As I’ve gotten older, it has amazed me how many of the foods I love now that I used to absolutely despise. How does this happen??
I used to think cilantro tasted and smelled like dish soap. Now it’s one of my favorite herbs to eat in the summertime. And in the last several years, I’ve grown to love a variety of root vegetables, particularly when they are roasted together.
Which brings me to squash. Years ago, you couldn’t convince me to try it. Now, it doesn’t feel like fall without butternut squash soup, squash in pastas, roasted squash with meat, even squash on salads!
And if you’ve been around me in the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard me talk about my new most favorite: delicata squash. I’m addicted to this beautiful, sweet, and easy-to-work-with ingredient.
Delicata squash and I were introduced by Blue Apron, which has been a culinary yenta for our family when it comes to discovering new and special ingredients.
In the last month, two recipes from our Blue Apron packages have included this magical food: in one recipe, it was paired with buttermilk catfish; in another, delicata squash was paired with penne pasta and ricotta. Both were a big plateful of YUM.
One thing I love about delicata squash is that it can be eaten with the skin. Peeling butternut squash is no fun or easy task, so keeping the skin on the squash is a big bonus. The colors of the skin are also really pretty, with either green or pale orange stripes on the ridges.
When the delicata squash is cut into small rounds or arches, the edges are really pretty – almost scalloped, or flowerlike. Presentation-wise, it’s much easier to make these look nice and uniform instead of attempting to cube a butternut squash (to be honest, I often cheat and buy the pre-cubed squash to save time).
After loving the Blue Apron recipes featuring delicata squash, I went on a search for other recipes to try. I found this one, a delicata, pomegranate, and arugula salad, that turned out absolutely delicious for a dinner party we had with friends.
These delicata rounds took a bit more effort to prepare in comparison to when the pieces are cut in half, but nothing major. I love how pretty these looked on the salads.
Here is how they look when the pieces are sliced in half:
Here’s all you have to do to roast delicata squash
- Heat oven to 450 degrees.
- Line baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray.
- Wash delicata squash and cut off ends.
- To make them into rounds, cut the squash into half-inch rounds. Then use a spoon to scoop out the center of each one. To make them into arches, cut the squash lengthwise first. Scoop out the centers of each long half of the squash, and then cut into the half-inch pieces. The arches are a bit easier because you can scoop out the seeds all at once, whereas you need to be more *delicate* taking out the center of the rounds, haha.
- Place the squash slices in a single layer on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, then add sea salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat each piece and then make sure they’re all flat on the baking sheet.
- Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, turning the pieces over halfway through.
- That’s it! Let them cool if they’re being added to a salad, or serve hot as a side with the rest of your dinner.
So far, I’ve only been able to find delicata squash at Whole Foods in our area, but it’s worth the search.
This sweet and yummy squash is going to be a mainstay in our house all season long!