Let’s Squash It
Cruising the aisles of the produce section lately, you see lots of squash, pumpkin, and zucchini along with fall goodies that have come into season. With this bounty all around us, it’s no surprise that we’re looking for new ways to cook these veggies into our meals.
This week, I decided to tackle two on the same day:
…and the results were positively DE-LI- CIOUS.
Let’s start with the
Zucchini Apple Bread. To begin, you’ll need these ingredients: 1 1/2 c
wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, cooking spray, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp cinnamon, pinch of salt, 1 apple finely shredded, 1 zucchini finely shredded, 1/4 c egg whites or egg beaters, 1/2 cup greek yogurt (1 or 2%), and 1/4 cup agave or honey.
Preheat oven to 350.
Here's what we need to get started
Mix together all dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix together apple, zucchini and all wet ingredients. Combine together thoroughly.
Mixing the ingredients - dry with wet
Pour batter in pan & bake
Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Zucchini Apple Bread Loaf
Once cool, cut into 12 servings (about 3/4 inch thick slice). Each serving has about 115 calories or 2 pts each.
My taste test slice
The house was filled with the smell of cinnamon and apples after baking this. I had to take a 5 minute break to enjoy a slice with a berry protein smoothie on the side. Very glad that I did. Yummy.
Snack Time - Berry Protein Shake & Zucchini Bread
Now we’ll shift gears from dessert to the main course – the Butternut Squash Risotto. For ingredients, you’ll want: 3 cups butternut squash – cubed, 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, cooking spray, 4 cups chicken broth (in separate pot brought to boil), 1/2 onion diced, 1 c mushrooms diced, 2 cloves garlic minced, 1 c arborio rice, 1/2 c frozen peas, salt/pepper to taste, and parmesan cheese (optional).
Preheat the oven to 425. While heating, dice your squash into cubes.
Dice the squash
Place squash on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 25 min until tender and set aside.
Bake squash for 25 min, set aside
While that’s baking, rough chop the rest of your vegetables.
Chop onion, mushroom and garlic
Heat pan and olive oil to medium high heat and saute veggies – starting with onion, then adding mushrooms and garlic.
Saute veggies until soft
Once veggies are soft, pour in cup of rice and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes. Begin to pour hot broth into rice 1/2 cup at a time and stir until evaporated. Continue doing this for 20-30 minutes until rice is tender but still has some bite in the center.
Then, fold in frozen peas and butternut squash. Heat through until peas have thawed and rice dish is to desired temperature.
Pour in broth and continue mixing til rice is tender
Top with parmesan cheese (if you’d like) and serve. This risotto dish is bound to make you grateful that it’s fall. It’s finger-lickin good and approx 275 calories per cup (or 4 pts) per serving.
Fold in peas and squash into risotto
On a side note, Maya – my puppy – watched every step of this process veeeeeery closely. She was hoping and praying I’d drop a thing or two. Sorry Maya. It’ll have to be regular dog food for you. Good thing you love it. :)
Maya checking to see how things are coming along
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Ooooo Zucchini apple bread sounds delish, thanks!
Your zucchini bread looks awesome. I love it. And I roasted squash the exact same way for the first time the other night. I can’t stop thinking about it!
I know – I love that you don’t have to work hard to make squash taste great. It starts off delicious.
I love fall cooking! I’ve been looking forward to it for so long.
It is the best time of year for cooking in my opinion. Tons of great options to make & bake.