Squash is a family of plants with soft flesh and seeds, including summer and winter varieties. Summer squash ripens faster and has thinner skin, while winter squash has firmer skin and can be stored. Both types have edible flowers. Popular varieties include zucchini, acorn, butternut, and spaghetti squash. Winter squash can be quickly prepared by roasting in the oven.
Squash is a generic name for plants in the squash family. All of these plants have soft flesh surrounding a seeded core, and many have tough skins. There is an amazing variety of edible varieties, which fall into the summer and winter categories. All pumpkins are equally delicious and have a myriad of uses depending on the type and the cook’s goals. Members of this family range from the humble zucchini to the exquisite spaghetti squash, two familiar examples of summer and winter varieties, respectively.
Summer varieties tend to ripen faster than winter types and typically have thinner skin. They are topped with pasta and salads, eaten with fries and made into chutneys. Some can be eaten raw and appear on vegetable platters. Summer squash is usually planted in the early spring for early summer maturity and can be eaten throughout the summer.
Winter squash, planted a little later than summer varieties, ripen much later, in early fall. They have a much firmer skin, more like a rind, and are not edible raw. These varieties tend to keep well and can be stored in a cool, dry place over the winter. It is excellent roasted, added to soups and stews, and mashed potatoes. Many people also enjoy pumpkin pie, a classic winter squash staple.
Flowers of both types are edible and delicious. Many Italian restaurants offer fried zucchini flowers and also mixed with pasta and salads. These flowers have a rich and delicate flavor that is quite pleasant on the tongue.
A common summer variety is zucchini, a club-like dark green vegetable that proliferates in most gardens. Yellow crookneck, another summer variety, ranges from very small and tender varieties to much larger, woody ones that are meant to be roasted. Summer varieties will become woody and lose flavor if left on the vine too long, so it’s best to select small, firm greens without bruising and discoloration at the grocery store.
The winter varieties are much more varied and provide a fun assemblage of greens to eat in an otherwise bleak winter. Spaghetti squash is yellow and oblong. Once cooked, it separates into noodle-like strands that give the plant its name. Acorn squash is green and shaped like an acorn and absolutely delicious roasted with a sprinkle of brown sugar and goat cheese. The banana is also roughly oblong and has rich, sweet, yellow fruit.
Butternut squash is another common winter variety. It is light brown in color and resembles a vase, with striking orange flesh. This squash is round and ranges from dark green to rich red in color, with tender, sweet flesh.
The Delicata squash is wavy and oblong, with streaks of yellow and green. The flesh is extremely sweet and tender when cooked, somewhat like sweet potatoes. The gold nugget looks like a pumpkin, somewhat lacks the characteristic pumpkin color, and is generally very small. Hubbard’s squash is a lumpy, roughly shaped, gray to green variety with moist yellow flesh.
To prepare any winter variety quickly, heat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit (177° Celsius) and slice the squash lengthwise. Place it face down in a pan with about an inch of water and roast until the flesh yields to a fork, which can take anywhere from 35 to 70 minutes, depending on the type and size. Drain the pan and flip the squash side up for five to 10 minutes to finish, serving with butter and salt.
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