Since last week I truly had reason to rue my failure to do my weekend cooking, this weekend I was much better behaved. One of the things I made was a sort of odds-and-endsy vegetable puree that I believe will heat up very well on its own, or as a (culturally confused!) gratin of sorts if topped with a bit of cheese and breadcrumbs, or as croquettes if mixed with egg and fried up in a pan. Certainly it tasted excellent as it was. It was born of what I happened to have in the house and should taste culturally unconfused with either Cubanesque food (like the black beans I also made) or Indian food.

It occurs to me that the bit here where I have you baking a squash while simmering something else s not very parsimonious, either in terms of fuel or pans. It worked out okay for me because I was also in the process of doing things like baking a gratin and parboiling broccoli; even so, I think it wouldn't be *too* excessive, since you can use the simmering pan for the final mashing together, and it's easy to bring just an inch or two of water to a boil, dump the vegetables in, and slam the lid on, cooking with a combination of simmering and steaming. Of course no one reading this is likely to have this combination of ingredients on hand anyhow, and what are you going to do with the leftover coconut milk? -- so maybe it's destined never to be repeated. Still, I figure it's worth recording.

INGREDIENTS
1 butternut squash, halved and seeds removed
Approximately 1 teaspoon olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, peels intact
3 parsnips (hi, yes, I said this ingredient list was odd)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
pinch ground cayenne
About 1/2 c. coconut milk
1/3 c. unsweetened grated coconut (optional)
salt to taste

TO DO
1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Lightly oil the cut sides of your squash and lay them cut side down on a baking sheet, with the garlic tucked into the hollow where the seeds once were. Bake until very soft.

2. Meanwhile, bring an inch of salted water to boil in a pan with a heavy lid. Peel your parsnips and cut them into 3/4" chunks. Add parsnips to water, cover, and cook on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until quite soft. Drain and return to pan.

3. When the squash is cooked and cool enough to handle, scoop it into the pan along with the parsnips. Squeeze the now-roasted garlic out of their skins and add. Add other ingredients and either mash very thoroughly with a potato masher or puree with an immersion blender. Use an amount of coconut milk such that the resulting puree is a little bit on the loose side, because if you're planning to serve this right away, now you should turn on the heat underneath, and stir in the coconut, if you're using it.

4. Heat through, stirring continually. Taste for salt and serve.