Pretty on the Plate in a Matter of Minutes

Delicata Squash

Remember the other day when I confessed I absolutely zero idea what I was going to prepare for dinner? Shame, shame on the planning ahead, right? 

Well, sometimes the unplanned turns out rather fantastic.

So as I stood in my kitchen - surrounded by an abundance of whole foods - I seemingly found myself not in the mood for anything.  As I was about to tell Mr. he was on his own for dinner - and I would simply make a green smoothie, I noted a lonely squash that had been sitting on my counter for a few weeks. I was admittedly avoiding it as I had not a clue what to do with the darn thing. In fact, I almost gave it to the birds just to get it out of my way.  I purchased the squash from a farmer who told me it would taste like a sweet potato - so not surprisingly the nickname for the squash is sweet potato squash and the formal name - which I learned while searching for recipes - is delicata squash. Yeah, as I said, I hadn't heard of it either.

So, because I wasn't really in the mood for anything particular, I decided I would experiment with this squash. What did I have to lose? The sad thing was that while in the midst of prepping, I was still well prepared for it to still end up as bird feed...Ha! 

Boy, was I ever surprised at the end result.  BEST. Squash. EVER. 

And, best of all, Mr., who does not really care for sweet potatoes and/or squash, LOVED it.  There wasn't an ounce of leftovers!

Oh, it was so good.  Perfect in taste and texture and OH so Pretty on the Plate! Now, I just need to find more of 'em!

I ended up using  Roasted Delicata Squash recipe, found on Super Tomato, just to figure out where to start (best way to cut it, cook it, etc).  I only had one squash so I just used a little sunflower oil, some sea salt, and roasted accordingly (425 degrees, flipping every 7 minutes for 20 to 30 minutes). 

With the delicata squash, I served grilled wild-caught salmon - only seasoned with fresh squeezed lemon and sea salt, ground pepper, and a side of lightly sauteed spinach - only seasoned with fresh garlic.  I then sprinkled over the plate a handful of toasted raw pumpkin seeds and pecans (I had just thrown a handful on the pan with the squash for the last few minutes it roasted). 

From start to finish, I had everything prepared and on the table in 30 minutes.  Such a fantastic - clean - wholesome combination!

Have you ever experimented with delicata "sweet potato" squash?  Did you find it as tasty as I did?

Keep it Clean,
Mrs. Skinny Fat