Ragout of Butternut Squash, Sweet Onions and Parsnips

We had some friends over for dinner on Saturday night and I had already made my "Braised Red Cabbage with Goat's Cheese", a simple salad and roasted a chicken with rosemary....how to represent yellows and oranges in our meal (since we had every other colour of the rainbow)?  This simple ragout was the answer - it is delicious, simple, doesn't require a lot of cooking talent or tons of prep work, and tasted excellent cool on top of salad the next day ... if there's any left!  Sadly we were so eager to eat that I didn't take a photo of this dish...I will have to remember next time!

RAGOUT OF BUTTERNUT SQUASH, SWEET ONIONS, & PARSNIPS

Ingredients:

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, diced into 1/4" cubes

4 parsnips, peeled and trimmed, diced into 1/4" cubes

1 sweet Spanish onion, finely diced

4 tbsp of EVOO, coconut oil or grapeseed oil (any oil that won't impart a strong flavour)

1 1/2 tbsp of unsalted organic butter

White pepper, to taste

• In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the vegetables and saute until they are 'sweating' (meaning moisture starts to show and they glisten).
• Turn the heat down to low and continue to stir and saute the vegetables until they get a nice golden colour on the outside (caramelizing = the natural sugars from the vegetables are slowly extracted through the cooking process and the heat causes them to "candy", for lack of a better word, the outside) and the vegetables are soft.  Approximately 25 - 30 minutes.
• Serve as a delicious side dish to any of your favourite fall meals, or cooled as a salad with a vinaigrette dressing!