leave no squash unturned

Many people seem to have the impression that winter is a drab, colorless season for vegetables, when starchy baked potatoes are the most exciting option. We could not disagree more--and squashes are the prime example of colorful winter excitement! (Xandria: "I wish I could write a ballad about squashes...!"). The multitude of options, once you get past the supermarket aisles, is truly astounding: from acorn to butternut to carnival to the more exotic kabocha and blue hubbard varieties, each squash offers a unique flavor and usually a different shade of orange.

Because Sarah has a farmer friend who kept her supplied through most of the fall with beautiful and exotic squash varieties, we have had the opportunity to enjoy multiple culinary experiments, from a night when we accompanied blue hubbard with four varieties of cheese and spices to this post's delightful pairing of butternut and acorn squash. In any event, the aesthetic squash can provide countertop adornment (don't refrigerate it!) for weeks at a time, so in the winter we always seem to have a few sitting around when cravings call. And they inevitably do.

Picking your squash: Alice Waters tells us to "look for heavy, hard-skinned squash with no blemishes or bruises." Usually, we find it's kind of hard to go wrong with squashes.

Generally, before making a specific grocery trip, we figure out what we have on hand and whether the ingredients we already have could constitute a full dish. This week, true to form, Sarah had an acorn squash and Xandria had half of a butternut. A spicy squash stew sounded like the perfect antidote to the cold, rainy weather, so we scoured the internet for recipes that we could adapt to our purposes.

2 stalks celery
4 carrots
2 red onions
1lb butternut squash
1lb acorn squash
5 cloves garlic
2 springs fresh thyme
red pepper flakes
Real Sea Salt (Celtic Sea Salt is also a healthy option)
Olive Oil!
2 cups of veggie stock
1/2 inch of fresh ginger

We tend to scour our fridges for veggies that will work. You could use any winter squashes here. White onion will have a different flavor, but won't miss too much excitement. Thyme could be replaced with rosemary or sage, depending on your herb collection.

We always use unrefined sea salt, a readily available brand is Real Salt. It retains the trace minerals that make salt healthful and delicious.

When prepping your veggies, you can choose to pre-chop your ingredients or race against the simmering concoction to have the next vegetable ready before the others overcook. The former is probably preferable, though you might enjoy the adrenaline rush of the latter option! We prefer the pace and aesthetic of chopping ahead and piling them all together, their colors and abundance reflecting the bounty of God's creation.

First, we warmed up a couple dollops of EVOO in a stock pot and let the thyme sprigs sizzle in it until the air was aromatic and the thyme became crisp. Remove the thyme and that oil is ready for the chopped onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. We allowed them to cook until tender and translucent. Then, we poured in a couple cups of broth and let the squash cubes tumble into the mix.

Then, we waited, tantalized by the mouth-watering aroma rising from the stockpot. Luckily, we had Michael Buble tunes on Grooveshark and Ladson's fancy camera to entertain us. He played with lighting to get the perfect textured shot of brussels sprouts (did you know they're little cabbages that were cultivated in Belgium in the 14th century?!).

Finally it was time to add the salt (to taste), and we decided it needed a bit more flavor, so we finely chopped a little fresh ginger, poured some broth off of the cooking soup into a smaller saucepan and let the combination simmer so that the ginger cooked a little and diffused through the broth. We added the ginger-infused stock back to the soup and let it all simmer until we absolutely could not wait any longer. You'll know your soup is done when the squash flesh is no longer stringy or hard--it should practically melt in your mouth.


The soup can also be pureed, should you so desire, although we concluded that it's best when you can taste the flavors of each separate vegetable coming together.