Dinner Tonight

Dinner Tonight

Healthy Cooking for a Healthy Texas

Butternut Squash Soup

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Warm up the holiday season with a sweet, spicy, veggie-packed soup that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Butternut Squash Soup will be your family’s new favorite recipe!


Butternut Squash Soup
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Servings
6 1.5 cup servings
Servings
6 1.5 cup servings
Butternut Squash Soup
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Servings
6 1.5 cup servings
Servings
6 1.5 cup servings
Ingredients
Servings: 1.5 cup servings
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Instructions
  1. Wash hands and sanitize preparation surfaces.
  2. Preheat oven to 400º.
  3. Prepare the vegetables as directed.
  4. On a large sheet pan add the butternut squash, bell pepper, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Mix vegetables, olive oil, and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
  5. In a large pot, melt butter.
  6. Once the butter is melted add onion, garlic, and celery. Cook until translucent.
  7. Add cumin, Italian seasoning, and cayenne, and cook another minute.
  8. Add the roasted vegetables and vegetable stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  9. Blend soup with an immersion blender until creamy. Add Greek yogurt and simmer for 10 minutes.
Recipe Notes

Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash

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It’s fall somewhere, right? Try out this cozy Beefy Stuffed Acorn Squash to make good use of those squashes available at the grocery store!


Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash
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Servings
6 servings
Servings
6 servings
Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash
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Servings
6 servings
Servings
6 servings
Ingredients
Servings: servings
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Instructions
  1. Wash your hands and clean your preparation area. Rinse acorn squash under cool running water to remove dirt and debris. Preheat oven to 375*F.
  2. On a cutting board, slice each acorn squash in half as well as cut a slice off of the bottoms of each half, so the squash rests, inside pointing up. Remove the seeds and fibrous strands.
  3. Rest the six squash halves facing up on a baking sheet. Distribute the olive oil over the flesh of the squash, and sprinkle cinnamon over the halves.
  4. Roast in the oven for 35 minutes.
  5. While squash is roasting, in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat, begin to brown the meat and discard any excess fat. Add in the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until the onion is soft.
  6. Add the drained peas and carrots, and diced tomatoes plus their juices to the pan. Begin to heat through.
  7. Add in all of the spices and cook until flavors are combined.
  8. Remove the squash from the oven and spoon the beef mixture into the centers of the squash halves. Return the stuffed squash halves to the oven and cook for another 20 minutes. Cover with foil if you are worried about the beef mixture drying out.
  9. Remove and serve hot. Remove the skin of the acorn squash and discard it as you are eating.
Recipe Notes

Squash – Winter Squash

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Winter squash (including acorn, buttercup, butternut, and Hubbard varieties) is rich in Vitamin A (beta-carotene), dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), and potassium. It is naturally low in calories, fat, and sodium which makes it a perfect canvas for your healthy fall recipes. Here is a bit more about these winter squashes.

Selecting:

Choose a firm, well-shaped squash that is heavy for its size and has hard, tough skin. Do not choose those that have sunken or moldy spots. Avoid squash with cuts or punctures in the skin. Also, slight variations in skin color do not affect flavor. A tender rind indicates immaturity, which is a sign of poor quality in winter squash varieties.

Harvesting:

Since winter squash is harvested mainly during the time that pumpkins are harvested, they need to be planted in the late summer months (August to September). Harvesting would then occur from October to November.

When harvesting winter squash, handle them carefully to avoid cuts and bruises.  These injuries are not only unsightly, but they also provide entrances for various rot-producing organisms.  Cut the fruit off the vine with pruning shears.  Leave a 1-inch stem on each fruit.

Storing:

After curing, store winter squash in a cool, dry, well-ventilated location.  Storage temperatures should be 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  Do not store squash near apples, pears, or other ripening fruit.  Ripening fruit releases ethylene gas which shortens the storage life of squash.

When properly cured and stored, the storage lives of acorn, butternut, and hubbard squash are approximately 5 to 8 weeks, 2 to 3 months, and 5 to 6 months, respectively.

Recipes:

Sources:

Iowa State University Extension. Harvesting and Storing Winter Squash. Richard Jauron.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Food Technology & Processing – Winter Squash. Aggie Horticulture.

Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash

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Is your garden exploding with squash? You’ll be adding this cheesy dish to your regular lineup. Add some beef to create a main dish or enjoy this Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash as a side.


Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash
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Servings
4
Servings
4
Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash
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Servings
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Clean and sanitize your workspace. Pull back your hair and wash your hands.
  2. Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray 9” x 13” baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.
  3. Slice spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Scrape out seeds of spaghetti squash.
  4. Spray each halve of spaghetti squash with canola oil cooking spray and sprinkle garlic salt and fresh ground pepper on each halve.
  5. Turn face down into baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until tender. Size of spaghetti squash may vary its cooking time.
  6. Once tender, use a dinner fork to scrape the inside of the spaghetti squash into a bowl. Caution: Spaghetti Squash is hot. Use hot pads to hold squash while scraping.
  7. Pour mozzarella cheese into the bowl of spaghetti squash, add tomato sauce, and stir.
  8. Add spaghetti squash dip back to spaghetti squash bowl. Top with parmesan cheese.
  9. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Recipe Notes

Chicken Caprese Spaghetti Squash

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All week we’ve been talking about Spaghetti Squash. Trade in your pasta for a fun take on noodle night! This Spaghetti Squash Chicken Caprese Recipe is super delicious!


Chicken Caprese Spaghetti Squash
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Chicken Caprese Spaghetti Squash
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Ingredients
Squash & Chicken
Balsamic Glaze
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. While oven is heating, microwave spaghetti squash in oven for 5 to 6 minutes. This will make the spaghetti squash soft and easier to cut.
  3. Cut the top and bottom off the spaghetti squash and slice squash in half.
  4. Cook chicken in a skillet for about 4 minutes on each side.
  5. While chicken is cooking in the skillet, scrape your spaghetti squash using a spoon or knife until you get about 10 cups out. Put spaghetti squash in a bowl.
  6. Add olive oil, salt and pepper, cooked chicken, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil in bowl and combine.
  7. Add spaghetti squash back in bowl and bake the spaghetti squash in the oven for 20 minutes.
  8. While spaghetti squash is cooking, mix balsamic vinegar and honey together.
  9. Remove spaghetti squash after 20 minutes or when all cheese is melted, and tomatoes have begun to burst. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve warm!
Recipe Notes