Guys, I’m so excited that we’re into squash season. As usual around this time of year, I’ve got a bunch of squash ideas. This year, for once, I’ll try to space out my multitude of butternut squash posts out over the season. I think. That’s always my intention when making these dishes, but sometimes I get excited and go a bit overboard. I’ll do my best! Incidentally, I discovered yesterday that I might have an allergy to butternut squash. Nothing big, just a dermal allergy. I was chopping when my hands started to get irritated, particularly my left hand, which I was using to hold the squash. The skin started cracking and peeling! I Googled around a bit to see what might be up, and apparently skin allergies to butternut squash are common. Ah well. I’ll have to remember to wear gloves in the future. This time around my squash went into chimichangas. My mom used to make chicken chimichangas when I was growing up. They were one of the few meat-oriented dishes that I remember liking, so I thought it was about time I tried a vegan version for the blog. When I started working on developing a vegan chimichanga recipe I learned that chimichangas are normally deep-fried. Eek! I had no idea. Mom’s were always baked, and since I enjoyed those, I decided I’d stick with the oven approach. On those rare occasions that I do treat myself to some greasy deep-fried goodness, I do so at a restaurant and let someone braver than I deal with spattering grease, thank you very much. Despite not being fried, the tortillas crisp up beautifully, while the filling stays soft and has a rich, spicy southwestern flavor, so these are really fun to bite into. The smokiness and spiciness of the chipotles goes awesome with the butternut sweetness, which I’ve enhanced ever so slightly with some agave. I can’t really remember what mom’s chimichangs tasted like at this point, but I do know that I felt just as blissful eating these as I did when I was little. Crispy little tortilla pockets of happiness, butternut squash style.
