butternut squash.
i was so excited when i picked it out at the farmers market.
i was so excited to see it sitting on my counter, full of possibilities.
i was so excited when grant used his super manly man strength to help me cleave it in two.
i was so excited to drizzle it with olive oil and honey. and sprinkle with s + p.
i was super excited to pull it from the oven and see it all gorgeously roasted.
but i was not so excited when it was in my mouth.
please send help.
why can't i love it?
what should i do differently?!
28 comments:
To get my kids to eat it, I have to smother it with brown sugar and butter, and sometimes cinnamon.
We had butternut the other night--roasted in cubes with olive oil, s&p. Sautee garlic and chopped sage in olive oil, then throw the roasted squash in and toss. Serve over pasta and top with Parmesan. It was really yummy! (If you have leftover squash, you could even do it with that.)
Good luck! Squash is hard to love. :)
I hate squash too! Have you tried spaghetti squash? It is dang good and doesn't taste a thing like regular squash.
It's okay. I don't like squash either. The texture really just does not fly with me. :-(
i've heard spaghetti squash is the way to go too!! but grandma also served squash as Marisa said....smothered in brown sugar and butter! But if i'm going to eat anything smothered in brown sugar and butter...it might as well be a homemade cinnamon roll!! (i've really been craving those!) how 'bout you do a revised "healthy" recipe for cinnamon rolls?...to go with that fall chilli!
Oh, shoot! I have 2 on my counter from our garden and was hoping you were sharing a good recipe! I love other squashes, but am not sure what to do with this one!
It would have been a wonder to dine with you all last eve, this happens to be one of my most favored dishes:)
It's a fine thing the brilliant photography rivals the darned deliciousness of the butternut squash,
a fine thing indeed, as I now know what we are having for supper tonight!
M
I don't like squash. Zucchini and yellow squash are all I can handle. Every year I buy different kinds of squash and think, "this is the year". It's never the year. I've finally resigned myself to the fact that I don't like it.
I like the idea of spaghetti squash, but I bought it once and couldn't get the darn thing cut in two. I don't want to eat something that I literally have to wrestle.
I have issues with vegetables being sweet-- sweet potatoes, squash, etc.. can't stand them with added sugar or honey, but I love them roasted with just butter, salt & pepper..
Fantastic pictures, by the way!
I'm with Toi. I want to love squash, but I don't. The two ways I enjoy butternut squash is roasted and blended into soup or pureed and stuffed into pillow-soft ravioli. Of course, heavy cream is involved. :)
We cube them, steam them, and eat them with butter - sometimes we sprinkle on some brown sugar and cinnamon too. Mmmm. We have a ton in our garden... I think I'm going to try making soup with some this year.
At my house, Ben loves squash, and I'm pretty "meh" about it. But it's that time of year, so we are eating squash. I find that it usually needs some pretty strong flavor to go with it. Honey, oil, and s&p sounds okay, but I think you need to bump it up a notch. Here's what I did last week.
1. (optional) Have your dad bring home-grown butternut squash to you from MN :-D
2. Halve, remove seeds, and place cut side down in a pan with about an inch of water in it.
3. Bake at 350 for ~45 min.
4. Take them out, drain off the water, and flip the squash over.
5. Dig a little trench in the neck so there's a hollow all through the squash.
6. Fill 'em up with a mixture of cooked sausage (we like spicy italian sausage), chopped apples, the squash you carved out in step 5, a few cubes of butter, and s&p.
7. Slide it back in the oven for 20 minutes while you set the table and make up a salad. The apples should be "wilted" and the sausage will get a little golden brown.
Ben likes to scrape his squash out of the rind and mash it all together. I prefer to scoop out one bite at a time, making sure to get a little filling.
Hope that helps! Squash and sweet potatoes are two things I learned to like after I got married. I still can't deal with zucchini (except in breads and cakes, of course!)
I put about one inch of water in a baking dish, put the squash halves cut-side down in the water, and bake it until it's soft. Then I scoop out the good squashy stuff and add brown sugar (or honey), butter, a teeny-tiny bit of salt, and a sprinkling of cinnamon and ginger. Occasionally I add some cloves or nutmeg too. It's the only kind of squash that Benjamin will eat.
I also adore spaghetti squash. I cook it the same way I cook butternut squash and ten top it with butter, salt and pepper. YUM!
butternut squash risotto! SO CREAMY!
I also have issues with vegetables being sweet, I find the way to counteract it is to eat the hot roasted squash (or sweet potato, etc) with something cold & salty, the contrast is delicious :)
One of my favourites is to have feta cheese with squash, either on its own or with a squeeze of lime juice and some torn up coriander. Tastes divine and I'm sure you can tweak it to find your favourite too!
I make a squash and apple soup that my family loves. I would love to share it with you if you are interested!
I BEG of you to try this recipe:
http://sherbetblossom.blogspot.com/2008/11/quite-possibly-best-pasta-dish-ever.html
Also...it is excellent mashed with some brown sugar and butter.
I've always kinda broken it up a little bit, sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of brown sugar on each half, a small tab of butter, and oven roast it for an hour!
Bummer. It took me a reeeeally long time to like squash. I always felt like it was such a "grown up" thing to like and since, you know, I'm a grownup, I should like it.
Butternut squash is a great one to start with. I would recommend a butternut squash soup first. I think that is what first sold me. Then I would try Hannah's recipe. It's become a staple for us.
Feel free to email if you'd like soup ideas!
2T olive oil
3C chopped onion
2t salt
2t cumin seeds
1/2t cinnamon
4-5T minced garlic
2 medium Anaheim chiles, minced
2 medim Poblano chiles, minced
1 large green bell pepper, minced
2T chile powder
2C water
1 medium sized (2 pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped (about 5 cups)
4-5T lime juice
3C cooked pinto beans (or 2 15oz cans, rinsed and drained)
Heat the oil in a large pot. add the onion and 1 teaspoon of the salt, cumin, and cinnamon. Cook over very low heat until the onion is soft (about 10 minutes), stirring frequently.
Stir in the garlic, chiles, and chile powder. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the water, cover, and cook another 15 minutes.
Stir in the squash, the remaining teaspoon of salt, and the lime juice. Cover, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes longer, or until the squash is perfectly tender, but not mushy.
Gently stir in beans, cover and cook for about 5 more minutes. Taste to see if it needs more lime juice.
Serve hot, garnished with a little sour cream and chopped cilantro.
hey Summer, are you sure it was cooked? It doesn't look quite done to me. Maybe it wasn't quite done and you didn't like the texture?
I love it, any way, but some faves are roasted and pureed into soup, like someone else suggested, with some chicken stock, some cream, and a tablespoon or two or brown sugar and cayenne and thyme to taste.
Another new way we've been trying is cubed in a salad with red onions, pickled roasted red peppers and a bit of sweet vinegarette.
Good luck!
Summer...
Here is a link to one of my all-time favorite fall recipes. Enjoy!!! Hint: cut the leftovers in squares and wrap each in plastic wrap. Freeze and take out only the servings you need. UH-MAY-ZING! I like to serve with oven roasted tomatoes and a salad...
http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeId=140421
butternut squash and apple soup. seriously! so! good!
here's a recipe i had success with:
http://whiskwriterepeat.blogspot.com/2009/11/butternut-squash-apple-soup.html
haha that's the same thing with me! But with more vegetables than just squash. It's sad really. I think they look all delicious and when it comes to actually eating them, it's painful.
Brown sugar (lots of it) and butter is the way to go!! You could add cinnamon too. So good!!
It's funny, it's one of the few vegetables I've always liked. In Australia it is called Butternut Pumpkin, and I generally just use it as such (I much prefer it to pumpkin or sweet potato though).
Perhaps roasted in small squares in salads?
I agree, the butternut squash is a little sweet for me. I like pairing it with something a little more savory. I have made this recipe several times, and it's AMAZING!
http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2009/10/roasted-butternut-squash-with.html
I made this winter minestrone from cooking light tonight. it's quite delicious.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1696593
I had to come back to say that I had another squash success last night. This time I peeled a butternut squash and cut it into 1/4" slices, roasted at 400 with s&p, a handful of pearl onions, and PLENTY of olive oil for about 30 min. Some pieces were just soft, and some were crispy--squash chips, I guess!
Warning: "peeling" a squash is kind of a nightmare. It would probably be better to say "carefully cutting off the outside with a very sharp knife."