The Starving Musician Recipes
Super-Simple Baked Squash or
Yams
Makes 2-4 servings, depending on size of squash
Ingredients:
-
1 large acorn squash, butternut squash, or 2 yams
-
Salt to taste
-
1 Tablespoons butter or
margarine
-
Sweetener of your choice:
brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, or artificial sweetener
-
Seasonings of your choice: cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice, orange juice, orange
zest, or apple cider
Method:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Wash squash or yams (I use veggie wash), rinse, pat dry.
Using a very sharp, large knife or meat fork, carefully prick squash or yams in several
places. This step is very important, so that the squash or yams don't explode in the
oven!
Place the squash or yams on
a sheet pan, jelly roll pan, or cookie sheet with sides (juices will come out as squash or
yams cook). Bake 1 hour, or until a knife can be inserted easily into the squash. (You may
hear "popping" sounds during cooking as steam escapes. It's fine.)
Cool 10 minutes, cut in half (use a clean kitchen towel or paper towls as a potholder if
you don't have asbestos fingers), and carefully scoop out the seeds & strings,
avoiding the flesh. Season squash or yams with salt, butter, and seasonings of your
choice. Or, after removing strings & seeds, scoop out the flesh and mash it with a
potato masher, adding seasonings of your choice.
Creative Options:
Low fat version:
Skip the butter and mash with a little apple cider or orange juice.
To make ahead: Bake as directed, then wrap the whole squash or yams in
foil, refrigerate up to 2 days. Then cut in half, remove seeds and strings, season as
desired, and reheat in the microwave or a 325F oven.
Use in other recipes: Squash and yams are dangerously
difficult to cut or peel raw. Using this baking method to pre-cook squash for other
recipes saves a lot of frustration (and possible injury). Just reduce the baking time by
15-20 minutes (depending on how firm you need the squash to be for your recipe), then
halve the squash, remove the seeds and strings, and proceed with your recipe. If you're
making a stuffed squash recipe in which the stuffing will be cooked, partially cook the
whole squash and stuffing separately, then proceed.
Excellent with a grilled pork chop or ham
slice.
Recipes ©2004 Randi Reed
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