I’m so totally weird.

Crispy Acorn Squash Rounds I howsweeteats.com

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.

Crispy Acorn Squash Rounds I howsweeteats.com

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.

Crispy Acorn Squash Rounds I howsweeteats.com

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.

Crispy Acorn Squash Rounds I howsweeteats.com

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 Acorn Squash Rounds I howsweeteats.com

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.

Crispy Acorn Squash Rounds I howsweeteats.com

This totally counts as my vegetables!