Adventures with Squash

"They're good, try them."


"But dad, I really don't wanna eat any."


"Son, your taste buds will change."





This was a common back and forth between my father and I at the dinner table in my house growing up. Every once and a while, my parents would insert and unusual and unfamiliar food (usually vegetable) onto our plates that was not welcome as far as my sister and I were concerned. This is not to say that I was a particularly picky eater in my early years. We had a relatively diverse menu from night to night during family dinners and I was open to most foods. Carrots, broccoli, peas, green beans, and asparagus were all welcome to join the flank steak and scalloped potatoes on my plate. However, like many children, I reserved the right to make a stand when it came to certain foods I found seriously unappetizing. For me, where I drew the line was squash. Didn't want it, wouldn't eat it, end of story. The smell, the color, the texture, the flavor, were all not for me. Originally developing from bad experiences with yellow squash and zucchini, this soon lead to my labeling of all squash simply as 'the devil' and a decade long boycott by my palate.



Now in college, I find myself craving fall, 'homey' flavors around Halloween and leading to Thanksgiving. With the weather getting a bit colder and football on saturdays and sundays, these fall flavors tend to remind me a little bit of home and watching the games with the family. Naturally I head to the produce counter in search of seasonal vegetables to accompany whatever protein is on sale. Enter problem #1: budget. At least one meat will inevitably be on sale at one point or the other, but what veg is both seasonal and affordable? Winter squash. With squash being one of the few foods I still am averse to, it is difficult to muster the courage to see what I can do with some butternuts and acorns. None the less, it is worth a try.



After a few weekends of trial and error, a few simple tricks produced a number of ways to make these squash meals cheap, healthy, and down right tasty (to my surprise). It just goes to show that sometimes it pays to reconcile old quarrels and in that way, squash and I have come to an understanding. My first attempts have been with spicy curry flavors with the butternut variety and apples/cinnamon with acorns. Soon I will tackle the one squash I have always enjoyed: pumpkin. Hopefully these posts about what I learned will help and/or inspire other recipes.

The Beginning

I feel it would be prudent for me to take this opportunity to issue a statement of purpose; so as my intentions will not be misunderstood. This undertaking has developed from a number of issues that work together, and at times, are in direct contrast to each other. It is this inconsistency that has lead me to attempt an ongoing project to balance these different aspects as a health conscious college foodie.



First off, I love food. There is no lofty, nostalgic story from my childhood that I can point to as the source of my infatuation with cuisine, but rather a patchwork of experiences that have lead me to where I am today, as I am sure is true for many others. A combination of family influences, unique culinary experiences, and the abundance of food porn available through the mediums of both TV and the internet seem to be the primary factors in my current fixations.

I find myself in a tricky situation of attempting to explore new foods and techniques while keeping it healthy, all on a college budget (which is obviously limited). Oh, and did I mention the beer? I am not talking a case of PBR, although there is something to be said for that in another venue. When I say beer, I mean craft beer. Small batch releases from microbreweries in Colorado, California, New Hampshire, Maine, Belgium, England, Germany, all over. For so long, when pairing food with drink, wine has been the dominant and obvious choice. But with all these great, complex beers now available it seems only natural to experiment on pairings with different cuisines and flavors.

My motivations thus are based on my own pursuits to further my knowledge in these areas to the best of my abilities and learn what can be learned along the way. I find additional inspirations and motivation from encouraging family members, always willing to 'try' whatever it is I may come up with, as well as a good friend and fellow lover of good beer, good food, and good company.

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." -Sir Winston Churchill