Kung Pao Chicken and Butternut Squash

It’s the end of October, and squashes, gourds, and pumpkins are everywhere — on people’s doorsteps, dining tables, and planted like portly pebbles on city park displays. But it doesn’t take witchcraft to turn winter squash into a hearty meal. It doesn’t even take a long time to cook! Here, some butternut squash slices are steamed first, then quickly stir-fried. And for a little scare, in keeping with the season, I’ve given them a Sichuan kung pao lick of spice.

Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry

This stir fry is just a really light, simple dish that you can make with any combination of ingredients.  I would normally use chopped scallions instead of a sliced yellow onion, but I didn’t have any left.  The sweetness of the regular onion, though, made up for a dash of sugar in the seasoning I may have added.  I kept the flavors toned down because asparagus has such a fragile, light flavor–it was almost too simple that I’d wished I’d had a fresh … Read More