Surprising Ways to Eat Summer Squash

I love growing summer squash — zucchini and yellow squash are two of my favorite veggies to accompany warm weather dinners. Last year, I grew tired of simply slicing and sautéing them, so I started looking up different ways to prepare them. Who knew there were so many surprising ways to use squash? And you can thank me now for these ideas, because we all know how prolific squash is come July, don’t we?

Squash Smoothies

Blend squash in smoothies. Yes, you just read that. We typically add a banana into smoothies to create a good consistency, but squash works equally well. It’s also lower in sugar than a banana, high in potassium, fiber, and vitamins A and C.

Squash Smoothie Recipes

• Tropical Squash Zinger Smoothie – Squash with ginger, turmeric, and orange for a refreshing tropical taste.
• Banana Berry Greenie Smoothie – Squash with banana, strawberries, and spinach.
• Blueberry Peach Squash Smoothie – Squash with peaches and blueberries.

Homemade Squash Noodles

Turn squash into pasta-like noodles. Spiralizers are popular and make easy and quick work of turning squash and zucchini into tasty noodles.

How to Make Squash Noodles

• It’s best to roast squash noodles in the oven rather than boil them like you would traditional pasta. Boiled noodles leech water out into the rest of the prepared dish.
• Try using a vegetable peeler to create long ribbons of raw squash if you don’t have a spiralizer.

Squash Noodle Recipes

• Toss squash or zucchini noodles into a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, season to taste, and add sautéed mushrooms on top for a delicious and healthy meal.
• Saute squash noodles in olive or avocado oil, add rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic, and a squeeze of lemon.

Edible Squash Blossoms

Lots of flowers are edible, and squash blossoms are some of the largest and tastiest. But be careful — you’ll want to harvest only the male blossoms, as the female flowers are the ones that become the fruit. The females are easy to spot with their slight bulge at the base of the bloom where it connects to the stem — leave them and harvest the males. Remove the antlers from the inside, then wash and dry them.

Use them as salad garnishes, stuff with rice, herbs, and cheese to cook them, or dip them into

Squash Blossom Uses

• Garnishes: Top your favorite dishes such as salads and stirfries with squash blossoms.
• Stuffed Squash Blossoms: Stuff with rice, herbs, and cheese to cook them.
• Deep-Fried Squash Blossoms: Dip them into batter and fry.