I am the type of person that awaits winter squash season with great anticipation. See, I love the soft and sweet quality of all those hard-skinned squashes and generally just can’t wait to tuck them into savory dishes galore where they provide a little bit of contrast and a lot of deliciousness.

Butternut is probably the one most of us are the most familiar with and that’s for good reason — it’s a big squash that goes a long way, but it does it with delicately sweet flavor and a bit of nuttiness. It’s great in soups and stews and plenty of other things, but here it gets to shine all on its own. Well, with a touch of garlic and fresh herbs as friends. It’s a simple oven roasted side and it’s one of my go-tos all throughout the chillier months.

I think some people avoid butternut squash because it seems like breaking one down is a rather cumbersome endeavor. But really, I promise it’s not that bad. Here’s what I like to do:

Cut the bottom and the top off of the squash, and then peel off the skin using a basic ol’ vegetable peeler. Then you can cut the whole thing in half lengthwise (it’s a little easier with the skin and the tough bottom and top removed) and, using a spoon, scoop the seeds from the hollow in the center. (Kind of like you do with a halloween pumpkin.) Then you can slice it, roast it in halves, or in this case, cube it.

You can also, of course, use a pre-peeled, pre-chopped option from the grocery store… but that’s not really as fun, is it?

Toss those cubes with some olive oil, plenty of garlic, and some fresh herbs — sage, thyme, and rosemary are the perfect combo here — and roast it in the oven for 20 minutes before you stir it and give it another 10 minutes or so.

This isn’t a situation where the vegetable gets crispy when roasted, or even where the edges brown — the squash stays soft, but the heat is high enough that the sugars caramelize so butternut’s best flavor attribute can truly shine.