Surprised by squash

I have been working on a few squash recipes this week. I am amazed at how much you can do with squash! It can be put in almost any thing -- stir fry, pizza, soup, and my two new favorites, bread and pot pie.

I have adapted my old zucchini bread recipe and I now call it squash bread. The last batch I made actually had 3 kinds of squash mixed together since I had half a zucchini left from the day before, then I added a medium yellow squash, then half a trombone squash.

First I will share the basic recipe that I have adapted from several different cookbooks. You can modify the recipe several ways without changing the flavor very much. To reduce the sugar just leave out half. You can use 1/2 wheat flour and 1/2 white flour and substitute coco powder for 1/2 cup flour to give it a chocolate flavor. Add a handful of chocolate chips for more of a treat. You can leave out a 1/2 cup of oil without substituting the applesauce and it still comes out great although a little dry. We put earth balance (margarine) on it anyway so I like to decrease the oil. I made the muffins above with 2/3 the sugar and 1/2 the oil last night. I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top and brought them to share with some friends and they were a hit.

3 tablespoons of ground flax seeds
1/2 cup water
1 cup canola oil or half cup oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Mix the flax seeds and water and whisk for a minute then set aside. Mix oil, sugar, and vanilla, then add flax mix, and squash.

Mix dry ingredients together then add to the wet ingredients. Add nuts, raisins, etc. last.

Bake at 350. This makes 2 loaves or 2 muffin tins or one 9x13 pan.The recipe doubles easily.



Next, I adapted this pot pie recipe from Joy of Cooking. I was excited because the original recipe included winter squash and did not involve mixing flour into the base. You simply saute the veggies of your choice individually. Then mix them together with salt and pepper and pour into baking dish. Then cover the veggies with broth. While that is baking, mix drop biscuit recipe to spread on top. Easiest pot pie I've found and it tastes fantastic. Here's the link for a simple biscuit recipe that I love. If you want more details about the pot pie recipe just let me know. I don't want to type it up unless I know someone will want it:)



I was able to use up a lot of squash this week with those two recipes and also summer squash soup. The girls are not big fans of squash although Arianna doesn't mind it as much. Everyone loves it in the bread, though. Have I said enough about squash bread to make you want to try it:)