Here's a tale of five summer squash that you may enjoy hearing. We are now in the "BER" months (September through December), which means yellow summer squash will disappear at the farmer's market after North Carolina's first frost.
My husband hates zucchini and squash, or so he thinks. My grandmother and Dad used to make the best brown-sauteed squash, which you find served in country-cooking restaurants. I've yet to recreate the right seasoning for it, but I will keep trying. Through the years, I have made mediocre versions in my kitchen, and since no one in my house will eat squash except me, I rarely buy it.
For years, I have been a customer of Papa Spud's produce box. I don't use it every week, but it is a terrific way to get NC produce delivered, especially NC-made products from across the state that are harder to find in the Raleigh area. For example, basil pesto from Anders Farm in the Triad region is an item I frequently ask for in my subscription box. I'm fortunate because I live less than two miles from the State Farmer's Market, so getting good produce is not difficult for me.
However, there are sometimes downsides to having a subscription. There are weeks when I forget to pause it for the week or customize the box so it has all my wants and needs when it arrives at my doorstep from my weekly carrier. Both are great perks of this service, especially when used properly. The customer has three days to get this done, from Friday at 12 pm until Monday at 12 pm. If it isn't completed, I'm responsible.
Last week was one of my forgetful weeks. I received whatever was in abundance that week, along with a few of my preferred staples like chicken tenderloins or farm-fresh tomatoes. When I opened the box, there lay five beautiful yellow summer squashes.
On my menu for that evening, I was going to make a white bean caprese salad from Colu Henry, an NY Times Contributor and author of several cookbooks, so I thought, "I've got to do something with this darn squash." I like Henry's recipes because they are usually made in 30 minutes or less. She didn't have a recipe that I could make right then and there with everything in my pantry.
My husband came home from work and saw the squash as I was plating our dinner, and reminded me that he didn't like squash. I said, "I know, but I had squash come today, so I cooked squash."
Let's say this recipe for sauteed squash turned a squash hater into a person who stated, "This squash is actually good. The fact that I'm eating it says a lot," However, his sudden squash enthusiasm for this particular recipe doesn't mean that he wants squash more often on our dinner table. Luckily for him, yellow squash season is almost over here in North Carolina. It will be gone as soon as we have our first frost.
He's a long way from becoming a squash lover, but this recipe helped him realize squash is not a food enemy.
Yellow summer squash will only be on NC farms until we have our first frost. We'll more than likely have winter squash in place of yellow squash in early October. I found another easy squash recipe in Southern Living that uses a sheet-pan method; I wouldn't mind trying it, but perhaps I should stop while I'm ahead. However, this Greenpan Bakeware Quarter sheet pan I found wandering the internet has me wanting to cook in the oven more often as the temperatures drop. But that's another story for another time.
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