Wedding Shower Continued

Ok, so after a brief pause (and several requests for more of the shower recipes) I'm back with another one. I wish that I could say that this one was all my brainchild, because it's DELICIOUS. But really it's mostly based on this recipe over at Epicurious (one of my favorit go-to recipe sites).

There are two things that I love about this dish: 1. the flavors and textures come together amazingly well, 2. it is easy to make many of the components ahead of time and pull them together right before serving. The latter point means that this is a great recipe for large parties where you don't want to be cooking as your guests arrive (which I often am). It's also really scalable, so making it for 4 people or 30 people is all about the same.

I've included the make-ahead steps below so that you can see how I prepared for the shower. Also, here are some shots of everything that I packed up:

Butternut Squash Israeli Couscous Salad

Serves 12

Adapted from Epicurious

4 lemons, thinly sliced

2 whole lemons

3 lb butternut squash (I usually get about 2 large ones and just use the straight portion for this)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, diced small

1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous (available in bulk section of Whole foods)

1 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 cup pine nuts

2 days ahead:

• Prepare butternut squash: Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Cut long end off of each squash. Peel with a vegetable peeler. Cut long end in half, then slice each 1/4 of squash into 1/4 inch thick slices. Then chop opposite way in 1/4 inch slices to create a 1/4 inch dice. Toss diced squash with 1 tbsp olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet (or two) and cook in oven for 15 minutes, until just soft (not brown). Remove from oven and let cool. Package in a large tupperware.
• Toast pine nuts: Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Place pine nuts in preheated pan and toast pine nuts until just starting to brown and you can smell them toasting (about 5 minutes). Let cool and package in a ziploc bag.
  

1 day ahead:

• Sautee onion: Preheat a skillet with 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Stir diced onion in and sautee until soft. Let cool and package in a ziploc bag
• Chop parsley and package
• Cook Israeli Couscous: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place coucous in boiling water and boil for 10 minutes, until soft. Drain. Spread on a large cookie sheet to separate grains and let cool. Once cool, toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and store in a large plastic bag.
• Roast lemons: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookie sheet with tinfoil and place thinly sliced lemons in a single layer. Spray lightly with olive oil. Roast lemons until beginning to brown around the edges. About 25 minutes. Once coooled, slice roasted skin away from flesh (avoiding particularly browned parts) and finely chope the skin. Store in a small baggie.

Day of:

• Toss together pine nuts, couscous, butternut squash, parsley, lemon peel, and onion in a large bowl. Squeeze juice of 2 lemons and pour 1 1/2 tbsp (or more) of olive oil over the top. Stir well and serve cold.