What To Do With All The Squash

Why did I plant four squash plants?  This is the question that I've been asking myself the past few weeks.  Those little innocent plants that I put in the ground the first of May have been churning out the squash.  Wow, if everything would grow the way this vegetable grows, gardening would be a breeze.  Even with a squash dish on the menu every couple of days, I've had to find other things to do with the abundance.  At first friends were happy to take some off my hands, but now they see me coming and turn the other way.  They don't want any more of my squash.  I've taken bags to the homeless shelter and thankfully they haven't turned me down.  I've learned from experience that squash doesn't freeze well and I can only imagine that canned squash would end up being mush. What can I do with all this squash?  When lamenting about this to my friend Betsy, she said she had found a recipe for a squash casserole that freezes well. She used a mixture of squash and zucchini when she had both, but if not, she just used squash.  She made up lots of them last summer, stuck them in the freezer and they enjoyed them all winter.  Betsy froze hers in freezer bags and when ready to bake, took out a bag, emptied the contents into a greased casserole dish, covered with foil and baked. She also made individual portions by baking them in muffin tins. Now this was something I was interested in trying for myself. 

I've made a number of squash casseroles and I like them all, but her recipe was different from any I'd tried in the past.  Unlike other recipes, it didn't have eggs or sour cream in it, but it did have cornbread.  And I think that's what makes it so delicious!  When describing this to a friend a few days ago, she said, "oh, it sounds delicious, almost like a dressing"  And she's right!  That must be why I like it so much.  The dressing has always been my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal.   So I've been making plenty of these casseroles and we eat some and I freeze some. I've been using small foil casserole pans for the freezer that will be just the right amount for two people.  We really like it.  If you have squash, maybe you'll want to try it for yourself.   

You could make your own cornbread from scratch, but I've been using this mix and it's working out just fine.   Following the directions on the package, I bake the cornbread in a square dish, let it cool and then break it up in pieces and put it in a big bowl.

While the cornbread is baking, I chop up the squash in pretty big chunks.  It cooks down quite a bit and I like to bite into squash when I'm eating the casserole.  I put it in a pot with a little water and cook for a few minutes until the squash is almost tender.  Then drain it (reserving about a cup of water) and press down on the squash as much as possible to get out the liquid.

 In a skillet, I melt 1/4 stick of butter and about 1/4 cup olive oil. Then I chop some onion, garlic and fresh herbs.  I've been using thyme and parsley.  Of course you could use some dried herbs too.

I saute all that together until the onions are tender and add a couple of teaspoons of granulated chicken bouillon.  All of this goes into the bowl with the crumbled cornbread and cooked squash.

In that same bowl goes an eight ounce bag of shredded cheese, salt and pepper and some of the liquid you cooked the squash in.  Mix everything together and pour into casserole dishes.  

Bake at 350, covered with foil until bubbly. After about thirty minutes take off the foil so the casserole can brown for a few minutes.  I put the unbaked casseroles in the freezer for another day.  When I'm ready to eat them, I'll just pull them out and bake.

Good idea, huh?  

Thanks, Betsy! These pictures make me want some right now.

Betsy's Squash Casserole

4 1/2 cups zucchini, diced

4 1/2 cups yellow squash, diced

1 cup liquid from drained squash

1 cup chopped yellow onions

1 9x9 pan cornbread, cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup butter 

1/4 cup olive oil

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

2 t. granulated chicken bouillon

1 t. minced garlic

8 oz. grated cheddar cheese

1/2 t. thyme

1 T. parsley

Prepare cornbread from scratch or using boxed mix.  Place squash in saucepan and add just

enough water to cover.  Cook on low heat just until tender.  Remove from heat.  Drain squash,

reserve 1 cup of squash liquid.  On medium low temperature, place butter and oil in skillet.  Saute

the onions until they turn clear. Add salt, pepper, thyme, parsley.  Add granulated chicken bouillon

and garlic to onions. Stir.  Crumble cornbread in bowl and pour in reserved squash broth.  Add squash and cheese and stir all together.  Pour into greased casserole dishes and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.  Cover for first thirty minutes of cooking time.