Simple Home Living: mindy's yummy squash recipes

I asked for squash recipes today and Ian (Mindy's) hubs FB me and sent these my way. I know Mindy is an amazing cook

Danish squash (also called acorn):
puncture 4 wholes in the shell. lay on tin foil and bake at 375 for one hour. turn off the oven and leave it in for another hour. cut in half and remove seeds, then remove skin and put all the "meat" in a bowl. From there you can do about anything!

Traditionally, people will add butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper to Danish squash. I like to mash it. Then add finely grated parmesan cheese, crispy fried bacon bits, carmelized onions, sundried tomatoes, and fresh chopped basil.

Spaghetti squash: Slice it into halves. bake at 375 in a shallow baking dish with a little water in the bottom of the pan and cover it with foil for an hour or sol. This will help it cook through.

After it cools, hollow out each half setting "meat" aside. You can use this really stringy squash meat in place of noodles for just about anything! Top it with your favorit spaghetti sauce. Use it in a broth based soup instead of noodles. Toss it with a light balsalmic vinagrette dressing, fresh basil, heirloom tomatoes, and onion for a yummy pasta like salad.

Butternut squash: This squash is the best for creamy soups, curry recipes, and baked in chunks on pizza! I like to cut it in half and remove all the skin and seeds fresh, before cooking.

For the pizza, I cut it into one inch cubes and toss it with pressed garlic, olive oil, dried herbs, salt and pepper. Then roast it in the oven in a single layer on a cookie sheet for about an hour at 425. Turn it once or twice during the hour. I put this roasted squash on pizza with olive oil garlic sauce (instead of red sauce), mozzarella, caramelized onions, fried bacon pieces, and goat cheese.

For the soup, I like to cut it into cubes and cook it in my wok with onions and garlic. Once this mix is browned in the wok, I add chicken stock and let it simmer until softened. After this mixture cools, you can blend it in the blender (add more stock if it's too thick). Then pour it back to a soup pot add cream, salt, pepper and fresh herbs. I like to pour it into a bowl over a piece of garlic toast and top with cheese. But you can also add more to it if you want different flavors.

Try adding other veggies to the wok with the squash: carrots, leeks, anise, celery, potatoes, it's hard to go wrong with it :)

For the curry I cut the squash in chunks and stir fry it in the wok with potatoes, carrots, red pepper, onion, garlic, curry powder, ginger powder, cumin and fennel seeds. After this mixture is browned well, I add chicken stock and cover it to soften all the veggies. Then I mash about half the mixture up, leaving lots of big chunks of carrots and potato. Turn the heat on medium low and add honey and salt. Then stir in one or two cans of coconut milk, depending on how much your making. Let it heat through and continue to sit on low til ready to serve. Serve over brown or white rice, topped with fresh cilantro and crushed red pepper flakes, or use as a soup and serve warm pita or nan bread to dip in it.