The art of tuning avocado and kabocha and more

The times I paired avocado with kabocha squash, an extra-fibery type of squash, the squash's tougher texture had always overwhelmed the creamy avocado, so on this attempt (for ingredient convenience), I decided to slice up the squash into about 3 mm-thick pieces and removed spots of the tougher skin (I keep the skin for added fiber/texture and the splash of dark green). Just yesterday I got a salad from TJ's with roasted butternut squash, red quinoa and wheat berries, baby arugula and spinach, toasted almond slivers, dried cranberries and golden raisins, and goat cheese, and in place of the lemon honey sesame dressing it came with, I threw in a half avocado and a dozen pods of edamames instead, and the product was surprisingly delicious for such a makeshift replacement; the tangy goat cheese, buttery avocado, nutty grains, crunchy slivered almonds and the occasional sweetness of dried berries complemented each other pretty seamlessly, and now I know squash, in a softer, smaller form, can coexist with avocado. So today I aimed for that. On an unrelated note I also find that crisp, flaky, subtly savory roasted seaweed pairs well with avocado, so that's a safe combination anywhere.

I sauteed the kabocha squash slices and some onions (just cuz I had them) in a little olive oil. The squash cooks much slower than onions and I did intend for it to cook until quite tender, and I found that it helped keep the onions crispy by, rather than adding them later, adding them first and tossing them in hot oil. Then I added the squash, salt, and occasionally some water to prevent burning, until the squash was cooked but still tough, stirred in chopped scallions(just cuz I had them), covered pan, turned off heat, and went to yoga. When I came back two hours later the squash was tender but still vibrant in color, onion pieces flat but still retaining some crispness, and scallions partially wilted but still bright green. I reheated some leftover brown rice, tore up about half a package of TJ's roasted seaweed, dug out half avocado with a sprinkle of salt, thawed 1.25 dozens pods of lightly salted edamames, and tossed all together. The product: quite yummy! It also looks pretty. Obstacle stunted, achievement unlocked ;)

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