Battle of the Bulge: Up the Squash Factor

I got into consuming squash more when I heard Dr. Fuhrman advocate it as one of the best foods for weight loss/maintenance. Apparently, squash provides carb-satisfaction with a fraction of the calories. 

I had tried acorn squash once, but I found the sweetness of butternut to be more appealing. 

But raw butternut squash is a royal pain to cut up. I'm usually exhausted halfway through, knife flailing as I hack and whack, possibly slicing a finger open in the process, never mind my hands being dyed orange. 

When I was going to make a soup, I decided that an effortless shortcut was needed. What if I just baked the whole thing first, then sliced it up?

Proving my hypothesis with this, I happily stabbed the squash all over, placed it on a foiled cookie sheet, and tossed it into a 375° oven for an hour. 

The results were a creamy, delicious squash, with a very tasty skin. I really should have rotated it halfway through, since the underside was more raw than the exposed top, so I made a note for next time. 

My knife slid easily between the skin and flesh, and I nibbled on scraps of the peel as I added the now malleable squash to my soup. 

Mmmm, I should have this for breakfast, I thought, surveying the leftovers. 

I did, with a little drizzle of maple syrup. It was yummy and satisfied my growling belly.

I'm starting to have a bit of a crush on spaghetti squash. Although I am a true potato lover as opposed to pasta, one of my favorite childhood meals was lukshen with cottage cheese and ketchup. 

I did the same with it; stabbed it all over, chucked it into the oven, halved it and scraped out the spaghettiness. I have to say, it was just as tasty. 

Via steamykitchen.com

Squash contain these beautiful seeds, and I felt heartless chucking them into the trash. They can be salvaged, flavored, and roasted or fried. Seeds contain great nutrition as well.