Squash

Bursting with Italian flavor, this frittata is equally at home at brunch or dinner.

With this recipe, you don’t need to buy many ingredients or spend much time in the kitchen to get a colorful and tasty side dish.

Cooking the squash in a nonstick skillet gives it a caramelized crust that heightens its sweetness, which in turn is complemented by a light glaze of orange.

Roasting veggies over high heat retains those delightful concentrated flavors.

Crisp, colorful vegetables are the highlights of this salad. Try it for a summertime picnic for a group or for the next family reunion.

This pretty, quick-to-prepare, and divine-tasting salad is perfect for potlucks and summer lunches. Vary the vegetables and try other vinaigrettes in this chapter (pages 96–97) for different flavors.

A garden of vegetables teams up with barley and lean chicken to make this “souper” nutritious. The cooking water from the chicken serves as a flavorful low-salt base for the soup.

When the dog days of summer arrive, turn to this no-cook chilled soup. It is low in sodium and calories, contains no fat, and is quite refreshing.

The key to enjoying dense winter squash more often is a time-saving ten or so minutes in the microwave. By cooking them first, you avoid the anxiety and danger of hacking a sturdy squash or your finger in half. Or, look for packages of ready-to-cook precut and peeled squash in the supermarket. After cooking, the other trick is to scoop the flesh into a casserole where it’s easy to char evenly under the broiler in a couple minutes. This way no one has to negotiate an unwieldy squash boat, and everyone gets as much or as little as they want. Make the casserole ahead and you’ll be glad come dinnertime. The trio of squash sauces shows how well squash gets along with a full range of sweet to savory flavors. One sauce is traditional—buttery and sweet with pecans. The second is a sweet-savory exotic beauty blending spicy chutney, dried cranberries, and almonds. The third, a savory tomato, mysteriously brings out the sweetness of the squash without overpowering it. Serve all three sauces with any squash combo and watch everyone duke it out for a favorite.