Skip to main content

Guest Post: Squash- Fall’s most Colorful Vegetable

As we enter into the month of November and gear up for the holidays, Angela Farris helps familiarize us with the many types of squash as well as giving us tips on how to prepare.  Enjoy!

Squash is not only colorful, it’s tasty! Winter squash varietals come in various shapes and sizes but share similar characteristics. Winter squash tends to have a hard outer shell that encloses a vibrant flesh that can boast many vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C & E, beta-carotene, magnesium, manganese and potassium.

A quick, easy way to prepare your squash is to oven bake it. Preheat your oven to 350°. Scrub the outside of your squash thoroughly, cut in half length wise (Beware! squash can be difficult to cut due to its size and firmness. Take extra precautions and find a firm grip before slicing), remove the seeds and place face down in a roasting pan. Add half an inch of water in the bottom of the pan to provide moisture. Depending on size, bake between 1 – 2 hrs or until flesh is tender to the touch at the thickest part. Scoop flesh out of squash and season with fresh herbs and spices. Squash is a visually appealing taste treat for everyone in your family to enjoy! Find a few common squash varietals and some fun spice pairing suggestions below:
Acorn Squash: Named after it’s round, small, acorn-like shape, the flesh of an acorn squash has a mildly sweet flavor. Cutting the acorn in half provides decorative scalloped bowl shape. Varieties include a dark green or golden yellow skin. Spice pairing: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove

Butternut Squash: A common squash used in soup making due to its non-stringy texture and rich flavor, butternut squash is easily found in supermarkets. It tastes similar to sweet potatoes and is usually a deep colored orange flesh. Spices pairing: rosemary, sage, thyme

Delicata Squash: This squash is a lesser-known variety that has a thin, edible skin, creamy texture, and flavor similar to sweet potato mixed with corn. Spice pairing: nutmeg, cardamom, all spice

Spaghetti Squash: With a mild nut like flavor and great spaghetti noodle-like texture, spaghetti squash has become a popular variety. This squash can replace wheat noodles and is a great gluten-free substitute for those with allergies. Spice pairing: cumin, turmeric, coriander, paprika




Squash from left to right: (top) Butternut, Acorn- orange, Spaghetti, (middle) Acorn- green, Acorn- golden, (bottom) Carnival, Delicata
Labels:

Comments

Kati @ Around the Plate said…
I love squash! Such a great treat for this time of year.
November 9, 2011 at 1:15 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make it Happen

Parents, I see you. I see you putting everyone else's needs in front of yours. I see your dark circles under your eyes, your gray hair, that your wasting away, or that you've collectively gained weight over the years. It's time to put yourselves first because if you don't take care of yourself you won't be around to keep taking care of everyone else. So often friends, acquaintances, or clients say to me, "I don't know how you find the time to exercise." "How can you take the time away from everything else and get away to exercise?" "I wish I could actually focus on myself and exercise." Exercise to me is self care. It produces endorphins faster than any other activity I engage in. It  reduces my stress, keeps me healthy, increases flexibility, and gives me more energy to be on point with my busy kids and my demanding job. My exercise isn't extravagant and it doesn't take too much time. Here's my secret. I always
Post a Comment
Read more

Why this Dietitian Cares more about your PREbiotics than your PRObiotic Pill

Clients ask me all the time what I think of their brand of probiotic or which one they should start taking.  Studies have shown that probiotic supplements definitely have their place in certain circumstances (that’s a whole other blog for another time), but my bigger concern is... what are you feeding the ones you have already? “Probiotics” is just a fancy word for helpful bacteria.  Even if you don’t take a pill, you have these little guys in your digestive track.  The problem right now is that current probiotic supplements can only include the bacteria that scientists have been able to 1) identify and 2) put in a pill without them dying right away.   However, we (probiotic and non-probiotic users alike) have so many different strains of bacteria (somewhere in the neighborhood of billions) who do so much good for us such as make vitamins and help battle bad bacteria.  BUT - just like us - they need to eat!  A recent study showed that a diet high in protein is not in their
Post a Comment
Read more

To The Bones- A review from a dietitian

Friday July 14th, Netflix premiered the movie To The Bone.  Prior to the premier many had opinions of the movie. Some were fearful that it would glorify an Eating Disorder, some felt the movie would put too much focus on extremely thin patients with Eating Disorders neglecting those that are within normal weight but still extremely sick, and many had a lot of opinions about the lead actress who lost a significant amount of weight for the role disclosing she is in recovery for an Eating Disorder. My colleagues and I discussed the pretense of the movie, I communicated to families that the movie was coming out in case their daughters and sons watched the movie, and Friday I went home from work and viewed the movie. Although Hollywood has a way of sensationalizing everything there was a lot that the movie got right. The opening scene where Ellen counts the calories as soon as she sees the food is a good depiction of how someone with an Eating Disorder thinks. Food is not sensual it i
Post a Comment
Read more