Crispy Acorn Squash Rounds.
Guess what? Apparently I like vegetables in the winter… mainly because they don’t seem like vegetables at all. They don’t resembled broccoli or green things. I think we can all agree that squash is sort of like potatoes. Or something. Anything that you can mash with brown butter and cinnamon and brown sugar is so totally not a gross vegetable. I don’t see you doing that with broccoli now do I?
That’s what I thought.
And speaking of brown butter, I’m going to show you the best Thanksgiving side dish ever as soon as I can stop eating it.
Last week when I mentioned the gazillion pounds of squash hanging out on my counter, a commenter (Abigail!) pointed out that I should coat them in cornmeal and fry them. She promised I wouldn’t be sorry.
I wasn’t.
Duh.
It also gave me an excellent excuse to fuel my sage obsession. Darnit, I freaking love this stuff in all of it’s freaky furry glory.
You can make this squash as a side dish or even as a main meal. You can make it with butternuts or some of those other bumpy, ugly squasheseses. You can eat it plain or let it swim in Bone Suckin’ Sauce, which uh…. has replaced every single condiment in my life. I’ve never even been a condiment person and these days I find myself ready to chug that sauce straight from the jar.
I’m disgusting.
And I just realized this means I can no longer harp on my husband for ruining every single dish I make with ketchup. Crap.
But really… do whatever you want with this squash. Seriously. It’s delicious.
In other news, I’ve developed a really horrific habit of watching Friends on Nickelodeon every night. Like… every single night. It’s on from 11PM-1AM. I watch all of the episodes. I’m normally in bed by my ripe, old lady time of 9 o’clock.
Shoot.me.now.
I’m pretty sure I have all the DVDs, so this shouldn’t even be an issue. Someone save my soul. I’ll make you squash.
Crispy Squash Rounds
serves 2-4 (or uh… 1)
2 acorn squash, sliced into rounds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
3/4 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
6 sage leaves, chopped
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then place a wire rack on top of the sheet. Spray with non-stick spray.
Peel acorn squash rounds if desired (this only took me an extra 5 minutes), then sprinkle with salt, pepper, chili powder and nutmeg. In one bowl, add egg whites and lightly beat with a fork. In a second bowl, add flour, sage, cornmeal and breadcrumbs and mix. Coat each squash round in the beaten egg white, then dredge through the cornmeal mixture, pressing to adhere. Gently place on the baking sheet and repeat with remaining squash. Right before baking, mist squash with a spritz of olive oil or non-stick spray.
Bake for 20 minutes, then gently flip (if desired), mist once more, and bake for about 20 minutes longer, or until squash is crispy and golden. Serve with dipping sauce of choice. I live for Bone Suckin’ Sauce. Garnish with crispy sage is desired.
This totally counts as my vegetables!
137 Comments on “Crispy Acorn Squash Rounds.”
Oh, hell yes! You know what other condiment is screaming to put on nearly everything?
Asian Sweet Chili Sauce.
Sweet Jesus on a cracker, it’s like a freaking drug habit!
Yes yes, I like that too!
WOwowow!!! Seriously blowing my mind with this recipe. And this totally counts as eating your vegetables…especially including sage. It *is* green!!
Bone Suckin’ sauce..hmmm..need this i think.
Holy yum. The bf claims he doesn’t like squash (lies – I’ve served butternut to him 8648912346239 times with him thinking it was a sweet potato)… but maybe I won’t have to undermine our relationship if it’s crispy and served with some sort of garlicky ranch. Must try asap!
These are healthy, riight? Might have to be the first acorn squash recipe I ever make!
These look SO. GOOD. Any suggestions for a vegan substitue for the egg whites?
Brown Rice Flour mixed with water is very sticky, I use it for sealing spring rolls, not sure how it would do in this situation though
How adorable! and delicious! Good work. :)
I just want to tell you that you must be spying on my kitchen and my life – your recipes always come at just the right time! I have a couple types of squash I need to use, and this will be perfect! You’re a genius! Maybe creepy – but genius! :)
Mmm I love the way you think!!
May have to try this! I only ever bake acorn squash with maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter. Totally healthy. And, I did have this odd little habit while I was pregnant that every time I went to the grocery store I thought, “Oh, I’m out of corn meal, I should get some.” Filled my entire pantry with corn meal. Sheesh.
These look great!!! :)
I love the way you’ve written ‘garnish with crispy sage IS desired’… rather than ‘if’. Freudian slip!? :)
Yo. so watching re-runs is so understandable. How you do that and wake up at 5.15 am AND stay sane and write a cute blog is a miracle!!!! okay, and how you do all that without coffee is just insane!
I’m otally wishing I hadnt just wasted my last acorn squash with a boring ‘baking and covering in brown sugar’ venture. b-o-r-i-n-g.
xox
Can I serve mine with maple syrup? Does that count as a dipping sauce?
I think there is a difference between winter vegetables and summer vegetables. Things like squash and pumpkin just seem more substantial to me than say, zucchini. Plus I feel like winter preparations tend to be a bit richer and creamier.
Yes, that! :)
I hear you – I LOVE sage and am always looking for ways to use it in the Fall and Winter. These are so beautiful and such a great and interesting use of acorn squash, these would be interesting to serve cut in half as an appetizer – great finger food!
Nick at Nite For Life!
(except Family Matters–Urkel skeeves me out)
EW yes, me too.
I have got to try this. I’m obsessed with squash. I love it, and you’re right, they are kind of like potatoes. Or at least more like potatoes than broccoli :D
I would have never thought to bread these and bake them like that…they look awesome!! Must try!
Aaah I wanna go home now and make these ASAP! I’ve been sucked into watching the Friends reruns too. And yeah, I’ve also already watched each episode multiple times (so much so that I sometimes find myself mouthing the words because I’ve unconsciously memorized them already) :p
If I didn’t love veggies, I swear I would’ve happily ate those delish crispy acorns!!
As for your FRIENDS obsession?!? Count me in, sista :D
YUM! this reminds me of squash tempura, which i looooooooove. it’s my favorite. which means i would lurve this too! thanks for sharing :)
THANK YOU. someone else who is unable to turn away from friends on nick at nite. it’s killing me. I love it. I can’t stop. and I can’t decide if it’s a problem or not.
Thank goodness I am not the only one watching Friends every night! I feel better about myself now.
these look awesome! i bet they’d be good with all sorts of winter veggies
i just bought 10 pounds of butternut squash at the store for no reason other than the fact that it was on sale for $0.39 a pound. i am a marketer’s dream. at least i have something to do with a few of them!
You’ll really like what I share on Friday then. :)
yum! and totally gorgeous! i never thought to do that with squash…but now I will!
YUM – – I’ll have to try these with sriracha sauce … :$ I can’t get enough of that stuff!!
1. i never liked squash, to be honest. maybe because they just look weird. and because they’re called squash. like… ew…
2. don’t hate on broccoli ! i love that stuff stirfried and drowned in soy sauce. but maybe that’s just cause my asian palate can’t get enough of that salty goodness.
3. you don’t need to be saved from old-woman-syndrome. it’s the best kind of disease to have cause you get to be warm and happy and laugh your buttocks off at situational comedies.
Oh, my grandma does stuff like this.. we Italians bread and fry just about everything. ;) I’ll have to give this a try.. although the idea of furry sage does make me sweat a little bit.
Yum!!! I love this idea for acorn squash. Anything coated in cornmeal usually tastes excellent. Try zucchini rounds next and add a bit of parmesan to the cornmeal and sprinkle with lemon juice once fried/baked. I PROMISE you will love it, even as someone who normally detests veggies.
Please, oh pretty please, try it! You might even be able to get away with adding some sage too ;)
I love your writing style. So entertaining! The acorn squash looks great! I need to give it a try.
Friends on Nick at Night has been the bane of my existence…My senior-citizen bed time has been replaced by me falling asleep on the couch every.single.night. I love it.
I really wish I had seen this about 4 hours ago! I had a lonely acorn squash left over from our CSA last week… I roasted it and filled it with a quick quinoa salad. But, I really wish I had made this instead. Yum!
I too have fallen prey to nick at nights friend hours!!! Imagine my disappointment when i turn on nick at my hotel, and the sound wont work!!! i was heart broken!
I will admit to smelling my hands incessantly after picking sage from the garden! Love the stuff!
This looks great! Gotta love crispy squash….yum!
I’m watching those Friends episodes every night too!
Dear lord. They look like healthy onion rings. meow.
Yikes these look amazing. I think I will HAVE to be trying these.
It was such an honor to meet you at Foodbuzz, Jessica!
Squash is healthy. Even if you made a double batch and ate it all yourself, it would totally be okay. Can I come over and inhal- I mean, eat with you?
I have been watching the Friends marathon at nights, too! I even record some of them in case I want to watch some when they aren’t on. Clearly, an sickness going on in both our Friends-loving worlds. I do the same thing for Gilmore Girls and I own the entire series.
I watch Friends every night, too!! I can’t get enough!!!
This looks so ultra delish! What a great way to get your veggies!
Now this I have never seen! WOW! I have some acorn squash right now, I am on it this week. :) Thanks Jessica!
Oh my god, you crack me up. This reminds me of the days that I was up in the middle of the night on the internet myself (we can pretend that I was “working” or some other such nonsense) and watched 2 hours of back to back episodes of Empty Nest and Coach, just because it was on. I never even liked Coach. In fact, I hated it.
I have sage in my fridge that I was contemplating using in some sort of brown butter sage pasta type deal, but I’m now leaning towards these crispy acorn squash rounds. Cheap and good! Thanks for sharing.
This pumpkin sage pasta sounds like it’d be right up your alley:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/fast-and-easy-vegan-dishes/
You’re a genius. I’m making these.
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This recipe sounds very tasty. Also, bird’s eye view picture of the knife chopping up sage is really awesome! Can’t even imagine how tough it was to get that one to come out right. :)
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