Recipe for a Vegetarian Southwest Squash Casserole

While I was in Santa Fe, I saw several times the options for a Southwest Squash Casserole. Instead of the usual burritos or other Mexican food with the generous ladling of red or green (or both, “Christmas style” – get it, using both red and green?) chiles, the Southwest Squash Casserole option sounded less heavy but still celebratory of the namesake southwest chiles. I didn’t have any while I was in Santa Fe, but I was inspired to make one myself.

This recipe for a Vegetarian Southwest Squash Casserole uses both red salsa and green chiles, as this was my favorite way to enjoy the chiles in Santa Fe (though they used red chiles and green chiles – I dialed down the heat by using a salsa instead). Also, maybe I could never really know which would be the best at any restaurant – the green or the red – so why decide? Why not both?

In Santa Fe sometimes the green chile came with chunks of shredded chicken in it, but if you get the ones in the can you normally see in the store it will just be the chiles – it’s up to you if you want to add in some shredded cooked chicken to this dish.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of squash – I used a mix of yellow squash that I chopped into half moons (they should be at least 1/2 inch thick so they don’t get too mushy) and cubed butternut squash
  
• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 4 ounce can of chopped green chiles
  
• 2 cups grated cheese, divided – I used a blend of cheddar and jack cheeses
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup salsa – if it’s not spicy you may want a little more if it’s a chunky salsa you are using, if it’s spicy you might dial it back a little to not overwhelm the dish with too much heat
• 2 green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 11-by-7-inch 2 quart casserole baking dish with cooking spray.
2. I had to do this in two large mixing bowls because I didn’t have a bowl large enough, but you will want to combine your 8 cups of squash, 2/3 cup chopped onion, the 4 ounces of chopped green chiles, half of your grated cheese (so just 1 cup cheese), and the 1/4 cup flour together and mix. Since I used two mixing bowls, I just put half of everything in each bowl to do the mixing – you will want to flour, onion, and green chiles and cheese to coat all your squash lightly. Then combine the mixture together into your sprayed baking dish. Cover with foil.
   
3. Bake the casserole until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and distribute your salsa over the top, as well as sprinkling over the salsa your last 1 cup of grated cheese.
   
4. Return to the oven uncovered to bake for another 15 minutes or so until the cheese is bubbling. Remove from oven and sprinkle with green onions.
   

Have you ever heard of a Southwest Squash casserole? Did it have this “Christmas” version of red and green chiles, or how was it?

This is my last post until after the holidays: in fact, I actually left for Japan several days before this post went up! So I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful warm holiday until 2016, full of new memories and of course lots of deliciousness.