Butternut squash soup
The most amazing thing about the butternut squash is not that it's delicious; pineapple and cantaloupe (from the same family as the squash) will easily rival it on that front. No, the amazing thing about the butternut squash is that it's both delicious and shelf stable. It will stay good for weeks and it will do so as room temperature, not hidden in the bottom drawer of your fridge.
There you are, week after week, with this squash sitting on your counter, nagging you every time you enter your kitchen. "Look how delicious I would be if you cooked me, " it's reminding you, "all of have to do is get off your lazy ass and prepare a meal with flesh." For most of the delicious things in your kitchen, you can either eat them or forget about them because they stop being delicious after a while but the butternut squash is not like that. You can't just slice it and enjoy it nor can you ignore it. The butternut squash coerces you into cooking.
There I was taking a walk around Union Square and even though I was doing my best to focus on finding a Swiss timepiece that would allow me to get into Twenty Five Lusk without wearing a suit, I could only think of cooking. And so I went into Williams-Sonoma to re-equip my kitchen, probably saving a few thousand dollars in the process.
You have to prepare the butternut squash before you can enjoy it but you have many options. I like it in soups because it provides a rich texture, making other thickening agents completely irrelevant. Preparing the butternut squash for a soup is easy: you can just peel it then boil it or, my favourite, you can bake it.
What do you put in a good butternut squash soup? Pretty much anything that you have in the bottom drawer of your fridge and that is still considered edible. A few tomatoes, some green onion, cauliflower, and celery; that's a good start. Top it up with several handfuls of fresh herbs and a tiny bit of curry powder and you're on a collision path with enlightenment.
If you always mean to cook but end up never doing it, put a butternut squash on your counter. Its constant nagging is going to do more to your motivation than hours of watching the Food Network.