The oblong shape and striking hue of a blue hubbard sqaush is enough to make you take a second look—and that’s exactly what I did when I spotted the baby blues at Sunday’s Headhouse Square Farmers’ Market. Three Springs Fruit Farm’s stand, my go to spot for as many apples as I could physically carry, was selling the hubbarbs under a sign that read, “Tastes like a sweet potato!” I was sold.
I took a medium-sized squash home and plopped it in my fruit basket where it stared at me for a few days. I had no idea what to do with the football-shaped veg sitting nestled between my pears and bananas.
Then one night it came to me.
I grabbed the squash, cut it down the middle, scooped out the seeds, drizzled on some olive oil and put the halves on a pan face down to roast at 375. In the meantime, I chopped an onion, some garlic, a couple carrots, celery and a handfull of kale and began a sauté. To this mix I added a leftover mix of millet and amaranth, along with garam masala, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Once it was nice and hot, I took my fragrant mixture and stuffed it in the squash, which was caramelizing quite nicely at this point. I put in as much as those little blues could hold and roasted everything for about 10 more minutes.
Served with some roasted brussels (dressed only in olive oil, salt and pepper), plus some leftover stuffing, this meal was incredibly simple to prepare and a satisfying display of the farmers’ market’s cold weather offerings.
