This butternut recipe for squash is a tasty and healthy vegetable for your family meal. Butternut squash is a power food – an excellent source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and beta carotene and has been shown to have anti-cancer properties as well as other health promoting benefits.

Unfortunately, we don’t cook butternut squash often and most people don’t know how to cook it properly. It is a very versatile vegetable, it can be cooked as a savory dish or sweet with sugar and spices. Most recipes that call for pumpkin can be made with butternut squash as well.

Butternut Squash is a winter squash with a thick skin that helps to preserve it. Trimming away this thick skin is the hardest part of the recipe below. Many people don’t peel it, but halve it and roast it in the skin, scooping the squash out at serving time. For this recipe you need to peel the squash and cube it before roasting.

Baked Butternut Squash Recipe

1 large butternut squash (about 1 – 1 ½ pounds)

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons anise seed, crushed

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

2 – 3 teaspoons brown sugar

8 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel and cut open the squash. Remove and discard the seeds and fibers.
3. Cut the squash into 1 inch cubes and place into a buttered 2 quart baking dish.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, anise seed, cardamom and brown sugar.
5. Drizzle the butter and lemon juice over all.
6. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until tender.