This Week’s Recipes: Kale & Winter Squash… Perfect for Cold Weather!

The Many Colors of Squash

Some of the more varied vegetables of fall all go by the same name: squash. But as Martha Rose Shulman explains in this week’s Recipes for Health, you can discover new flavors by cooking with a squash of a different color.

This week it’s hard not to think about pumpkins, even though most of you won’t be cooking your jack-o’-lanterns. But along with the pumpkins in bins outside my supermarket, there are as many kabocha squashes, butternuts, acorns and large, squat European pumpkins that the French call potirons.

You can use either butternut or kabocha squash in this week’s recipes, though the two are not identical in texture or flavor. Butternut is a denser, slightly sweeter squash, and kabocha has an earthier flavor. Kabocha squash absorbs flavors beautifully and is especially well suited for salads because of the nice way it absorbs tart dressings.

Here are five new ways to cook with squash:

Puréed Winter Squash Soup With Ginger: One of the most comforting dishes you can make with winter squash is a puréed soup.

Lasagna With Roasted Kabocha Squash and Béchamel: No-boil noodles make this rich-tasting lasagna easier to prepare.

Roasted Beet and Winter Squash Salad With Walnuts: This composed salad sets the colors of the beets and the squash against each other beautifully.

Winter Squash and Molasses Muffins: Add walnuts and raisins or chopped apricots to personalize these moist muffins.

Balsamic Roasted Winter Squash and Wild Rice Salad: Tossing the squash with the vinegar before roasting deepens the flavors of both.

Kale Tabbouleh

TOTAL TIME 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup fine bulgur

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt, more as needed

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed

1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves finely chopped (5 cups)

2 large ripe tomatoes, diced (about 2 cups)

1/2 cup torn mint leaves

1/2 cup diced radish

Black pepper, as needed

PREPARATION

1. Cook bulgur according to package instructions. Cool.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, shallot, cumin and salt. Whisk in olive oil.

3. In a large bowl, toss together bulgur, kale, tomatoes, mint and radish. Toss in dressing. Season with black pepper and more salt if you like, and drizzle with additional oil if desired.

YIELD 4 to 6 servings

Both courtesy of the New York Times.

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