Butternut Cranberry bake

Here's a great winter side dish. I like how the sour cranberries cut the sweetness of the squash (and the sugar).

Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash, cubed
• 2 T butter or olive oil
  
• 1 small red onion, sliced into strips
• 1/2 cup cranberries, sliced in half
• 2 T brown sugar (or brown rice syrup)
• thyme
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• 4 cloves
• 1/2 cup water

Assembly

1. Heat oven to 350˚.
   
2. Rinse the halved cranberries under cold water to wash away some of the tiny seeds. Drain.
   
3. Heat the butter or oil in a skillet and add the onions and cranberries. Stir together until glassy and soft (about 5 minutes). Then, sprinkle with brown sugar, a generous dash of thyme, a small dash each of cinnamon and nutmeg, and the cloves. Mix all together and cook another minute or two. Turn off heat.
4. Put squash chunks and water in a glass oven dish. Top with onion/cranberry mixture. Cover all with foil and place in oven.
5. Check in about 20 minutes and stir everything together. If there seems to be a lot of water in the bottom, you can pour some off. Otherwise, keep baking for another 15-20 minutes. When the squash is fork-tender, you're done!

Serves 4 as a side dish. Good for vegetarians--or if you use olive oil and brown rice syrup, it can even be vegan/macrobiotic!