Cider-Glazed Chicken, Browned-Butter Pecan Rice, and Roasted Butternut Squash

Remember seeing this guy, Mr. Butternut, in the blog a few days ago?

Well, this past weekend, I peeled and chopped Mr. Butternut, and stored him in tupperware until tonight, so I was able to get down to business as soon as dinnertime rolled around tonight. Mmm, I love squash - it is one of the veggies that I have always loved, even as a kid. I decided to prepare my squash using my favorite vegetable-cooking method: oven roasting! You just can’t beat the crisp, carmelized outside and soft, fluffy inside of delicious roasted veggies. To prepare, I tossed the squash chunks in EVOO, and sprinkled with brown sugar, S&P, and nutmeg, and baked at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes. How tasty does this look?:

Tonight’s main dish was also totally Autumn-inspired: Cider-Glazed Chicken (recipe courtesy of Cooking Light magazine). I simply sautéed boneless skinless chicken breast halves, seasoned with S&P, in a small pat of melted butter for a few minutes on each side. After removing the cooked chicken from the pan, I added apple cider and a small squirt of Dijon mustard, and let heat for several minutes, so that the sauce would reduce. Once the cider had thickened a bit, the chicken was added back to the pan and coated in the sauce.

My second side dish (also courtesy of Cooking Light), I saved to present to you last – best for last!: Browned-Butter Pecan Rice. So simple. So utterly divine. I melted a couple tablespoons of butter (I actually used Smart Balance 50-50 Omega-3 Butter Blend), over medium-heat, and let cook for a couple minutes, until it was smelling pretty amazing, darkening in color, and getting a little foamy. At that point I added in some chopped pecans, and let them toast for a about a minute over medium heat.

The last step was to simply mixed in cooked brown rice – I used a bag of pre-cooked brown rice from Trader Joe’s that was ready after 60 seconds in the microwave. Oh, and also sprinkled with a little salt.

Holy amazeballs. This was utterly fantastic. Butter pecan rice. I would GLADLY choose a bowl of this rice over a bowl of butter pecan ice cream any day. ANY day. I want to have little butter pecan babies with this rice. Just trust me. Go make this. Now. GO!

The verdict:

Cider-Glazed Chicken - very good, a bit on the bland side. Ate it right up, but nothing mind-blowing here.
Roasted Nutmeg Squash - wonderful! Peeling squash is SO much work though. Next time I might just slice ‘er down the middle, roast, and call it a day!
Browned-Butter Pecan Rice - freaking magical.