Grilled Winter Squash

Winter squash, like sweet potatoes, are a good source of nutrients with a bit higher carbohydrate content for post-workout nutrition.  They are also very tasty as a side dish.  This one is easy to make and can be prepared while roasting something else on the grill like pork chops or chicken.  Just be sure to plan your timing right so things are done at about the same time – see my notes at the bottom of the post.
Gather Up:

• 1 decent sized winter squash – something like a butternut, buttercup, hubbard, or any heirloom variety you can get your hands on will work
• Olive oil as needed
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Mixture of dried herbs as desired…I’ve got about 1/2 tsp each of thyme, crushed rosemary, oregano, and sage here

Heat the grill to the temperature needed for your other meal.  On this particular day, I was making chile verde and had the grill at 350 degrees (so use this temperature as a baseline for adjusting your cooking time).  Split the squash in half and scrape out all of the seeds and stringy parts.  Brush or otherwise coat the cut surface with olive oil.  When the grill has reached temperature, place the squash directly on the grate, cut side down.  Cook this way for about 10 minutes.

Turn the squash over, brush again with olive oil and sprinkle the salt and herbs over the surface.  Continue to cook until tender all the way through (a fork will pierce through the thickest part of the flesh easily) – about another 25~30 minutes at this temperature.  The outer skin may blacken a bit, but that is fine (and makes it easier to peel off when eating).

Cut into thick slices and serve alongside your main dish.  Or stash away and reheat for a post-workout snack.  Enjoy!

A few notes on cooking time: Squash is one of those things that has a lot of variation in cooking time depending on thickness, hardness, and temperature.  For this butternut squash, I needed about 35 minutes total at 350 degrees (with the thinner half done in about 25 minutes).  On previous times making this recipe, I’ve had a similar-sized butternut at 300 degrees take 60 minutes.  And I’ve had softball-sized acorn squash take only 20 minutes at 350.  So my recommendation is to start the squash earlier than you think you should, and keep it warm if needed after it finishes cooking until everything else is ready too.