Learning to Live with Butternut Squash

As this is a blog which emphasizes how to cook efficiently and eat healthy, rather than solely provide you with recipes, I'll share how I used my butternut squash. I cooked it a while back at the same time I roasted lots of other veggies, since I try to be efficient in the use of the oven. This, of course, sometimes leads to problems with having too much food, so I freeze it.

I found the butternut squash I froze a few months ago and decided to use it. It was a big squash so I had to come up with a few ideas of how to use it. I looked for recipes on Pinterest. Fall is looming in the air - I'm in Florida so it has finally begun to get cool - so it's the perfect season for these recipes. I split the butternut squash into three - approximately 1 cup for each recipe.

I started with making a butternut squash creme brulee with coconut milk and minimal agave sweetener. I adjusted the recipe myself to adjust the sugar content because agave has a minimal effect on your blood sugar. This picture probably doesn't do it justice, but it was delicious! 

I probably haven't mentioned it but I've always had a sweet tooth and I've spent my entire life trying to figure out how I can meet my sweet craving while keeping it healthy. My adaptation of this recipe worked! It was mildly sweet, light due to the coconut milk, and yet still had the fiber of the butternut squash. Success!!!


The second thing I made with the squash is a Thai Coconut Curry soup. I adapted the recipe as I always do. I had soft squash, not cubes, and I didn't use all of the ingredients but it came out great. I made myself some flatbread that didn't need to rise and I had it with my soup. And that was my dinner.

This is the last thing I made with the butternut squash. It's something I make every year for Thanksgiving and it goes wonderfully with turkey. Since it uses quinoa, I made extra so I can use it for breakfast cereal in the morning. I took half of the quinoa, sauteed some onions, and mixed it with the squash, craisins and pepitas. I discovered that it’s not good with mashed squash, because you have to carmelize the squash by sautéing squash cubes. Quinoa is such a great source of protein and this combination is nice and sweet.