The Daily Dirt

07/13/18 — Heydon Hatcher

As spaghetti squash becomes more prevalent at the market stand, we thought we would highlight this versatile Cucurbitaceae family member, and briefly touch on some of its cousin squashes. This unique winter squash will be in season for a quick month, so get yours while you can!

Spaghetti squashes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Well first off, when we are talking winter squash, we are talking about the more hardy, rigid-skinned gourds like spaghetti, butternut, acorn, and kabocha squashes. We grow winter squash in the summer here in Texas because we can, and in large part, because the bug/disease pressure is too much in the fall. We do have some of the squashes, like butternut in the wintertime. However, if you are looking for more squash variety in your wintertime Central Texas local diet, blanch and freeze it! These puppies have quite a long shelf life, they can be stored for months on your kitchen counter, waiting patiently to be utilized in a massive variety of plates. These guys also take their sweet time and ripen on the vine for up to 120 days. Whereas, summer squashes like yellow squash, green zucchini, and yellow patty pan are on the vine for a third to half that ripening time (40-60 days). Summer squash is also more tender, fragile, and needs to be kept chilled when stored (usually keeping for a week or two at most).

Summer and winter squash rundown. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

This squash usually has yellow to orange flesh with quite large seeds in the center of the fruit (squash is technically a fruit). They are chockful of folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, and beta-carotene. Fun fact: the more orange the flesh, the more carotene content! Spaghetti squash can be microwaved, boiled, steamed, or baked. When cooked, the flesh falls away in strands like spaghetti. Low in calories and carbs, but high in versatility, here are some ways to utilize your squash in a fun, new, unique way.

From muffins to pie, this squash shines bright in a gamut of sweeter plates.