With Old Man Winter roaring into my neck of the woods, coming home to a hot meal after joggling in the snow and doing errands is a necessity.
It’s hard to compete with acorn squash during the cold winter months. It is arguably one of the most perfect foods since besides providing a lot of carbohydrate, it also provides a significant amount of protein and healthy fat if you count the squash seeds, close cousin of the pumpkin seed(pepita). The seeds are loaded with zinc, magnesium, protein, and healthy fats. The flesh of squash is a good source of carotinoids, phytochemicals that are good for the eyes and may have other benefits. Some of these carotinoids are converted into vitamin A by the liver. They can’t be converted to Christianity or Islam though(the liver can do a lot of amazing things, but not everything).
This acorn squash came out perfectly. I really wish you all could have tasted it. I cut it in half(or rather, into 2/3 and 1/3 due to my clumsiness). I baked it for 40 minutes in the oven. It was wonderfully sweet and filling, it kind of reminded me of sweet potatoes, but a lot more stringy. I had some creamy peanut butter on the side. I’ll eat the seeds some other time – they just need to be lightly toasted.
This was a New World crop kind of meal, since I ate only food native to the Americas, similar to what Native Americans would have eaten before Columbus showed up. Squash was a very important crop for the Natives and still is in much of Latin America.
I highly recommend squash. I must note that this may be one of those crops you are better off getting organic since their roots absorb a lot of toxic chemicals from the soil.
The role of carotenoids in human health
AcroTrekker 