Grilled Chicken & Butternut Squash with Mango Salsa

Sunday, April 5, 2009

I have done it! After numerous attempts to cook squash in a way that will actually make me like it, I have succeeded! This may seem silly, but to me it is a BIG event. Growing up, it was a most hated dish but once we started getting it in our boxes from The Farm, I decided that I must like it. Last fall I tried recipe after recipe in hopes that I would learn to love it. Sadly, I did not. I was rather upset this past week because the dreaded squash appeared randomly in our box again. I definitely did not want to deal with it, but decided that I might as well try to make the best of it. I hadn't yet tried grilling the squash and invented this dish around the concept because we also had a buttload of mangos from The Farm to use up.

This is one of my better creations, if I do say so myself. The mango salsa is a conglomeration of several different recipes. It is also delicious with tortilla chips and I can imagine would be good with fish, if you were into that type of thing (and not allergic, like me). The garnish is the perfect finishing touch and really is a nice tangy & cool counterpart to the sweet mango.

Grilled Chicken & Butternut Squash with Mango Salsa

1 butternut squash
1 lb chicken
olive oil
salt & pepper
Cooked rice of choice

For salsa:
1.5 cups cubed mango
1/3 medium red onion, diced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded & diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped (4ish Tbsp)
juice from 1 lime
salt & pepper to taste

For garnish:
1 cup sour cream
juice from 1/2 lime
pinch of salt, to taste

Mix salsa ingredients and let sit while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Peel butternut squash, cut in half & scoop out the seeds. Turn so flat side rests on the cutting board and cut into thin strips lengthwise.

Cut chicken into strips the same width of the squash. To save time, you can buy the precut chicken tenders.

Grill the squash & chicken over a medium heat after brushing with olive oil and seasoning with salt & pepper. The squash only took around 4-5 minutes per side and the chicken not much longer than that.

Mix garnish ingredients.

Layer squash & chicken pieces over rice, then add a scoop of mango salsa and the sour cream garnish.