A Better Bag of Groceries

Incredible Vegetables: Butternut Squash

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 06:45 AM

If there is one thing I’ve learned at NuVal is that vegetables are Rock Stars.  They get incredible scores – almost all of them fall somewhere between 91 and 100 on the NuVal scale (100 is best).  Most processed foods don’t even come close.  Take bread, for example.  The median score (half of the scores fall above and half fall below) for bread is a 25.  The median for milk is a 52.  Crackers? The median score is a 14.  So, yes, vegetables rule the food kingdom.  And fruit is awesome too.  It’s like Michael Pollan says:  Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.

I have always been a big veggie fan.  A die-hard fan.  Like if I come back from a trip where vegetables were scarce, I need to have a big green salad or a bowl of asparagus.  For more on my veggie-loving background, see About Me.  So it is with this new knowledge of how amazing vegetables really are coupled with my innate love for all things green that inspired me to start a new feature on my new blog:  Incredible Vegetables.  Each week, expect to hear about a new vegetable, how it scores, and how you can prepare it.

So, let’s get going!  Here’s my first Incredible Vegetable Post!

Butternut Squash

The bummer about being a veggie lover is that you have to find time to prepare them.  This is not always easy.  I have a hutch in my kitchen where my non-refrigerated produce sits just waiting for my attention.  Right next to Finn, our Betta Fish, my trusty Ipod player, and a bottle of red wine.  The pineapple, canteloupe, and tomatoes on the vine hang out there until I have time to hunt down my chef’s knife and a cutting board.  And that’s where my butternut squash hung out – for a while. 

The beauty about late fall/winter vegetables is that they have some staying power.  This particular butternut squash I bought from Beth at Flint Farm in Mansfield, MA.  It just seemed like one of those autumnal things you have to do.  But somehow, by the time I finished with work, dinner, homework, bathtime, story time, and bedtime, the bottle of red wine was a little more inviting than my peeler and that butternut squash.  Finally, after weeks on the hutch, the guilt got to me, and I did it.  I went to Allrecipes.com, plugged in Butternut Squash, and voila – I found an enticing recipe for which I had most of the ingredients in house.

Squash-Apple Bake

Ingredients:

1 medium buttercup or butternut squash, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch slices

2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground mace (this I did not have in house, so I used nutmeg instead)

Directions:

Arrage squash in a 12-in. X 8 in. baking pan.  Top with apple wedges.  Combine remaining ingredients; spoon over apples.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until tender.

It was delicious.  My husband and I both loved it.  My kids, not so much.  They suffered through their mandatory two bites.  All the more for Mommy! 

I took it for lunch for the rest of the week, throwing in some walnuts for protein and satiety.

How does it score?

Butternut Squash gets a 100 on the NuVal score.  Rock Star!

Apples score a 96 - not too shabby!

The Walnuts I threw in to make it lunch-worthy scored an 82.  Worth the calories & fat.

But the Land O’Lakes stick butter scores a 2.  Well, what did you expect?  :- )

I definitely plan to make this recipe again and if I’m feeling lazy, I can always buy the pre-peeled, pre-sliced butternut squash in the produce section.

The Breakfast Trade-Up Bag GiveAway

Thanks to everyone who commented on my first Tuesday Trade-Up post.  I was blown away by all your stories!  It’s great to see that people are learning about NuVal and using it to make nutritious choices.  Congratulations to Laura from Backstage Pass to Health and Happiness.  You’ve won!

Question of the Day

What’s your favorite autumn or winter vegetable?

Posted by: Melissa 14 comments

Posted in: Uncategorized

Tags: Butternut Squash, Incredible Vegetables, Uncategorized