One of my favorite fall vegetables is butternut squash.

We start the plants from seed in the spring and let them sprawl all over a straw covered bed in the back of the garden.  These are the variety ‘Waltham’ from Johnny’s Seeds.

I think baby butternuts are so cute.

Midsummer, the squash look like this.

They are ready to harvest when the tan rind is hard and the stem has turned brown.  Some of these were not quite ripe, but there was a frost warning – so I picked them anyway.  I’ve found if mine get touched by frost, they don’t keep as well.  Wash them thoroughly (but gently – even though the rind is hard, they can still bruise and, again, they will not keep as well over the winter).  I like to cure them, so on warm days, I put them outside in the sun for about two weeks.  That mimics the natural curing that would take place if our growing season was just a bit longer, and I could leave them in the garden.  By the way, those green things are acorn squash – courtesy of some stray seeds that grew in our compost pile.

So, now that we have all these luscious beauties, how to cook them?

Our favorite way is baked.

Prepare them by first cutting a squash in half from the stem end to the blossom end.  Be careful with that knife!  Clean out the seed cavity with a spoon.

Brush the squash halves lightly with olive oil (skin side, too).

Sprinkle a little salt on a foil-lined baking sheet (clean up is easier) and place the squash halves skin side up.  You’ll notice this squash had a bit of damage on it.  We knew it wouldn’t keep, but it’s still good to eat.  Pop them into a 350° oven for about 30 minutes.

The skin is starting to separate from the flesh, and it’s time to add some liquid to both add some flavor and keep the squash from drying out.  We used white balsamic vinegar, but you could add white wine, apple juice or just plain water.  Pop them back into the oven for another 15 minutes.

Now the squash is just about done.  The skin should separate easily from the flesh.  Flip them over and cut some slits into the squash.

Slather on some butter.  Or you could use maple syrup.  Or skip the butter and go right to the seasoning.

Sprinkle on your favorite seasoning.  We like Balti Seasoning from Penzeys Spices – it’s sweet and a bit spicy.  Try cinnamon or apple pie spice or whatever floats your boat.

At this point, we like to put them back under the broiler for just a few minutes.  It really brings out the natural sugary goodness of the squash.

I had all sorts of good intentions of taking a photo of dinner all plated, but the smell of this cooking…

made me hungry and we just served and dug in.

So the menu last night was smoke-roasted pork butt, barbeque beans and our lovely, fresh butternut squash.  I did one different thing – I added some honey mustard to the squash and mashed it around.  It was a great complement to the sweet, vinegary tastes from the pork and the beans.

In addition to tasting great, butternut squash and its winter squash (acorn, delicata, hubbard, pumpkins, etc.) cousins are very good for you, too.  According to one of my favorite Web sites, The World’s Healthiest Foods, “Winter squash is an excellent source of vitamin A. It is also a very good source of vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, and manganese. In addition, winter squash is a good source of folate, omega-3 fatty acids, thiamine, copper, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, niacin and copper.”

So get yourself some winter squash and enjoy a delicious taste of fall.

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