Going Paleo inspired me to eat lots of vegetables and to prepare them in new ways. Since I wasn’t eating sugar, I learned to satisfy my sweet tooth by eating sweet potatoes or butternut squash with some maple syrup. I love roasted butternut squash, but it takes about 45 minutes to prepare. Boiling and then mashing the squash cuts the preparation time in half. It was one of those nights where I arrived at the grocery store at 7:45 with no idea what I would prepare for dinner. Since I was already quite hungry I bought a rotisserie chicken and served the mashed squash on the side to round out the meal.
Mashed butternut squash is a lower calorie and lower carb alternative to mashed sweet potato. Per a 100 gram serving, sweet potato has 86 calories and 20g of carbs, while butternut squash has 45 calories and 12 carbs. Preparing squash instead of potato is an easy swap that guests might not even notice.
Serves: 4
Total time: 20 minutes
You will need:
1 Butternut Squash (it was 2 cups once diced)
2 tablespoons Butter
1 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoon Maple Syrup
Step 1:
Slice the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Then slice the squash into pieces about 2 inches wide. Then dice each slice of squash, cutting off the peel of the squash as you go. You will be mashing the squash, so you can loosely dice the squash.
Step 2:
Once all the squash has been diced, place it in a pot and add enough water to completely submerge the squash.
Step 3:
Heat the pot of water and squash over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil the squash until soft, this will take about 12 minutes.
Step 4:
Drain the squash and return it to the pot. Then add the butter, salt, and maple syrup and mash with a potato masher. Serve immediately.
