Ben Greenfield calls Chef Todd because he is overwhelmed with squash from his fridge and garden and asks for ideas beyond sautéing. Chef Todd explains squash nutrition and recommends three basic cooking methods—simmering, roasting, grilling—with practical preparations (peel/seed/cube then mash or puree; roast-in-skin and scrape; grill slices) and suggests pairing grilled squash with high-protein items. Chef Todd also promotes a live webcast (Cooking Squash challenge) that will demonstrate 10 squash-based dishes using three methods in under 60 minutes.
Questions this video answers
Tuesday, September 21st at 7pm.
10 fall foods using squash in under 60 minutes.
Chapters
Hey, it's Ben here from BenGreenfieldFitness.com Excuse my appearance, but I actually just walked in the door from a triathlon. I am starved. I want to make myself something to eat. But I want to show you a little problem that I have. I have a ton of squash in my refrigerator. As a matter of fact, I not only have a ton of squash in my refrigerator, but I also have a ton of squash outside in the garden. I. I am completely inundated with squash. So what I think I'm gonna do is call my friend Chef Todd and ask him if he might know what to do with all this squash. Let's go ahead and call him and see what he has to say. Hey, Chef Todd, this is Ben. I need to show you a little problem that I have. Is that okay?
Yeah, Ben, sure. Be glad to help.
Okay. I don't know if you can see in my refrigerator here, but you know what that is?
Looks like a lot of squash.
Yeah, it's, pardon the expression, a crapload of squash. And there's more of it out in the garden. I have no clue what to do with all this squash. I'm sick and tired of just sauteing squash for every meal. You taught me how to saute in another video, but what else can I do with this squash?
Geez, Ben, you're not alone. This time of year, everybody's gardens are generally full of more than they can eat at a certain time. But squash is a great thing to practice your basic cooking methods on. And you just ran triathlon today, didn't you?
I did. I was just telling people I was apologizing for my appearance because I just walked in the door from a triathlon. I had to shave. What do you think? Actually, you know what? You got to shave worse than I do.
Yeah, I'm in between.
And you won, right?
I did.
Congratulations. I bring it up because those squash are very nutritious for you. High in vitamin A and C, water soluble vitamins. Drinking a lot of water after a triathlon. Most of the calories in squash come from carbohydrates and proteins, not fat. Obviously, it's a low fat item. High in calcium, high in magnesium, high in potassium, even more so than bananas, and. And a high water content. So if you ran a triathlon, squash is a good thing to eat. My advice, getting right to it, is, like I said, call on basic cooking methods, because things like simmering the squash, roasting the squash, or even grilling the squash will help break down the fibrous nature of it. It can be pretty tough stuff. And also it's ugly. Like, people don't trust ugly vegetables. They don't cook it, but three different ways that you can then make up recipes. Peel it, seed it, cube it, and simmer it in a vegetable broth or a chicken broth or any flavorful broth that you'd like. Then you can mash it just like mashed potatoes. Add some butter if you'd like. Add low fat, sour cream and chives if you want. You can treat it just like a mashed potato, roasting it in the oven, in the skin, seeded. Then you can scrape out what has been cooked and it can be pureed for soups or even I've stuffed it in raviolis, things like that. Cutting it into thin slices and grilling it and then serving it along with chicken breast or another high protein item. Three quick things you can do with squash. But you know what? I'm fortunate that you called because I've got my next webcast coming up on Tuesday, September 21st at 7pm it's the cooking Squash challenge. And because so many people have expressed the same concern that you have, I'm going to cook 10 fall foods using squash in only three basic cooking methods in under 60 minutes. It's the Cooking Squash challenge. So if you want to get at least 10 ideas in 60 minutes, next Tuesday, September 21st, is the time to tune in.
That sounds so much better than just eating this squash. I mean, I know it's good for me, but seriously, I'll put a link to that webinar underneath this video for folks, because people, I mean, let's face it, squash is healthy, but it doesn't taste all that good to just eat raw like I'm attempting to do right now to get my vitamin A and my vitamin C. So check out that webinar with Chef Todd. I'm gonna be there, and I will put a link so you can be there too, right underneath this video. Chef Todd's free squash webinar. Check it out and think. Thank you, Chef Todd. Once again, you've saved my butt and I appreciate it.
