Squash that bias! This stuff is yummy!

(photo is funny as a result of the steam that kept fogging my camera. But it’s pretty. Far less green than this one, I promise).

Squash that tastes like dessert? Believe it.

Oh, yeah, I hear you. You don’t like squash. You believe in eating your veggies, you like the idea of eating seasonally wherever possible. But squash? That’s the stuff that makes eating seasonally impossible. Right? Well, that’s how it is in my house. I am the only one willing to put a piece of squash in my mouth…and even then, I rarely love it.

All of that’s changed, I tell you. It’s changed! Because I found a great recipe. Nay, I found THE recipe: Baked Apples and Squash, from the delightful, oft-mentioned Simply in Season cookbook (you have this cookbook, yes? No, you haven’t purchased it yet? Oh, you must get it. It is one of my all-time favorites).

This is a dish that could almost pass as dessert. It’s too sugary for Anna, I’m certain, but the rest of you might enjoy it. It could make a great side dish, or an ideal dish to bring to a potluck brunch…which is precisely what I’m doing this Sunday.

As always, I am following-directions-phobic, so I used the recipe as a guide. But here’s what I did:

Ingredients:
2 delicata squash (any squash will do), peeled, seeded, and chopped into half-inch cubes (note, if you microwave the squash for a minute or so before preparing, it’s much easier to peel and chop)
2 large apples, cored, and sliced into rings – maybe a quarter-inch thick each?
A third-cup of brown sugar (or less, I’m certain I used less)
3 Tablespoons of butter, melted
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Chop squash and place it in the bottom of an ungreased dish. Place the sliced apple rings on top. Combine butter, sugar, flour, and salt, and dab over the top. Bake at…oh, I think I did 350 degrees…for…oh, I think about 45 minutes or so, until the squash in the middle is tender.

Then serve to your squash-phobic husband (“yeah,” he might say. “This IS good…”)

Then serve to your food-phobic toddler (”mmm…” she’ll say the first time, and eat several bites. Although the second time you serve it to her, she’ll throw it on the floor, like all the other food you serve her).

Then serve to your orange-food-phobic 6-six-year old. (“You KNOW I don’t like squash,” she’ll say, refusing to take even a single bite. Wish in retrospect that you’d had her shut her eyes, so she would taste it without knowing it was squash. Resolve to do this next time).

Not only is this dish mmm, mmm yummy, it also makes your kitchen smell divine. Seriously, if anyone is trying to sell their house, this is the dish to have baking in the oven during showings. It’s like apple crisp, but you don’t feel quite as bad about eating it. Because it’s not quite dessert; it’s squash.

By the way, winter squash is mighty good for you — it’s packed with fiber, potassium, and vitamin C (20 milligrams), along with some folate, magnesium, iron and even calcium. Most of all, the orange color is because it’s an exceptional sources of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that converts to vitamin A as needed —essential for a healthy immune system, skin and vision. there’s a great overview of different squash varieties at What’s Cooking America.

Seriously, folks. Eat your squash. If you eat it prepared this way, you’ll even like it.