Fall Tastes

Good Morning! I have a few extra minutes to spare in between training, studying, cleaning, and knocking other random chores off my list this morning so I wanted to share with you all a great new vegetable I just discovered. It's called a Kabocha and is also known as a Japanese Winter Squash. Ever heard of it? Well I'm not much of a squash fan nor am I a fan of cooking anything that takes more than a few minutes of prep but a fellow lifting girlfriend excitingly told me about it the other day as it is apparently difficult to find around here and she had found it at Trader Joe's. I guess it's one of Pauline Nordin's (Figher Diet) favorite starchy veggies so being a huge fan of hers I too had to try it out. I scooted off to Whole Foods the next day since I had a GC to spend there and to my luck I found a big box of them. I chose a small-ish one and after reading-up online about how to prepare them I decided the cleanest and easiest version would be to cut it into slices and bake them on a greased baking sheet for about 10 mins each side at 375 F. I sprinkled them with cinnamon for a little extra sweetness and flavor. When I pulled them out they were soft and easy to cut into smaller chunks. Some of the recipes I read recommended skinning the squash first but that looked way too difficult so I just ate the skin right along with the fleshy middle. I would liken the taste closer to that of sweet potato than say butternut squash since it was quite sweet. I thought it was delicious and the best part was that 1 cup is only approximately 40 calories and 7 grams of carbs. What a great food to have on-hand while dieting! I ate 1/2 of the squash with dinner alongside some steamed peas and grilled chicken breast and I was full for the rest of the night! Here's a collage of the baking and eating process:

I would recommend using a very sharp knife to cut through the squash if you choose to cook it that way. My knives all suck so I had to microwave it for a couple of minutes to soften it a bit before slicing. My friend who claims to be a lazier cook than I said she just cut it in half, scooped-out the seeds and steamed it in the microwave until soft with a little bit of water added to the center. I found some other recipes that sounded pretty tasty which suggested additional spices and tossing in coconut oil prior to baking but I was going for low-cal here!

Anyway, I just wanted to share this new find with all of you before it leaves the shelves again. I always love finding new clean foods to add some variety to my bland diet. Please share any fall foods you have recently tried in the comments section below! Happy Sunday Funday all :)