Butternut Squash with thyme & garlic - before being popped into the oven There was a time when we could not get Butternut Squash in Tanzania. Then suddenly, it started appearing here and there in some of the little roadside market stalls. (I must remember, the next time I am at my local “Mama’s” market stall, to ask her where she sources them from.) Anyway ….
It is one of our family’s favourite vegetables. I usually slice it in half, scoop the seeds out (with a serrated grapefruit teaspoon – easier than using a knife !) and either spray it with non-stick pan spray (diet friendly !) or pour liberal splashes of olive oil over it and then season it with salt, pepper, garlic flakes, fresh herbs (I used thyme in the picture above) and bake it, uncovered, at 200’C/400’C/Gas Mark 6 for about an hour - or until done.
Another way I serve it is stuffed with a mixture of finely chopped spinach and garlic, a little salt and then wrapped in tin foil. I bake it in the same way and this method “steams” the butternut and the filling – delicious !
I refer to vegetables like pumpkin and butternut squash as “end of the month vegetables” as they keep really well in a cool pantry for weeks. I use all my “beginning of the month” vegetables soon after a town trip … things which don’t keep that well like spinach, for example. I also have “middle of the month” vegetables like carrots - as, stored in re sealable plastic bags they keep for ages in the fridge.
After years of living in remote locations I have learnt how to stretch out our food supplies. When we are eating tinned foods and pumpkin night after night, and are greedily cracking open the expired jars of condiments and actually quite enjoying them (!!) … we know that a town trip within the next couple of days is imminent.
There’s a limit to the amount of butternut squash and pumpkins a girl can eat, you know !
It is one of our family’s favourite vegetables. I usually slice it in half, scoop the seeds out (with a serrated grapefruit teaspoon – easier than using a knife !) and either spray it with non-stick pan spray (diet friendly !) or pour liberal splashes of olive oil over it and then season it with salt, pepper, garlic flakes, fresh herbs (I used thyme in the picture above) and bake it, uncovered, at 200’C/400’C/Gas Mark 6 for about an hour - or until done.
Another way I serve it is stuffed with a mixture of finely chopped spinach and garlic, a little salt and then wrapped in tin foil. I bake it in the same way and this method “steams” the butternut and the filling – delicious !
I refer to vegetables like pumpkin and butternut squash as “end of the month vegetables” as they keep really well in a cool pantry for weeks. I use all my “beginning of the month” vegetables soon after a town trip … things which don’t keep that well like spinach, for example. I also have “middle of the month” vegetables like carrots - as, stored in re sealable plastic bags they keep for ages in the fridge.
After years of living in remote locations I have learnt how to stretch out our food supplies. When we are eating tinned foods and pumpkin night after night, and are greedily cracking open the expired jars of condiments and actually quite enjoying them (!!) … we know that a town trip within the next couple of days is imminent.
There’s a limit to the amount of butternut squash and pumpkins a girl can eat, you know !
