A perfect fall dish - warm, filling, and so delicious. The sweetness of the squash is offset by the richness of the sausage and ricotta, the slight crunch of carrots and celery, and little bursts of tart cranberries. Make it with acorn or other smallish squash and give each person a half for a whole meal, or use a big butternut and serve alongside roast chicken and Brussels sprouts or a kale salad. The filling also makes an excellent gluten-free substitute for stuffing, come Thanksgiving!

These are grain-free, have no added sugar, mix up quick, and keep both big and little bellies full for a nice long time. We often have them for breakfast with butter and maple syrup or blueberry jam, but with a pinch more salt and some garlic they make a nice side to a roast chicken (we always roast a squash and a head of garlic alongside our chicken, so that makes it pretty easy). Mashed sweet potatoes can be subbed here with good results.

This dish is brightly colored and warmly flavored; a great soup for a cold, gray day.

This is the simplest way to cook any winter squash, including butternuts, acorns, sunshine kabochas, and pie pumpkins.

Preheat your oven to 375. Split your squash in half with a heavy knife, and scoop out the seeds (you can reserve them to roast as well if you like). Rub oil on the cut surface and place cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20-40 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces the thickest part of the flesh. (We recommend roasting a head of garlic at the same time - just pull off the loose papery bits, drizzle a little oil over it, and wrap it up in tinfoil. Roasted garlic makes everything better.)

If the squash is particularly big and hard to cut, you can even roast it whole, pricked with a fork in several places; it will take a little longer and the seeds are harder to remove, but it's better than chopping a thumb off!

Once cooked, the squash can be scooped out of the shell and mashed with butter or olive oil, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Enjoy!

Some variation of this is a fall and winter staple in our house – this is the current version. It’s very adaptable – adjust to the proportions and ingredients that suit you. It's a wonderful side with roast chicken. Or, to make a meal of it, add some sausage (we like the kielbasa from Pine Woods Farm or pepperoni from VT Smoke & Cure), or sauté some onion and chickpeas and put them on top. Put it on a bed of greens (arugula or kale work well), with a mustard vinaigrette, and you've got one great dinner.

This is a great recipe, warm and filling. It uses dry beans, winter squash, and frozen corn, as well as onions, canned tomatoes, and garlic. All of these might be in your winter pantry if you managed to plan ahead a little - and if not, they're all available at the coop! This recipe is adapted from one in Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair.