Build Me Up Buttercup, Squash Broke My Heart

That's a weird looking pumpkin.

To try to be a little bit healthy, I've decided to sample all the winter squash I can find this year.  Someone told me they all taste the same.  Doubtful.  The local grocery is full of them this time of the year, and they come in all shapes and sizes.  They had one that weighed almost as much as I do.  I'm not sure what variety it was, but it was larger than most jack-o-lantern pumpkins and bright green.  Since they were charging by the pound, and it was more squash then I'll probably eat my lifetime, I passed.

I did buy a few other varieties.  One was buttercup squash. Most squash are low fat and good sources of vitamin C.  Buttercup has vitamin E and some B vitamins too.  It's a low calorie, filling food.  The downside is that each cup has 14 grams of carbs.  It's a bit sweeter than other winter squashes.  Most of the recipes I've found for it call for dousing it with even more sugar.  That's one way to make a healthy food bad.

Buttercup squash should be firm, heavy for their size and have an even cream color.  The ones at my store were quite large, probably about twice the size of an acorn squash.  They look green, squatty pumpkins. 

Buttercup squash taste similar to acorn squash, but are a bit earthier and creamier.

Seriously.  All this work for that?!

I have to be honest.  My experience with this squash was not that great.  I found buttercup squash to be almost impossible to cut into and peel, or at least not worth the effort.  Acorn squash is hard to cut too, but once you cook it, you can easly remove the flesh.  I found this one was even difficult after it was cooked.  I spent a few minutes cursing the squash, but finally got some flesh out.   After all that trouble, there wasn't much flesh.

Maybe I'm a lazy cook.  I preferred the creaminess of buttercup squash to acorn squash, but I think I'll stick to butternut.  It's creamy too, but has more flesh and less problems.

Simply prepared

I roasted it simply with some butter and a bit of cinnamon.  I left the sugar out.  It was good, but not really worth all that effort.  I did have some leftovers.  I think I'll make them into a soup and see what that tastes like.  The creamy nature of this squash should lend itself to soups really well.


With just the butter and cinnamon, 1 cup of buttercup squash has 116 calories, 3 grams of fat, 22 grams of carbs and 4 grams of sugar and 7 grams of fiber.

Conquering Acorn Squash - Part 1

At Least It's Pretty

I'm starting this journey to try everything I hate and become a more balanced eater slow, with new fruits and vegetables.  One of the first things I decided I wanted to like was winter squash.  In the past, when I've seen winter squash on the menu, I immediately decided that I didn't like.  I would say to myself, "It tastes like pumpkin.  Who wants a sweet pasta?"  One day a friend was talking about how much she loves to eat it in the fall and I realized: I hate it and I've never even tried it.

That's hardly fair to the poor winter squash.  I should at least give them a chance.

Acorn squash is very nutritious (butternut squash is better for you, but not by much).  When not filled with brown sugar, it's low calorie and low carb.  A whole acorn squash only has 172 calories and 39 grams of effective carbs.  It has 6.5 grams of fiber.  Winter squashes are great sources of vitamin A, vitamin C, beta-carotene, thiamin, vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium and manganese, and a good source of iron (reference).  A lot of these nutrients are missing from the standard American diet (SAD) and missing from the junk food vegetarian diet I have.

Luckily for me, the acorn squash you find in the US are pretty consistent.  You just have to look for one without external blemishes and signs of rot.  The ones with less yellow/orange on the outside are best.  The bigger ones have a stringy texture, so the small ones are the ones that find their way to most carts. 

Once you get it home, you have to conquer the hardest part of the acorn squash: cutting it.  I literally broke a knife cutting the first one.  After that, I used a serrated knife to cut it.  It's similar to carving a pumpkin.  I've also heard you can microwave them for a few minutes to soften them before cutting.

A casualty of war

The first recipe I tried was the simple one my friend gave me. It was pretty easy: cut the thing in half, remove the seeds, fill the middle with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake it on a baking sheet for an hour at 350-400 degrees and then serve. 

I wasn't a fan.  It tasted ok.  It was pretty sweet, but not too sweet.  It's supposed to taste nutty, but I think the brown sugar toned that down.  I didn't taste the nutty flavor much.  The texture was weird. It was almost like eating pulpy jello. 

I made a note that it would be better in soup or pasta.  Everything tastes better in pasta.  Now, to find the perfect soup or pasta recipe.  I haven't given up on you, winter squash.  [Here's my update with a pasta recipe.]