Availability: All Year Around
What to look out for
When buying butternut squash, try to look for the ones without blemish, with a hard and smooth skin, and that feels heavy for its size, since heavy squashes may indicate that they are still fresh.
Avoid butternut squash that presents soft spots, damage, or mould since they won’t be able to be kept for long.
Storage
Butternut squash can be stored into 3 different ways:
Counter: The best and simpler way to store the vegetable uncut is placing it into a dark, cool spot on the counter without exposure to sunlight. Under these conditions the squash can last up to 2 or 3 months.
Fridge: In case the vegetable is already cut, just place it covered inside the fridge on the vegetable drawer. The quash can last for at least 4 days into these conditions.
Freezer: Frozen squash is another option for storing the vegetable. In order to do so, chop the vegetable into cubes, freeze it over a baking tray, and flash freeze them. Place the cubes into a freezer friendly container and straight into the freezer again. Butternut squash can be frozen for at least 6 months.
Benefits
Support Weight Loss
Butternut squash is not only a high in fibre vegetable which helps in keeping us feeling full for longer, it’s also a very low calorie vegetable with only 40 calories for every 100g of product, therefore squash may support weight loss.
May Prevent Mental Diseases
Regarding the antioxidants and vitamin E that butternut squash possesses, it may help preventing mental diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other mental declines.
Can Lower Heart Diseases
Some studies may indicate that eating fruits or vegetables with higher levels of carotenoids may lower the risks of heart diseases by lowering blood pressure, and reducing inflammation.
Reduce Cancer Risk
Researches have pointed that a diet with high levels of beta-carotene and vitamin C may help to reduce the risks of a person developing lung cancer.
Rich in Vitamins & Minerals
Butternut squash can be considered a very dense vegetable in regards of vitamins and minerals. Inside the squash we may find in abundance sources of Vitamin A, Carotenoids, Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Potassium, Magnesium and lots of Manganese.