then chopped the beets and then just added one part of red wine vinegar, one part balsamic vinegar and one part olive oil. Mixed that and tossed it with the beets along with some diced onion and goat cheese and then served that over arugula with the beets still warm. SO GOOD.