Light Dinner Ideas With Butternut Squash
Create Creamy Soups
The ultimate comfort food, soup is made naturally rich and thick when created with butternut squash. Brush squash halves with olive oil and roast them until soft while you saute onions with leeks or carrots. Puree the flesh of the roasted squash and add it, with vegetable or chicken broth and salt to taste, to the sauteed onion mixture. You may easily adjust squash soup to your taste -- add a scoop of sour cream for a thicker texture, use apple juice or unsweetened applesauce to give it a sweet edge or add cumin and garlic powder to give it a slight kick. More options: add chunks of cooked squash to minestrone soup or puree the squash and stir it into a creamy carrot soup.
Pour It Into Pasta
Butternut squash sauce is a light alternative to a high-calorie alfredo sauce. Dice the uncooked squash and cook it in boiling water until it's fork-tender. Drain the water, add a hearty splash of your favorite stock and return the pan to the stove until the squash falls apart, stirring often. Stir in some grated Parmesan cheese and toss with pasta. Another option: puree roasted squash and use it in place of tomato sauce in your favorite lasagna recipe. Sprinkle mozzarella only over the top of the dish rather than between layers, to cut calories and let the squash shine. If you're feeling ambitious, making homemade ravioli with butternut squash filling is worth the effort. Cook the ravioli in boiling water until they float and saute them with browned butter and fresh sage.
Make Squash the Star
Serving butternut squash just the way nature made it is visually arresting -- not to mention easy on the chef. Roast squash halves and set one on each place, rind and all. Cook quinoa or brown rice and add herbs and toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds, and scoop the mixture into each squash half. If you want a meal that includes meat, fill the center of each squash half with sauteed spinach or kale and top each one with a lean, grilled pork chop or chicken breast. Or let the squash stand on its own as the center of your meal. Brush the halves with balsamic vinegar and oil before roasting them, and enjoy the sweet and smoky flavor as you eat the squash as your main course.
Or Let It Be a Side
A low-calorie main course isn't always enough to keep you satisfied until breakfast. When your main course is light, squash is a satisfying side dish. Try skewering cooked chunks of squash, brushing them with olive oil and cooking them on a medium-hot grill for five to seven minutes. Make a low-fat alternative to french fries by cutting raw squash into sticks, brushing them with oil and baking them until brown, or mash cooked squash with roasted garlic for a comforting cold-weather side dish. A warm side salad of grilled squash and other winter vegetables, like zucchini and parsnips, is nutritious and filling; in hot weather, top a green salad with squash chunks and an apple cider vinaigrette.
Source...