...but the winters are NO joke. "Harsh" is an understatement. Historically, I turn to "comfort food," which translates to anything warm and cheesy, warm and sugary, or warm and carby.
I've been working hard on a healthier lifestyle and have long been a vegetarian. When the weather changed from tropical to TORRID...I began to crave my delicious comfort food, and had to find an alternative. I love squash! :)
I found this GIANT butternut last week and was dreading trying to split it. I figured, hey..why not? SO I took a leap of faith and did something DARING......I cooked it whole! (I know, crazy.)
This was the easiest thing EVER. I did not prepare the squash in any way at all. I laid it on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet, set the oven to 375 and waited, hoping it wouldn't burn my house down or explode. Neither happened, but in about a half hour, my house smelled just heavenly.
I cooked this for about ah hour and a half...I knew it was finished when I could poke a fork in the thickest spot with no resistance. When it cam out, I noticed, to my DELIGHT, that the skin had pulled form the meat and it...omggg it caramelized!
I impatiently let it cool a little and split it open...ohhhhh, hello, lover.
I scooped the seeds and removed the skin, which was so easy. Zero waste.
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And .....here's my yield.
That's a LOT. Because I didn't split or prick the squash, the inside steamed perfectly in its own juices. The caramelization of the skin gave it a wonderful, rich flavor It was perfect and now this my go-to technique for squash! This is loaded with nutrients and was good enough to eat plain, no butter, salt, nothing. I've always been reluctant to buy/cook butternuts because I have an awful time splitting them and I hated peeling them.
I ate almost all of it *haha*..and froze some for later. Later..tomorrow. :)
Enjoy!
