My friends were wondering about acorn squash. So now we have our second hard shelled squash of the season. I have to admit when I was writing about seasonal vegetables for the AJC back in the day, I had a hard time tackling acorn squash in August or even September. When I see an acorn squash, I will always think of my mother’s simple treatment. Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, add a pat of butter and a little brown sugar or honey and bake. She tried to convince us it was dessert. And really, it was just as good as dessert.
Here’s a recipe that’s along those same lines. It was from Better Homes and Gardens 100 years ago. And you make it in a slow cooker, so no heating up the kitchen. It really leans to the sweet side, but you could leave out the honey and vanilla, maybe throw in curry instead of the apple pie spice – and go East Asian with it.
Ingredients:
1 acorn squash 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/3 cup raisins 2 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon apple pie spice 2 tablespoons butter 4 teaspoons honey 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts or slivered almonds
Preparation:
Lightly coat a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray; set aside.
Cut squash into four wedges, discarding stem, seeds, and strings. Sprinkle cut sides of squash with salt. Set aside. In the prepared slow cooker combine onion, raisins, water, and apple-pie spice. Place squash wedges, cut sides down, on top of onion mixture, making sure that an edge of each squash wedge touches the onion mixture.
Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
Place the squash wedges, cut sides up, on serving plates. Stir butter, honey, and vanilla into onion mixture in slow cooker. Spoon onion mixture over squash wedges. Sprinkle with pistachio nuts or almonds.