Now is a great time to post about winter squashes because they are in season and go on great sales. Also: note that when stored properly a hard winter squash can keep for 6 months! Wow! Someday I am going to have a garden... and it is going to be overflowing with hard winter squashes of all types... and I'm going to eat them all winter long! There are many different ways of cooking these hard winter squashes. You can bake 'em, microwave 'em, even boil them. I have tried a couple of methods and by far my favorite is microwave. It takes less time and I get better results.
This is what I do:
*Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the "guts." Similar to pumpkin carving you know?
*Place cut side up in microwave safe baking dish with a little water in the bottom and poke a bunch of holes in the squash.
*Cover with plastic wrap and cut a few holes to allow steam to escape.
*Microwave for about 10-15 minutes (depending on size), remove and allow to sit another 5.
*Use a fork and scrape stem-to-stem to pull out the strands of squash (The first time you do this you will have a big huge smile on your face garaunteed. It's really fun!)
You can use this as a substitute for pasta with a marinara sauce or it's a great side dish... or if you are me... MEAL or late night snack... with just a tinsy bit of butter, salt and parmesan cheese. Whatever you do, don't expect it to have the exact same texture or feel as pasta. You will be supremely disappointed. Love the squash for what it is. Don't try and make it be someone it's not.
I plan on trying THIS recipe sometime. I like the word "fritter," don't you?
Shay didn't ask me about eggplant but when you get me started with veggies sometimes I just can't stop!
I used to be terrified of these voluptuous purple beauties. My mom cooked lots of veggies for us but they were all pretty standard. Carrots, green beans, potatoes, corn. It is in my adult life that I have started to branch out. Eggplant was scary but I am SO glad I gave it a go. My kids love it, and it's dark purple... so lots of good stuff in it... don't ask me what right now. I'm tired.
I will give you my current top 2 eggplant recipes. I think they are good ones to start with because they are not totally weird or out there. One comes to us from the Frenchies but it's Americanized, click HERE and the other is from Rookie Cookie, click HERE. Love them both. With the Ratatouille I use diced tomatoes, and italian dressing works just fine if you don't want to buy a whole bottle of something just to use half a cup. With the Pomodoro the only thing I did differently was to use an egg wash instead of mayo. I never have mayo. We had that one with a heaping side of creamy baked asparagus... Divine.
Tonight I am trying a new butternut squash recipe. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Happy eating!
4 comments:
We planted Spaghetti Squash this year and I LOVE it!!! My favorite way is just like you said...a little butter and some salt and pepper!
Wow! Is it awful that I have never had spaghetti squash and didn't know it was...well....spaghetti-like?
As for requests, share all those bean recipes! Especially any with garbanzos. I've been digging those lately.
Yeah for spaghetti squash! Just this week we had spaghetti squash pomodoro (with the rookie-cookie pomodoro sauce and then twice baked yummy!!) and then veggie and bean stuffed acorn squash! We are in love with squashes this season and I just bought a lot more, so I am glad to know that they keep so long! whoot whoot! Thanks for sharing the recipes!
Yay!!! I'm so excited!! I'm sooo going to try this out next week after my show is over. Thanks soo much for the tutorial. And thanks for reminding me that cooking vegetables can be so much fun. Usually I just go right to the Martha Stewart desserts. :)
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