(no subject)

[coraa]

I have a pumpkin, a butternut squash, and two celebration squash (similar in flavor to acorn squash, a little bit smoother- and harder-fleshed). I ought to do something with them.

I have already made squash soup and pumpkin chili, and have them in the freezer for later, so would prefer not to repeat. (Although if you have a squash-based soup that's different than the usual "mildly spiced, mildly creamy pureed soup" type, that would be welcome.)

What do you like to do with winter squash?

Comments

[paperclippy.livejournal.com]

Cut the squash into small cubes. Preheat oven to 450. Line a jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Put cubes on tray. Spray cubes with cooking spray. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. Roast at 450 for about 30 minutes or until they are crisp and golden on the outside and soft on the inside (time depends on how big your cubes are). Eat. OM NOM NOM.

With acorn and buttercup squash, I like to bake them and fill them with cinnamon raisin applesauce.

Here is a post I made on a forum about using squash (I keep typing "Swuash"):

It's squash season and this weekend at the grocery I bought a nice big buttercup squash, which is my favorite variety. It's shaped kind of like a squat green pumpkin with a turban on top, and the flesh is orange and a bit sweeter than acorn squash.

So I had this squash, what did I do with it? Invented my own recipes of course! My plan was to cut it in half and fill one half with dinner and one half with dessert, but I overcooked it and ended up layering the squash on the bottom of a casserole dish and the fillings on top. Tasted just as good, though maybe not as pretty! Anyway, here are the two recipes I invented.

Before starting, you need to cook the squash. I preheated the oven to 400, cut the squash in half and removed the seeds, then placed the squash halves cut side down in a jellyroll pan with about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom and baked. If you bake just until tender, you can still stuff them. I baked mine for 40 minutes and all the flesh just fell out of the skin, so I layered the flesh in a casserole dish. I had a total of 1060g of cooked squash, so I used half for each recipe. That's what my nutritional info is based on, if your squash is a different size it would be different.

Buttercup Squash with Multigrain "Stuffing"

1/2 buttercup squash, cooked
1/2 C royal blend rice (from RiceSelect, it's a brown and jasmine rice mix)
1/4 C quinoa
1/4 C bulgur wheat
1/3 C instant wild rice
1 boullion cube/packed of broth flavoring
2 carrots, diced
2 small apples, chopped
1/4 C dried cherries
1/4 C reduced fat feta cheese
couple shakes of greek seasoning

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a 9" square baking dish with cooking spray. Place the cooked squash in the dish (whether it's just the flesh or the whole squash if you're filling it) and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the royal blend rice, quinoa, and bulgur (these all take about 15 minutes to cook). Add 1 1/2 C water (or the equivalent amount of required water for whatever grains you are using) and the boullion cube/seasoning packet. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until water is absorbed.

Meanwhile (or afterwards), prepare wild rice according to package directions. Mine was to combine with 1/3 C water, bring to a boil, simmer 5 minutes uncovered, then cover and remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

Combine the grain mixture, wild rice, carrots, apples, cherries, and greek seasoning. Spread over the squash or fill the squash with it. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I did 10 minutes uncovered, and 10 minutes covered with foil. It would probably be better to do the whole thing covered.

Nutritional Info: 353g is 308 calories, 2.3g fat, 66.8g carb (12.5 fiber), and 8.9g protein. That's about 2 1/2C, but I weighed instead of measuring.

Buttercup Squash with Apples and Cinnamon

1/2 buttercup squash, cooked
2 small apples, sliced
1 1/2 C unsweetened apple sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 C dried cherries
cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 inch square baking dish with cooking spray and place squash in the dish (whether it's just the flesh, or the whole squash to be filled).

Sprinkle the squash with 2 tsp brown sugar.

Combine the apples, apple sauce, cherries, cinnamon, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar in a bowl. Spread over the squash or fill the squash with it.

Sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp brown sugar over the top.

Cover and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until bubbly and the apples are tender.

Nutritional Info: 194g is 129 calories, 0.2g fat, 33.2g carb (7.2 fiber), and 1.4g protein. 194g is about 1 C, but I weighed instead of measuring.