Delicata squash
The first winter squash of the year shows up at the end of September, and delicata is the one worth buying while it is still hot outside. It is smaller, sweeter, and faster than the squash that comes in November, and unlike them, you do not have to peel it.
How to choose it
- Cream-colored with green stripes — orange in the grooves means longer cured and sweeter
- Firm all over, with no soft or wet spots at either end
- Heavy for its size
- A dry, intact stem still attached
- Small to medium; the large ones get watery
Buy this much: 2 squash. That is two dinners' worth of roasted half-moons, or one dinner and a week of rice bowl additions.
Usually sold by the piece rather than by weight, which makes the medium ones the better buy. Early-season squash costs a little more than it will in November.
During the week
- On the sheet pan with chicken thighs
- Roasted half-moons over a rice bowl
- With black beans and chile strips
- Cold from the fridge, with lime and salt
On a weekend
A tray roasted dark beside the fish tacos, if you want something warm.
One thing worth learning
Winter squash is sweeter than it looks, and the way to find that out is heat and space. Cut it thin, oil it well, spread it out with room between the pieces, and roast it at 425°F or higher until the edges go genuinely dark — not golden, dark. Crowd the pan and it steams into something soft and bland. It is the same lesson eggplant taught in August, on a different vegetable.