It is the season for squash and apples. Squash is a versatile vegetable. Any of the squash family can be baked for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Stuffed squash
Cut a squash in half. Remove the seeds and leave the squash in the skin.
Add 2 tbsp. olive oil and a little salt and pepper, some fresh thyme and/or rosemary and bake at 350 for one hour or 20 minutes in the microwave for a quick meal.
Variations can be your homemade tomato sauce and cheese, fresh ground pork, beef or chicken with some fresh thyme, chopped onions, garlic or whatever your taste. Add some tomato sauce or fresh or dried mushrooms gathered from the forest (only if you know mushrooms).
Be creative with what you have. I have also put chopped spinach, goat cheese and chopped tomato and garlic in the squash.
Side dish
You can also peel and cube the squash, put oil, a sprig of rosemary, 2 cloves of garlic in a processor and pour over the squash and bake for 1 hour at 350.
Dessert
Make a dessert from the squash by baking and scraping out the meat.
Add 1/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg then bake for 1/2 hour at 350’, add a little cream and enjoy the dessert.
Squash soup, another favorite.
Try a hubbard, butternut, acorn or butternut squash. Bake as above, scrape out the meat. Discard the skin.
Saute an onion, celery and carrot. Blend these and add to chicken broth (from that broth you froze), along with the blended squash. Add chopped rosemary and or thyme or try a sprinkle of nutmeg in the bowl of soup with a dollup of homemade yogurt along with some fresh bread purchased at the Country Market or Little Vienna Bakery.
Apples are so versatile.
In a hurry for desert?
Wash an apple, cut out the branch part of the apple, leaving a small hole. Add 1 tsp. butter, 1 tsp. brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Bake in the toaster oven at 350’ for 1/2 hour or 3 minutes in the microwave.
Have a lot of apples? Make them into apple sauce.
Simply peel, core and cook gently with 1 cup of water until soft. Add cinnamon , cool and freeze or put into sterilized jars and water bath in boiling water for 20 minutes.
If you have a dehydrator, simply peel, core and slice your apples and dry them. When cool, package and put into the freezer as there are no preservatives.
Pack for lunch or for a healthy snack.
Any questions or suggestions simply email, Ellen at mrslewersfarmhouse@shaw.ca