Apparently vegan

I was inspired by this recipe that popped up on one of my favorite food sites (Diner's Journal of the NY Times): Vegan Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Apple With Candied Walnuts.

I had to go to Trader Joe's to pick up some food, so why not get some of my favorite ingredients? Love me some B.sprouts, B.squash, and apples! Regardless of how this experiment turned out, I could still roast the sprouts and the squash and eat it... and eat the apples. Basically, this was a win-win situation.

The recipe calls for Honeycrisp, but alas, TJ's was all out. I had to go for Pink Lady, which are pretty similar in taste (neither too tart nor too sweet, but pretty intense in flavor) and seem to hold up well when cooked. TJs is a godsend when it comes to butternut squash: the pre-cut, pre-peeled bagged version... so wonderful.

Easy peasy, throw it all in a baking dish together with olive oil, sage leaves, salt and pepper:

Let it sit in the oven for 45 minutes, and the apples come out all soft but not mushy, and everything else has been perfectly roasted. I decided to make some quinoa so I could throw the two together for lunch... naturally I had to try what tomorrow would bring:

Color explosion, basically. It was really really tasty, something I wasn't expecting. I have never thought to throw apples in with the other two veggies, but it adds a great sweetness. I did not add the maple syrup or the candied walnuts the recipe called for, since I'm definitely looking for it to be more savory than sweet; it doesn't seem to be missing anything at all! It would be a great side dish to some meat, but it goes fantastically with quinoa and will serve me well tomorrow.