We are heading into my favourite time of year.
I love the fall, especially when it comes to food! There is something so comforting about fall foods. It’s no wonder we celebrate Thanksgiving at this time of year. I hope you all had a wonderful relaxing Thanksgiving weekend, filled with all that you hold dear and are thankful for.
For me, this is the time of year I get to take a bit of a break from lemonade and focus on my kitchen before the madness of the Christmas market season starts. There is something so therapeutic about spending the day cooking. I am definitely looking forward to creating new dishes with squash. They are so abundant now and keep very well so I can stock up and have an excuse to play for the next few weeks.
What we call winter squash are technically late summer or fall crops. The use of the term winter to describe them probably originated because they keep so well into the winter. They don’t require any preparation for storage — just a dry, dark spot.
Squash range in size from the baseball sized gem squash to the very large hubbard squash. Forstbauer Farms sell the gem squash. They are just the right size for one person and easy to prepare. Simply cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and either steam or roast them.
They can be eaten as is with nothing more than a bit of butter and brown sugar or fancy them up a bit by topping them with crumbled blue cheese from Golden Ears Cheesecrafters and some browned sage leaves from Red Barn.
If you are at Red Barn picking up your fresh herbs, check out all the squash they carry. While you can get squash from just about every produce vendor at the market, Red Barn sells the largest variety.
My go to squash is butternut. It seems to be enjoying a surge in popularity right now. Butternut stuffed ravioli is everywhere. Making ravioli is way too much work for me though. My go to use for this squash is to peel and cube it, toss it with olive oil and roast it till its tender. Remove it from the oven, drizzle maple syrup over it and sprinkle it with one of the Chef’s Nose spice blends and roast a few more minutes. Delicious!
If you like, double the amount of squash and set some aside to make a soup with later. Even that requires nothing more than sautéing some onion and celery, maybe a bit of garlic, adding broth and the squash and placing it all in a blender to make it nice and smooth. Season with salt and pepper and you are good to go.
Delicata squash is a great substitute for butternut. It is very similar but is pale yellow with green pinstripes and the skin is edible.
Kabocha squash is a newer variety, well suited to our climate. They look like a squashed (pun intended) acorn and can be used in a similar way. They are really good stuffed and baked. Use your imagination for stuffing.
Bread, meat, grains, legumes can all be used. A good vegan meal could be a Kabocha squash stuffed with a quinoa pilaf.
If you are looking to minimize simple carbs in your diet, spaghetti squash is a fabulous substitute for pasta. All that is required here is to roast or steam the squash then scrape the flesh from the skin using a fork. The flesh separates into spaghetti-like strands that are perfect for your favourite sauce.
I like to sauté tomatoes, peppers, onions and lots of garlic in some good olive oil and pour it over the squash. Of course — carb fiend that I am — I need some good crusty white bread to go with it.
Last but not least, don’t forget to grab a pumpkin. The big ones are definitely not for eating but they sure are fun to carve!
The last two Coquitlam Markets feature special events to close off the season. October 18th is the Harvest Festival. Centennial Culinary students will be preparing a meal for purchase and you can have a game of street hockey with the Coquitlam Express.
The October 25th market features the Halloween Spooktacular and costume parade. Mark your calendars and join us. Don’t forget that we move to the Port Moody Recreation Centre every Sunday beginning November 1st.
