Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar

A couple of weeks ago, we brought home a lovely little acorn squash in our box from the Colvins. I let it sit contentedly in its happy place on the counter for about 2 weeks before I remembered it in the chaos of starting up school. I don't have any pictures of the final dish because we scarfed that bad boy down in all its buttery, sugary goodness. One acorn squash made enough for my family to eat at one meal with zero leftovers. Petite portions, too. The recipe below is for 2 squash, but, obviously, you could halve it.

Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar
~Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

• 2 acorn squash (1 1/2 pounds each), halved pole to pole and seeded
• salt*
• 3 T. butter*
• 3 T. brown sugar

*if using salted butter, go easy on the salt; if using unsalted butter, salt away!

1. Sprinkle squash halves with salt and place, cut sides down, in a pan big enough to hold them (13x9-inch pan, large bowl, etc.). Pour 1/4 cup water in bottom and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for about 15 to 25 minutes, or until squash is tender and pierces easily with a knife (or fork). Remove pan from microwave and place on hot pad on counter (if your counter is too cold, this could be dangerous without a hot pad--the pan/bowl will be HOT).
2. Preheat broiler. Melt butter and brown sugar together (add 1/8 t. salt if using unsalted butter).
3. Transfer squash to rimmed, broiler safe baking sheet (tongs work well). Place them cut-sides up and brush with butter/sugar mixture. Broil until brown and caramelized, 5 to 8 minutes. You may need to remove some portions before others if they brown faster. Serve immediately.

~Serves 4-6