Delicata Who?
Wednesday, October 28th, 2015
There’s this pile on my desk which is composed of stuff I have to either a) deliver to its proper storage place or b) send out for treatment of some kind, as in dry cleaning or c) ponder its usefulness until I am certain it has none and then throw it away.
My general policy is to ignore this pile altogether until it threatens to swap my work station. This happened yesterday—I had to address the pile. Right on top was an oblong object that I had placed there a few days ago and proceeded to ignore.
The object, according to its label, is a Delicata squash. I bought it because every so often I resolve to cook something I have never cooked (or seen) before. Often this means some random vegetable, which sometimes actually ends up cooked and sometimes ends up rotting on the kitchen window sill.
Last night, since my husband (who is violently anti-squash) was out of town, I resolved to reduce my desk pile by one item and cook the damn thing.
I roasted it, just adding oil, salt and pepper, my theory being I’d get to know this Delicata in its purest form, rather than gussy it up. (Plus I was too lazy to gussy.) Result: Loved it. I will buy it again. My husband will never eat it, or any other food that looks like it, but, hey, all the more for me.
My pile is diminished some. I think that entitles me to ignore it again.
Roasted Delcata Squash
Yield: two servings
1 Delicata squash
1 teaspoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 425º F.
2. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds with a spoon. Cut the squash crosswise into pieces about 1/2″ thick. Rub the squash pieces with oil to coat all over. Sprinkle the squash with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Place the squash on a parchment-lined baking sheet, put it in the oven and roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Eat.
