Does it work? 3: Butternut Squash Lentil Stew

I saw squash in the grocery store, bought it, and then came home to look for recipes to use it in [1]. And the internet delivered, with a bonus use of some of our 4 lbs of lentils. This is Lindsey's Spicy Butternut Squash Lentil Stew, from the blog Lou Lou Biscuit [2].

Substituted (2 of 15)
- Syrup for molasses
- Regular paprika for smoked paprika

On a scale of dog to platypus [3] this was a dingo - near to a prototypical mammal, but definitely not a standard one.

Googled
- Is peeling butternut squash necessary? (No. So I didn't - it was 80% laziness, 20% want-to-keep-those-skin-vitamins)

Left out (1 of 15)
- Red chilis (I added some extra cayenne)

Was it tasty? Yes! and super hearty. Was it the intended flavor? Probably not! Since I didn't have red chilis or smoked paprika, my stew was probably much milder than the original recipe. It still had a lot of wonderful textures, and subtler but still delicious flavors.

Difficulty rating: Pretty easy. Butternut squashes are kinda difficult to slice, and you do have to keep an eye on the simmering stew. But really it's just a stew.

Recommended for: Someone hankering for a solid, filling stew.

Bonus, here's my sliced squash sweating in the dry air:

xo,
Devo

[1] This is how pretty much all my creative endeavors go: buy the materials first, figure out what to make after.

[2] Sadly, it looks like the blog is on hiatus/defunct - no new posts since 2016.

[3] This is my goofy use of prototype theory - namely, that a dog is a very prototypical mammal (representing complete fidelity to the recipe, and ending up with the "prototypical" or exact flavor) and a platypus is not (representing complete deviation from the recipe, so far that some might argue it's a different thing entirely).