I was given couple of summer squash yesterday and they are not exactly my ideal, too long on the vine I guess since they are hard, not as hard as winter squash but I cant see the appeal in sautéing them. Anyone have any ideas? Can I use them in a zucchini bread recipe???
“It’s definitely OK to eat squash skin,” Rayna Joyce, vegetable production manager at Bread and Butter Farm in Shelburne, Vermont, told me. “Some (winter) squash have really delicate skins and they become tender when cooked. You can bake them and eat the whole thing.”
Well, here’s something you may not know. All squash skin is edible. But in the same way you’re going to toss that banana peel, edible doesn’t necessarily mean you want to eat it. Some squash has thin skin that’s tasty and tender, while others have a tough shell that, even cooked, offers a stringy, chewy bite we opt to avoid. Here are are our favorite squash to cook with, ranked from least-palatable skin to totally delicious peel.
Everything about delicata squash is delicious—and edible. You can scoop out the seeds and stuff these babies or slice them into chunks. Just keep in mind their super thin skin doesn’t keep the vegetable fresh as long as a thicker-skinned winter squash. You’ll want to use these up within a week of purchase.
The yellow and green squash you find from late spring to early fall are known most commonly as summer squash. Zucchini, yellow squash, and crookneck squash all have completely edible skin and seeds. Pattypan squash generally has edible skin, but the larger the squash the tougher the skin is. Take the time to roast a larger pattypan so the skin becomes softer, and you may want to remove the large seeds.
It seems daunting to differentiate between which squash varieties can be cooked skin-on and which you need to break out the vegetable peeler for. It’s just not this confusing with other produce items. We peel every kind of citrus fruit, eat all apples skin-on, and remove kiwi’s fuzzy layer—so why do squash have to send us such mixed signals?
You never have to peel a spaghetti squash, but you probably want to avoid eating the skin. Most recipes call for you to bake the squash, sliced down the middle with the shell intact and seeds removed. Once baked, you can use a fork to pull the spaghetti-like strands from the hard shell. Then you’re free to treat the meat like you would pasta, topping it off with a delicious sauce.
I was given couple of summer squash yesterday and they are not exactly my ideal, too long on the vine I guess since they are hard, not as hard as winter squash but I cant see the appeal in sautéing them. Anyone have any ideas? Can I use them in a zucchini bread recipe???
Can you eat skin on butternut squash?
FAQ
Do you leave the skin on squash when you cook it?
Can you eat the skin on squash?
Is it necessary to peel butternut squash before cooking?
Should squash be peeled before roasting?