Dreamy Butternut Chicken Foil Pack

Per Serving (1/2 of recipe, about 2 cups): 7 Points+
292 calories, 3.25g fat, 575mg sodium, 35.5g carbs, 6g fiber, 10g sugars, 32g protein 

The recipe: "300 under 300", pages 156 - 157

Let me start by saying I have never cooked with butternut squash before.  Partly because I was intimidated by a hard squash that is potentially difficult to work with and partly because my husband is always reminding me of how much he hates squash and I didn't want to make something he wouldn't like.  I decided to ignore both of my trepidations and finally try one of HG's butternut squash recipes.

As I expected, the squash was a little difficult to work with.  I picked one with a long neck and a small round bottom part as HG suggests in the cookbook.  It was fairly difficult to peel, and when I went to hollow out the seeds from the bottom round part, it reminded me of a pumpkin.  Cutting it up was also quite difficult, as it was a pretty hard squash.  I ended up cutting it in bite-size pieces instead of the slices the recipe calls for.  I figured it would cook better the more cut up it was, and would be more appetizing to eat in small bites than in large slices.  I turned out to be right.  The squash ended up being cooked just enough when I took it out of the oven.  I have a feeling if I had left it as slices, the squash would have been slightly undercooked while everything else would have been done.

The flavor of this dish was great.  It was very creamy and savory, and did not taste low-fat at all.  I enjoyed the fact that there were lots of veggies in it - the dish consisted mostly of cauliflower and butternut squash with some onions and a little bit of chicken.  Because of the veggies, the portion size was huge.  I ate a nice, large bowl of this and was satisfied for the whole evening without getting hungry and craving snacks before bed.

The butternut squash was a firm but smooth squash when cooked.  It still reminded me of pumpkin, but with not as strong of a flavor.  I thought it was a pretty good squash, and since I still have the whole long neck part of the squash left, I will probably attempt Hungry Girl's butternut squash fries she is known for.  I would definitely recommend this dish if you are looking for something creamy and flavorful.  You should probably cut up the squash into bite-size pieces when making this dish, though.