Squash Season

Autumn is known for being the harvest season, especially for root vegetables and fruits like squash that are ripening as I type this. Yes, squash are technically fruits as they come from the flower and contain seeds. Sorry for the people who thought they were eating their vegetables when consuming spaghetti squash pasta with tomato sauce...it's actually all fruit. Botanical terms aside, squash are delicious and versatile ingredients with lots of good nutrients. Summer squashes like zucchini can be spiraled into pasta, battered and fried, made into cakes, roasted, sautéed, and more. Squash blossoms, seeds, and fruit are all edible! Winter squash is what's in season now, so the rest of the post will focus on some of the more common varieties that you may find in your local marketplace. Spaghetti squash, which is a great gluten free option for pasta, acorn squash, delicata squash, butternut, and more. Pumpkins are the poster children of fall, with carved faces with eyes glowing at you in the night, to pumpkin spice everywhere (Trader Joe's features an entire six by four foot shelf filled with everything pumpkin related), Starbuck's seasonally sought after pumpkin spice latte, or the traditional fresh pumpkin pie served with whipped cream after a Thanksgiving feast.

Here's a few of my favorite things to do with winter squash:

Pumpkins

Besides the traditional pumpkin pie, my family loves making a pumpkin roll as an alternative Thanksgiving dessert. The sponge is pumpkin flavored using a pureed pie pumpkin or canned mix, and the inside is filled with cream-cheese frosting, all dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Pumpkin soup, or any squash soup really, topped with pumpkin seeds for a little added crunch.

Pumpkin seeds toasted with salt and a dash of cinnamon or ginger are a great snack that are super easy to make, especially when you're carving pumpkins for Halloween and have a surplus of seeds available! This recipe can really be done with any squash seeds and turns out delicious! Just a quick 15 minutes in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit with a tad of olive oil and the spices.

Acorn squash

My favorite way to eat this squash is roasted in wedges served with peanut butter or any other nut butter. The combination may sound peculiar, but it's delicious and happened to be my breakfast this morning.

Acorn squash is a great 'stuffer' squash, especially if you're low on clean dishes because half a squash can act as a bowl. Slice the acorn squash in half, add a bit of olive oil and cook for 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until soft. Fill with quinoa, roasted chickpeas, arugula, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, with an olive oil vinaigrette for a fun take on tabouleh. For seasoning, add oregano or rosemary. If you want a more traditional tabouleh, swap out the rosemary for cilantro, parsley, and cumin.

Spaghetti squash

Honestly, the only good way to eat spaghetti squash is as spaghetti. It's a very stringy variety with not a ton of flavor, which makes it a good pasta base. Serve as you would with any traditional type of pasta, for example with tomato sauce, pesto, or just butter and salt.

Bake the spaghetti squash and scrap out the soft interior from the skin. The cooking times are pretty universal for all the squashes, just the size of the pieces you're cooking will alter the time needed to roast the squash. When cooked, top with pesto and add roasted tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers. Finish it off with a dash of pepper and nutritional yeast or parmesan to get that cheesy-pasta flavor.

Butternut squash

This squash is really good as a base for sauces and soups, with a nice slightly sweet earthy flavor similar to sweet potatoes. I've made pasta sauce using butternut squash before and tried ravioli with this squash as the filling. Trader Joe's boasts a butternut squash gnocchi as one of their seasonal items.

A really good chili recipe is roasted butternut squash (in chunks), black beans, sweet potato, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and lots of delicious spices like cumin, paprika, garlic, and pepper. The recipe is pretty basic and mostly involves combing all the ingredients together and cooking till everything melds together.

Delicata squash

My personal favorite, I love to just cut this squash in circles, roast, and enjoy!

A good salad combination is mixed greens, delicata squash, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and a cranberry vinaigrette. You could also add feta, Brussel sprouts, and walnuts to the salad if you're feeling a little fancy.

There are many different types of squash available and many ways to prepare them. Hopefully this post gave you a couple ideas and encouragement to try some fun squashes! Happy eating!