Pivoting at the market

We were at the farm market a few weeks ago and the pickings were pretty slim. It was mid-February in the foothills of the Adirondacks. The fact we can get any fresh vegetables in the dead of Winter is a testament to our farmers and their ingenuity and dedication. We were perusing the offerings of one of our favorite vendors when he drew our attention to some squashes he had for sale. He said it was a cross between a delicato and an acorn squash and pretty versatile. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been hesitant about winter squashes. I can’t tell you how many spaghetti squashes went bad in our pantry or how much I resisted butternut squash…well really my knife resisted so they too would get squishy on the counter rather than roasted in my oven. And I do not know what I had against the poor delicato squash! I avoided it like it was radioactive.

Nowadays, hubby is the one doing a lot of the dinner cooking since I work later than him. He had already successfully turned me on to spaghetti squash and now it’s a go to side dish (We don’t like it with red sauce btw). Having stronger hand strength than me he has turned many a butternut squash into delicious soup. So when he turned to me and said “shall we try the delicato cross?”, I couldn’t say no. And boy am I glad I pivoted on this one! Hubby says he followed a delicato fries recipe and it worked out great with the cross. He slices it into thin fry type shapes, roasts it for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. No seasonings just a little olive and YUM! Like the perfect fry, they are crunchy on the outside from the skin and creamy on the inside. The next week at the market we got 2 squashes and ate them both!

Winter gets long up here in the North Country so it’s good to have things to break up the monotony. Being able to pivot on Winter squash has been a gift of local food I have given myself. I will now look forward to the season of delicato fries next Winter! Whether it’s the length of the pandemic or the length of the Winter that has you down, see if you can pivot on something or some idea you have and give yourself the gift of something new.