Sunday night eats
Growing up I don't recall eating too many veggies that didn't come out of can. I only recall ever seeing carrots, celery and the occasional bell pepper in the kitchen as a kid. But then before NAFTA were there as many fresh vegetables around at the grocery store? Hmmm...
But no matter. After discovering as an adult that vegetables do taste good (unlike those that encased in steel by the Jolly Green Giant) it surprises me that many other people still shy away from a whole food group. Especially people with small kids. There are veggies out there that are really good for you, widely available and easier to make than a box of Mac & cheese. For example Butternut Squash
I've gotten two request for directions on how to prepare it and it's Sunday so here you go...
- Select a squash from the store. Look for one that isn't too narrow at the top and free of obvious blemishes.
- Wash the squash.
- Slice it in half (top to bottom) with a heavy knife. If you have a sword around that might work too, the stem can be pretty tough.
- Scoop the seeds out much like you would a pumpkin and the loose flesh around there.
- Put 1/2 cup of water in a dish then place in the two halves of squash - cut side down.
- Put it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or so and voila! Spoon it on a plate with a dab of butter and mmmmm That a tasty source of beta-carotene.
For those introducing little ones to solid food butternut squash is great. Mush it up well with a fork and add a little extra water and forget the gerbers.
posted by Tom @ 11:03 PM
10 comment
10 Comments:
You wouldn't happen to have a zucchini bread recipe would you? I'm wondering if this would be a good substitute or addition to something like that? Mike and I are planning to try to add some fruits & veggies to our diet and will need to introduce them in ways we can handle since we are so veggie-phobic. We'd like to try to get into better dietary habits since we now have Logan's helth to think of as well!
Don't think you can use butternut instead of zucchini for bread but might be interesting to try....
Starting your life with veggies try just subbing good things instead. Sweet potatoes rather than a baked pototoe, baby spiniach rather than iceberg lettuce, things like that.
Might also want to pick up a steamer it's the best way to cook stuff like califlower or brocholli.
I love butternut squash and most vegetables and my 2-1/2 does pretty well too. Unfortunately, my 16 month old won't eat ANY vegetable, with the exception of the occassional cherry tomato, no matter what I do.
I like to buy the bags of chunked butternut squash you can get in the grocery store now and roast that: much easier than dealing with the hard hard peel.
That was a quick response
We do have a steamer - but I cannot stand califlower or broccoli- so those are out for me. I have gotten to where I prefer the frozen to the canned, but there's a pretty limited selection in most grocery stores. I'm not sure if our stores carry bags of butternut squash in chunks, but I'll look. Could you season those like you might a potato? Looking at the link about the squash, it certainly seems like a good, healthy place to start.
Hi,
Thanks for the kind words on my blog.
Hey....if you want the best recipe for chips I just put my favourite recipe up on www.dadcentric.com
(it's a group of daddy bloggers talking mostly about dad stuff but my daughter loves these chips so I though I would post it)
Nice blog. Ever try baking acorn squash by cutting the squash in half, etc, as you describe, and filling the hollow with a mix of orange juice and a bit of cinnamon? A thanksgiving standby in my vegetarian household, and very tasty.
Amy - Bags of butternut squash?! I don't beleive it. Next you'll be saying they have pre-slice bread. Must look for that stuff.
And our littlest one also loves cherry tomatoes unfortuantly they do not love her.
Jillian- That's me quick. You can ask Lisa ;)
CMIB aka Peter- Saw the recipe and wondering how you can say it serves 2-3. Obviously you Aussies have small stomaches.
Jarvenpa- Thanks! and you are the reason I enjoy blogging so much. Tips like that from random strangers. My mouth has been watering all day.
We have a pretty wide variety of squash at the grocery store (none of the fancy pre-cut stuff I should add...) I prefer spaghetti squash or acorn squash - same directions that tom provided but we cook them sitting up - so hollowed out part is facing the ceiling of the oven and then put margerine/butter and some brown sugar on the inside - sweetens the squash up for those people that just can't eat it plain. This method of cooking can take longer - most of my spaghetti squash experiences have taken between 40-60 minutes depending on the size of the squash.
While revisiting I finally decided to add my two cents.
You are also one step away from maing great soup!
When you have a little more time you can cook the squash as above along with a few other veggies like onions, carrots, celery for more depth. Just let the squash cook in the oven a bit longer than everything else.
When its all done you can scoop out the squash and mix with the other veggies in a blender (or my fav tool the immersion blender) and wah-la, hearty winter soup!
Or you can throw the pre-chunked style in broth and boil your way to bliss.
We like adding plantains and curry paste for kick, but I'm betting there's hundreds of combos that work well.
Fussy eaters may accept it in small amounts added to foods they already like-
as in under the main dish or on a mound of mashed taters like a gravy substitute.....
-the original Mike
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