Sweet Potato and Acorn Squash Curry

I like to cook. I happen to think I am pretty good at it. It comes rather naturally to me - something I inherited from my mom. She has an amazing ability to create a gourmet meal out of whatever is laying around. I have had a couple sweet potatoes and an acorn squash languishing on my counter for weeks. While they were far from being "old", they were taking up precious real estate on my already over flowing counter. I was sick of looking at them. I couldn't even remember what I had originally intended them for when I bought them. So I put my thinking cap on and started dreaming up some uses. We love Indian food around these parts. Hmmm, how about a curry? I did a quick Google search and glanced through a few recipes but didn't find anything that fit the ingredients I had on hand. "Oh well," I thought to myself. "I'll just make it up as I go along." And so I did. And OH!MY!WORD! Success! Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
3 sweet potatoes
1 acorn squash
1 medium to large onion
1 TBSP vegetable oil (or whatever you have - canola, olive, ghee)
1 heaping tablespoon curry paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 TBSP turmeric (did you know turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties?)
1 - 2 TBSP curry powder
1 can light coconut milk
1 large can chickpeas

Method:
Peel and chop sweet potatoes and squash. Chop onion and saute in oil until translucent. Add sweet potatoes and squash. You will want to add a little bit of water, just enough so the potato and squash are covered and start to cook. Simmer until they are starting to get tender, about 20 minutes or so. They don't have to be done, just starting to soften up. Add spices and curry paste. Let cook for another 10 minutes or so. Rinse and drain the chickpeas and add them to the party. Stir in coconut milk. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Serve over Basmati rice.

You may notice that I say "about" a bit. I just kinda cook. I am not sure on the exact times. And I am just guessing about the amounts for the spices, as I didn't really measure. You could certainly up the ingredients a bit to suit your taste. This came out flavorful but not spicy. If you like spicy, by all means, add some heat. Since I have a two year old to feed (in theory anyway - she wouldn't eat dinner tonight!) I scale back a bit on the spicy. You could also add some frozen peas or green beans in towards the end.

Enjoy!