Squash Everywhere!

This time of year the grocery stores and markets are literally overflowing with all kinds of winter squash and pumpkins.  This is a perfect time to adapt what you buy and what you eat to what is in season.  Those crazy looking pumpkins and squash are actually edible (even delicious!) so don't be afraid to buy something and try it!






Acorn Squash (from Wikimedia.org)

Acorn squash and butternut squash are probably the two types that will look and taste most familiar, so at the very least start there!  The easiest preparation is roasting.  Roasting in the skin will be the easiest and the least likely to  end up with a trip to the Emergency Room for stitches.  However, if you are brave (or skilled), peeling, cubing and roasting is also delicious (and perhaps easiest to eat).   Either is delicious with just olive oil, salt and pepper.  For other ideas, I recommend just spending a few minutes reading recipes online.  Google "squash recipes" and you'll have enough ideas to fill your week.



Butternut Squash (from Wikipedia.org)


But beyond these "familiar" varieties there are TONS more.  Each with a fresh and nutty texture that are just waiting to be a side dish alternative to a potato or a main component in a soup or stew.   Carving pumpkins are probably the only ones that you don't want to try to eat (unless they are the small ones).  The medium or large carving pumpkins have a really stringy texture that isn't great for eating.  However the rest are just waiting....waiting for you to be brave enough to give it a try!

We've tried both of these squash (pictured below) this month, the Cheese Pumpkin and Kabocha.  Although I didn't know what they were until I got them home and Googled pictures of squash.  



Cheese Pumpkins

Kabocha Squash

One of the staples in our house is something loosely defined as "cassoulet".  I know just by using the term I am probably offending chefs and French citizens everywhere.  As defined by Wikipedia, a cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.  Well, ours is almost always vegetarian and doesn't usually include white beans.  So maybe I do need to use a different term. 



"Cassoulet" with beans, tomatoes and squash

However, the idea that I've adopted is a thick, slow-cooked stew that includes beans (kidney, white, soy, whatever I have).  Squash is PERFECT for this.  We made a "cassoulet" with tomatoes, onions, dark red kidney beans, soy beans, and squash.  We happened to have the Cheese Pumpkin for this one.  I simmered everything in a large pot on the stove top but you can also put it in a roasting pan and cook it in the oven or a slow-cooker.  These types of "one pots" are nice to pull together on a weekend, for a Sunday night dinner for example, and then you have leftovers all week.

And, as if the this wasn't enough convincing for you, winter squash are nutrition powerhouses.  They are excellent sources of antioxidants, carotenoids, and a whole variety of vitamins.  Check out Whole Food's info on winter squash, which includes a graph that shows that just a cup of winter squash has more than 200% of your daily Vitamin A.

So what are you waiting for?  There is still time!  Go get your squash!