Autumn Squash Casserole with This Bar Saves Lives

Happy almost December! I'm excited to share this recipe because I had so much fun creating it. I partnered with This Bar Saves Lives to bring you a great seasonal recipe, featuring several different squashes and one yummy snack bar. I am delighted to team up with This Bar Saves Lives, not just because they create a delicious product, but because their mission is important, and one that I can certainly stand behind. For every bar sold, a packet of life-saving food is sent where it is needed most. In addition to having a great mission, these bars check quite a few of my snack bar boxes. They are Non-GMO, gluten-free, fair trade, and bee friendly. As a blog focused on eating with type 1 diabetes, I used one of This Bar's lower sugar bar options for this recipe, the Madagascar Vanilla Almond & Honey flavor. While I typically don't eat snack bars with added sugars regularly, these are a delicious treat and didn't spike my blood sugar like other bars with added sugars sometimes do. Just be sure to bolus appropriately, of course!

This recipe is both savory and sweet, and really easy to make. The vibrant squash, hint of sage, and nutritional yeast paired with the sweet vanilla flavors from the bar on top make this a really festive side dish. I was inspired by the classic sweet potato casserole with marshmallow topping seen on many a Thanksgiving table. This is my more wholesome, vegan, gluten-free, and unusual take. I really hope you'll try this recipe!

Autumn Squash Casserole

By Bailey West, B.S. Nutrition/Dietetics

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 small delicata squash

3 cups butternut squash, diced

3 cloves garlic

2 shallots

½ cup fresh sage, chopped

5 This Bar Saves Lives bars (Madagascar Vanilla Almond & Honey flavor)

½ cup nutritional yeast

⅓ cup coconut cream, melted

2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed

6 Tbsp. warm water

2 tsp. coconut oil, melted

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and chop butternut squash into 1” cubes. Slice delicata squash (keep the skin on, if desired) into ½ inch slices. Toss lightly in 1 tsp. melted coconut oil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until soft.

2. While the squash is baking, sauté garlic, shallots, and sage in 1 tsp. melted coconut oil until shallots are translucent. Set aside.

3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, make two flax eggs by whisking together ground flaxseed and warm to hot water. Set aside and let sit for about 15 minutes, or until it’s consistency has thickened to that of a raw egg.

4. Once the squash has finished baking, remove from oven and combine with shallot, garlic, and sage. Briefly process in a high powered blender or food processor, but don’t completely puree; keep some pieces for texture. Then, add the pumpkin puree, melted coconut cream, nutritional yeast, and processed squash mixture, and combine in the mixing bowl with the flax eggs. Stir everything until well blended together. Taste the mixture and add salt & pepper as needed.

5. In a casserole dish, spoon out the contents of the mixing bowl. Finally, break up the This Bar Saves Lives bars into small pieces, and place on top, pressing them into the squash gently.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 more minutes. Enjoy!