In Season: Winter squash takes center stage as cold weather comfort food

Blue ballet squash on display at Sage Mountain Farm. (Photo by Lauren Duffy)

With the first week of December setting in, it’s time for winter comfort food. And perhaps no other vegetable is so well-suited to the hearty dishes of winter than winter squash.

The bright orange flesh adds a burst of color to any dish, and the sweet, creamy flavor makes a perfect foil to rich ingredients like butter and cream. If you don’t think of squash as comforting, just wait until you try squash pureed in butter, roasted with maple or brown sugar or tucked into any number of cheesy dishes like macaroni and cheese, lasagna, or ravioli. In fact, squash’s affinity for creamy flavors makes it easy to slip this highly nutritious vegetable past even the pickiest eater.

The hard-skinned relatives of summer squash, winter squash grow on vines all summer long and emerge on the produce scene from October through January. There are dozens of varieties, although most share similar characteristics-hard skin, yellow or orange flesh and thick, hard seeds that can be roasted and eaten. You may be familiar with butternut-a pale variety with a long neck and a bulbous base-or acorn, which is dark green skinned and shaped like its namesake, but the squash varieties don’t stop there. Look for kabocha, a round variety with spotted green skin, or Tahitian, which look like a longer, crooked butternut but are much sweeter. Each variety of squash has its own subtle flavor, ranging from dry to deliciously sweet.

Several area farmers grow a wide variety of squash, including many heirloom varieties. You’ll find large squash selections at Suzie’s Farm, Sage Mountain Farm and Schaner Farms. Depending on your needs (and the number of mouths you’re feeding), you can pick up squash that range in size from a baseball to two to three footballs combined. Look for striped delicata squash from Suzie’s farm, smoky colored blue ballet from Sage Mountain or vibrant kabocha from Schaner Farms.

Look For:

Pick squash that are heavy for their size and that have hard, deep colored skins. Avoid squash with blemishes or bruises. Pick a squash size that works for the recipe you are using-smaller varieties can be roasted or stuffed, while larger varieties are easy to puree, use in soups, or cube for casseroles to feed a crowd.

Store It:

Winter squash will keep for up to a month when stored in a cool, dry place. Cut squash can be stored in the fridge for two to three days. Cooked squash also keeps well frozen-try storing roasted cubed squash for a quick addition to casseroles or squash puree for an instant side dish.

Use it:

Rinse squash in cool running water to remove dirt and debris. Halve or quarter squash and scoop out stringy flesh and seeds-the seeds can be roasted just like pumpkin seeds. Cook hard-skinned varieties before peeling-it is much easier. Squash can be boiled, roasted, steamed or sautéed.  They are also excellent in the slow cooker. When cutting squash, use a sharp knife and be careful-the tough skins and dense flesh can be hard to cut through. A favorite trick of the trade is to use a mallet or meat tenderizer along with a long knife-use the mallet to hit the back of the knife until it slices through the squash. Scoop out seeds and stringy flesh before cooking. If a squash is too hard to cut through, you can roast it whole for 15-20 minutes until partially cooked, then cut it open.

The Facts:

Winter squash is highly nutritious. A one-cup serving of most winter squash supplies nearly a quarter of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C and more than 30 percent of vitamin A. Winter squash is also high in fiber and is a good source of vitamin B6, folate, magnesium and potassium. Plus, a cup of raw, cubed squash is only about 40-50 calories.

Bonus Points:

Some varieties of squash are higher in vitamins than others. A one-cup serving of butternut squash will provide nearly 300 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A and 50 percent of vitamin C.

Tags: acorn squash, blue ballet squash, butternut squash, comfort food, delicata squash, kabocha squash, Sage Mountain Farm, Schaner Farms, SDNN, Suzie's Farm, Tahitian squash, winter squash

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Food . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.