Squashing the Competition
Deep in the midst of Thanksgiving prep, I also keep in mind who is coming and what they do or do not eat. This year I’ll be trying a green bean casserole without mushrooms because my daughter-in-law won’t eat them at all.
So often for these grand meals vegetarians guests just get the side dishes, but I’ve come up with something a bit elaborate, most of which entirely doable ahead of time for a festive occasion. It’s also lovely as a side for everyone else! The Berkshire Eagle column itself can be found here, or scroll down.
VEGETABLE BOATS
by Elizabeth Baer
If you’ve been reading my columns for a while, you may have noticed that I will often make suggestions for various dietary requirements. While such accommodations may seem a more recent phenomenon, there have always been people who didn’t eat certain foods for religious or health or cultural reasons. Because my sister was diagnosed with type I diabetes when she was three years old, from a very early age, I was always sensitive to people’s dietary needs.
We love to entertain, and I always ask guests about their dietary restrictions and preferences. This usually works, although there was this one time when a person said they had nothing of note, and I made one of our favorite beef stew recipes. Our guest pushed the food around on the plate and ate very little of anything. It was months later that we learned she was a vegetarian, but hadn’t said anything.
While we are all planning our holiday menus, it’s time to think a bit more elaborately for everyone who will be at our tables, and I came up with the recipe here for vegetarian guests. Delicata squash skin is more tender than other winter squash varieties, so I made them the edible vessel for vegetable slices arranged in the style of a Hasselback recipe. Do make an effort to get small, tender delicata squash, because the skin can get tougher if they get too big. And for the vegetables inside, you can choose your favorites. I like to have three different colors, but it’s entirely up to you. You can even make this vegan by replacing the butter with olive oil, and gluten-free panko crumbs will work fine if anyone needs that accommodation. Yes, it’s a bit involved, but it can also be assembled well ahead of time, and your vegetarian guests will feel that their dinner is just as special and grand as the turkey.
VEGETABLE-FILLED DELICATA SQUASH
Makes 8 “boats”
INGREDIENTS:
4 delicata squash (try to buy smaller, more tender squash, at most 5-6 inches long, 2-3 inches diameter)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1-2 sweet potatoes or fat carrots
1-2 turnips or potatoes
10-12 Brussels sprouts
4 tablespoons butter, or olive oil for vegan
4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup panko crumbs, gluten-free if desired
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a half sheet pan with foil.
Halve the delicata squash lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. A melon baller works well for this. Place the squash on the foil, cut side up, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
While the squash halves are cooking, peel the sweet potato or carrot and turnip or potato and cut into ¼-inch slices. You can also substitute other vegetables if desired. For a special occasion, I like to use as many different colors as possible. Trim the Brussels sprouts and slice through the root end into 3-4 slices each. Set all the pieces into a steamer over boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool as well. Check the blossom and stem ends of the squash boats because sometimes they can be a bit tough. If so, trim carefully making sure to keep the ends of the boat intact.
Using a small round cookie cutter or a sharp knife, cut out rounds of the vegetables that will nestle nicely on their sides into the squash halves. Place the vegetable rounds on their edges in the squash halves. Try to alternate colors as much as possible. At this point you can store them in the refrigerator and finish the dish later.
Raise oven temperature to 425°F. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and stir to combine. Place the filled squash halves on the foil-lined pan, and drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture over each squash boats. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of panko crumbs on top of each one. Bake for 20-30 minutes until hot throughout and panko crumbs are beginning to brown. Serve one to each guest as a side dish, or two for any vegetarian guests as a main course.