Grace Farris: Roasted Butternut Squash Quesadillas

The brilliant doctor, illustrator, and author shares a delicious and simple vegetarian recipe that got her through medical school.

When I admire an artist’s work, I love becoming internet friends with them. And I’m a huge fan of Grace Farris, an Austin-based doctor who is also a nationally recognized illustrator. The award-winning author of Mom Milestones, Farris’s poignant comics, now a regular series on Cup of Jo, cut right to the heart of motherhood with humor.

Farris has a medical degree from Brown, a bioethics fellowship from Harvard Medical School, and is currently an Associate Professor of medicine and hospitalist at the University of Texas-Austin Dell Medical School. It simply isn’t fair that Grace’s brain can practice medicine and create incredible artwork. Find her on Instagram at @coupdegracefarris.

Grace happily shares the following memory and recipe she made during grad school with the caveat that she's "not a gourmet cook." Sure, Grace.

She adds: "It took me a little bit to come up with something because I'm not the biggest home chef! I do like to make these butternut squash quesadillas, though. My husband and I used to eat them when I was in medical school at Brown and he was a reporter for the Providence Journal. The recipe is based on a dish from the Garden Grille, a vegetarian restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island. When I make these I feel like I’m 26 again, and trying to figure out what my life will look like, when I will feel like a 'real' doctor, and whether I will have time for a family and artistic pursuits. (Spoiler alert! I do.) I still make them, though my older son prefers a plain cheese quesadilla."

Roasted Butternut Squash Quesadillas

Makes: 4 quesadillas

Time: ~50 minutes

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1″ dice (or a bag of diced butternut squash from the grocery store)

• olive oil

• salt

• 2 avocados

• 1 can black beans, rinsed

• grated jack cheese

• flour tortillas

• Optional: Lime for garnish

Preheat oven to 425. Toss butternut squash with olive oil and salt then roast in a single layer for 30-40 minutes or until tender and caramelized around the edges.

When you are ready to assemble, spread 1/2 an avocado each on 4 tortillas, sprinkle with black beans, and roasted squash.

Pile on jack cheese and bake (open-faced) in the oven for 10-ish minutes or until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are crisp. As the loaded tortillas will take longer to crisp up than the toppers, you can add the toppers to the oven halfway through.

Serve with a side of your favorite salsa. Optionally, garnish with a lime.

(Grace’s recipe originally drew on this blog post.)