Name: Brown Sugar Baked Sweet Potatoes and Acorn Squash
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 1/4 hr
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 large sweet potatoes (1 3/4 pounds total), peeled and sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick; 1 large acorn squash (3 to 3 1/2 pounds), halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar; 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

This is not the cloying, candylike sweet potato side dish that is so often topped with marshmallows. Here, the vegetable's distinctive, mellow sweetness (as well as that of the acorn squash) is augmented by hints of brown sugar and nutmeg, so that the ingredients speak for themselves. Slicing the vegetables rather than puréeing them also imparts a lovely presence—the squash looks like happy smiles, the sweet potatoes like shining coins.

Cooks' note:

Vegetables can be baked 1 day ahead and chilled. Reheat in a baking dish, covered, in oven.

Recipe notes

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