No picture of the finished salad here. The pictures did a disservice to the delectable salad. So here's a picture of the pre-roasted delicata squash. It's one of the easiest squashes to prepare. It cuts easily and the seeds are easy to remove. In fact, that grapefruit spoon there is usually used to remove squash seeds, not to eat grapefruit. This is a quick easy salad to prepare. Eat it as a main course or an accompaniment. Serves 4-6 as a salad or 3 as a main course.

1 large delicata squash
2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup

(please click on the recipe title for the whole recipe)

Here's a recipe for a quick mole with Chipotle Chocolate Rub.  

1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup almonds, ground (a food processor or blender will work) or a scant 1/3 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate and a scant 1/2 cup water or 1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons of Chipotle Chocolate Rub
14 ounces of tomatoes
1 3-4 pound roasting chicken, cut into pieces

In a large frying pan, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the Chipotle Chocolate Rub. Stir, cooking for two minutes.  Add the almonds and tomatoes, mix, and then turn off the heat. Puree the mixture in a blender, then pour back into the frying pan and cook until the mixture thickens and reduces by 1/4-1/3.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the dutch oven. Take the chicken pieces and place them skin side down in the pan, first brown the skin side (3-5 minutes) and then flip and brown the other side.  Pour the mixture from the frying pan over the chicken, put on the lid and cook.  I cook it until the internal temp of the thigh is 150-155 degrees.  Please keep in mind, however, that the USDA says 165 degrees.  So you should do that if you're litigious.  

I recommend serving this with green beans, cooked briefly and at high heat, so they just start to blister and are still crunchy.

Here's a pop-it-in-the-oven-and-ignore-it dinner.  It's flavorful and sophisticated, while being yummy and subtle.  Which is to say that both the gourmets in your family and the ones with plainer palates will enjoy it.

1 4-6 pound chicken
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons ras el hanout
15 - 20 olives (I like a combination of oil-brined black and salt-brined green)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (1 large or two small)
1 lemon, zest and 1/2 the juice in one bowl, the other half of the juice in another
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove any giblets, necks, etc. from the cavity and pat the chicken dry.  Salt inside and out.  Mix the zest and juice with the garlic, shallots, olives, and 2 teaspoons of ras el hanout. Either place this mixture in the cavity or place half in the cavity and the other half under the skin.  Rub the chicken with about half of the olive oil and sprinkle all over with the remaining tablespoon of ras el hanout.  Truss, if you feel like it, place the chicken breast down in a roasting dish, and pop into the oven. 

Let the chicken cook until a instant read thermometer tells you that the flesh of the thigh is 160 degrees.  Remove and let rest for 5-10 minutes.  Serve with rice or couscous and roasted vegetables.