The Squash Project Finale: A really easy lasagna

I wasn’t sure what to expect from my speckled hound.

When I sliced him open, he smelled like a fresh cantaloupe.

I was intrigued.

Here is what the CSA said about the speckled hound: Orange with blue-green blotches, Speckled Hound pumpkins are prized for their dense, buttery yellow flesh; they are ideal for roasting, soups, and more!

If you have been keeping track of the “Ooh Squash for dinner!” project- perhaps you’ve been wondering what happened to #4. Well he sat in the cupboard until after new years. I thought about new years resolutions.
Last year I decided to compost. This year, I decided to empty the compost more often. I thought about some other unfinished business and my speckled hound came to mind.

Here is what we did with him:

Easy Lasagna with a Speckled Hound Squash

Squash for Dinner Part 3! Chili!

Pumpkin chili?
I thought of adding some pumpkin as soon as I smelled the maple from the bacon cooking in the stock pot.

That may sound insane but here is my reasoning: I’ve been reading a lot of squash recipes and baking, roasting, pureeing different varieties. Often maple syrup or honey comes up as a flavour combination with squash. One cooking class, I learned to smell what you’re cooking with and see what flavours are invoked in your head. My squash project has added a new flavour profile to my brain, squash and maple. Another flavour combination is the Three Sisters. This is actually a companion planting method of corns, beans, and squash.
The three crops benefit from each other. The maize provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants utilize, and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight, helping prevent establishment of weeds. The squash leaves also act as a “living mulch”, creating a microclimate to retain moisture in the soil, and the prickly hairs of the vine deter pests. Maize lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the human body needs to make proteins and niacin, but beans contain both and therefore maize and beans together provide a balanced diet. From Wikipedia, Three Sisters Agriculture.

Well now that I was going to be adding pumpkin in the chili- did I want to hide it?

Kabocha Dumplings! (Oooh Squash For Dinner! Part Two)

Squash for dinner (part two) came early this week. We ate squash twice this week and liked it! I’d say a very successful “Oooh Squash for dinner!” challenge so far. As a special bonus: I made this dinner under $5, loved it, and, we have leftover dumplings in the freezer.

This week I bring you: Squash Asian Style. Kabocha dumplings in soup!