Delicata Squash Oven Fries

Oh. My. Goodness. Today I have something so easy and so delicious, you won’t believe it’s good for you.

It’s not a test kitchen recipe, but rather, something I just came up with one day when trying to determine what to do with a delicata squash from my produce box. You know the delicata squash, right? It’s kind of a smallish winter squash with a cylindrical shape.

This is sort of a “no recipe” recipe I stumbled upon when I was making 2Chili some russet potato oven fries, but didn’t want those myself. Ordinarily, I’d make sweet potato fries for me, but didn’t have any sweet potatoes. I did have a nice delicata squash just sitting around, and thought, “why not?”

I read a tip somewhere that you can microwave winter squash for 2-3 minutes in the microwave to soften them up a bit and make cutting them easier. So, I microwaved the squash for 2 minutes on high, and, it cut like buttah when I sliced it up, making nice little straight and long “fries.”

Then, I roasted them for 40 minutes at 350F – no need to even turn/stir. The result? Perfect. I added a little bit of low sodium ketchup, and, they were just the right accompaniment to my egg sandwich.

Look closely and you can see the steam coming from the fries – hot out of the oven!

Test Kitchen Tuesday Delicata Squash Oven Fries
Downloadable Word Document Recipe

Serves: 2 (One serving = 1/2 of the squash)

Time Required:

• 5 minutes to prepare squash
• 40-45 minutes to roast

Ingredients:

• 1 delicata squash (organic if you prefer, as you can eat the skin)
• Salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Wash squash thoroughly, as you can eat the skin once roasted; Pat dry
• Microwave squash on high for 2 minutes to soften the skin
• Cut in half and remove seeds
• Cut off “tip and tail” of squash
• Cut into thin strips about .5” wide
• Lightly salt and pepper if you prefer (I did not)
• Place on lightly sprayed cookie sheet
• Roast for 40-45 minutes, until the fries have reached your desired level of brown-ness

Nutrition:

From MyFitnessPal.

Next time you’re in a fry kind of mood, maybe give these guys a try. While we don’t have kids, I suspect you could serve these to kids and they wouldn’t even bat an eye, or turn up a nose!