VeganMoFo threw down the Chopped challenge this week with butternut squash, popcorn, apricot preserves and fresh rosemary as the four basket ingredients for the Brunch round.

So, since my VeganMoFo theme this year is Vegan Lunch Box recipes, I chose to lean toward the lunch side of brunch and make some tangy butternut squash nuggets with maple-apricot mustard dipping sauce. Yum! I think the kids are going to love these.

First, I ground up some stale popcorn (we had some leftover from our recent car trip, so I decided to be frutal and make breadcrumb-like crumbs out of stale popcorn).

Popcorn Crumbs (like breadcrumbs, but made of popcorn) :)

I had about a gallon bagful of popcorn and it ground into 5 cups of popcorn crumbs.

Then I added the puree from a large roasted butternut squash. I ended up with about 3 1/2 cups of puree. Which is cool, because that’s about the amount of puree in a large can of pumpkin. You could totally substitute canned pumpkin in this recipe for an easier version.

I mixed up the popcorn and squash and decided it was still a bit wet, so I added a cup of quinoa-brown rice blend. Then I mixed in the apricot preserves, a few cloves of roasted garlic and some pan-roasted rosemary that I chopped up.

Butternut Squash Nuggets with Maple-Apricot Mustard Dipping Sauce

Then I pulled out my “cheese” powder (that I use for vegan mac and cheese and “cheesy” popcorn) and pressed nuggets into a powdered plate, flipping to coat both sides. Mainly I did this to give the nuggets a crisp nonstick coating, but I also thought the hint of cheesiness would be yummy with the squash. I added a bit more of the rosemary to the cheesy coating, too.

The batch made about 36 tablespoon-sized nuggets. I ended up baking them at 350 for about 45 minutes and they were still moist on the outside, but crispy on the outside. Tasty.

The dipping sauce was pretty simple. I added equal amounts of apricot preserves, maple syrup and mustard. Then I chopped up a couple more dried apricots and tossed those in for a little texture.

I totally love the show, Chopped, so I hope I’ve done this challenge proud. Enjoy!

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Tangy Butternut Squash Nuggets

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 36 nuggets

Serving Size: 6 nuggets

Tangy Butternut Squash Nuggets

Ingredients

Puree of one large butternut squash (about 3 1/2 cups)
5 cups popcorn crumbs
1/2 cup apricot preserves (I made mine with dried apricots, similar to how I make my stone fruit jam)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, pan-roasted and divided
6 cloves roasted garlic
Dipping sauce:
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons apricot preserves
2 Tablespoons mustard

Instructions

Mix ingredients through roasted garlic, reserving about 1 sprig of rosemary.

Mix remaining rosemary with “cheese” powder.

Preheat oven to 350.

Form nuggets with a large spoon. Pour cheese powder mix on a plate and press each nugget into powder, flipping to coat both sides. Place nuggets on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, flipping once.

Mix dipping sauce and serve.

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The Results

Zowie! Fantastic…and the kids loved them, too. Too bad mommy’s going to sneak into the kitchen at night and eat them. Maybe there will be some left for Bug’s lunchbox tomorrow…maybe.

This post is shared at·Mouthwatering Mondays, My Meatless Mondays, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Cravings, Just Another Meatless Monday,·Homemaker Monday.·Meatless Mondays,·Mingle Monday, Mangia Monday, Made By You Mondays and Monday Mania.