In my quest to make peace with winter, I have become a lover of it's squash: butternut, acorn, pumpkin and spaghetti being my favorites. Winter squash is actually grown in the summer and harvested in September and October and happens to be one of the
most nutritious crops you can grow. It's a low-calorie and a good source of complex vegetable carbohydrates and dietary fiber. It is an excellent source of vitamin A and C, potassium, dietary fiber and manganese, and a good source of folate, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin B1 (thiamin), copper, tryptophan, B3 (niacin) and B5 (pantothenic acid). It's also a source of iron and beta carotene.
With any of these squashes, you can simply bake it by cutting it in half, scooping out the seeds and placing it cut side down into a baking dish with about 1/2" of water. Bake at 350 for 45ish minutes (until it feels soft and can be scooped out with a spoon). Oh, and if you're really ambitious (I do this about 1/2 of the time), you can get all the seeds out, coat them with a little olive oil and salt, or any seasoning that you like, and toast them. They're an awesome snack!
Acorn squash is especially good as a simple side dish and, if you're feeling decadent, add in some butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon and maybe just the tiniest bit of pure maple syrup.
You can do the same with butternut squash but my favorite way to prepare it is to make it into a tasty soup. Here are a couple of fun recipes to get you started:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/16466354860464747/
http://crossfiteternal.com/2013/04/15/butternut-squash-apple-soup/
And then we have spaghetti squash, which makes an excellent thin noodle substitute for most any recipe, from Asian to Italian. I have grown especially fond of this squash, as it allows me to enjoy many of my favorite dishes again that I used to prepare before I went gluten free/grain free(ish).
So experiment with your own favorites or try this new one that's become a staple at our house:
http://crossfiteternal.com/2013/04/15/pepperoni-pizza-pot-pie-2/
And here's my final tip (shhhhh....it's a secret!): Trader Joe's sells winter squash for $1.99-$2.49 EACH (not per lb.) between now and Thanksgiving so I stock up while the gettin' is good. Every week I buy, bake and freeze (vacuum packed with my Food Saver) 3 or 4 of them, in addition to what we eat right away, so we can enjoy them all year round without paying through the nose when they're out of season.
