Last week, at the grocery store, I meant to buy spaghetti squash but somehow got distracted and picked up and purchased an acorn squash instead… which, in hindsight, I’m glad I did. Though I knew exactly how I wanted to prepare the spaghetti squash, but when I got home and realized I had accidentally bought acorn squash, I didn’t know what to do with it.

I looked for recipes online and found that the majority of them called for brown sugar or maple syrup but because I wanted something savory, I decided to create my own baked acorn squash recipe.

The first night I cut the acorn squash into cubes and ate them just as they were when I took them out of the oven but the next evening I added the acorn squash cubes to a bowl of spinach and added some sliced cherry tomatoes.

Let me know what you think of the recipe! What is your favorite way to eat winter squash?

Savory Baked Acorn Squash

Serves 2

What You Need:

1 acorn squash
1 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning mix
4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

How-To:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice acorn squash in half, scoop out all of the seeds with a spoon.

Place halves with the scooped-out centers facing up in a baking dish filled with ¼ inch of water (note: the water serves to prevent the skins from burning and the squash from drying out).

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar over each of the halves so that it coats the top of the rim as well as the inside. Then sprinkle ½ tablespoon of kosher salt and 1 tablespoon of the Italian seasoning mix over each of the halves.

Bake in the oven for one hour, until the squash is very soft throughout and the tops are browned. Do not undercook – you could even keep them in the oven for a little longer than an hour if you think it needs it. Let the squash cool down a bit before cutting off the skins and cutting the halves into cubes.

Nutritional Benefits:

Wheat Free, Dairy Free, No Sugar Added

Acorn Squash: Acorn squash, while not considered a fatty food, does contain omega-3s which have anti-inflammatory properties. One cup of baked squash provides approximately 340 milligrams of omega-3 fats. Acorn squash is also a great source of alpha and beta-carotene.

Sea Salt: Sea salt is obtained naturally from the sea and does not go through any processing that alters the natural make-up of salt. Sea salt naturally helps you to build up a strong immune system so that you can fight off the cold virus, the fever and flu, allergies and other autoimmune disorders. Sea salt can actually help with weight loss! It helps the body to create digestive juices so that the foods you eat are digested faster, and it helps to prevent buildup in the digestive tract,

Oregano: Surprisingly, oregano is a great source of fiber as well as vitamin K, manganese, iron and vitamin E.

Tagged as: acorn, oregano, savory, sea salt, squash