Delicata squash is one of winter squash with delicious creamy and nutty taste. Some people also said that the taste is just similar with sweet potato. Therefore, it goes with many kinds of dishes. You can simply steam or roast delicata squash along with the peel, as it is perfectly edible.
For more variation, you can combine delicata squash with other foods into a stuffed delicata squash. Besides the taste, people love to have this light yellow with green lined squash for its health benefits of delicata squash. The squash contains many beneficial values for health. The variation in cooking process will also provide you with beneficial nutrients to improve your health.
Nutritional Value of Delicata Squash
From the creamy delicata squash, we can get the following values:
- Dietary fiber
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B
- Vitamin C
- Folate
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Potassium
- Iron
- Calcium
- Alpha linoleic
The Health Benefits of Delicata Squash
Based on the list of nutritional value contained in delicata squash, we can refer some health benefits of delicata squash as listed below:
- Improve immune system
The content of vitamin C in delicata squash is very beneficial to improve our body’s immunity. Therefore, having delicata squash for your meal or simply healthy snack may aid the immune system improvement.
- Increase energy
Delicata squash is piled with B vitamins which is beneficial to enhance energy. Consuming food with high B vitamins level will provide you with energy to go through the day. Besides delicata squash, you can also consume black radish as it contains high level of B vitamins with Health Benefits of Black Radish .
- Anti-inflammatory property
Some of you might only know that fatty acids are only provided by animal such meat, chicken, and fish with its Health Benefits of Meat, Poultry and Fish in providing the valuable omega-3 fatty acid. But surprisingly, delicata squash is one of the vegetarian resources of omega-3 fatty acids. It also contains alpha linoleic which means that delicata squash owned an anti-inflammatory property.
- Boost recovery process
The existence of alpha linoleic acids and omega-3 fatty acids also aid the recovery process after an illness or injury. It is possible since the beneficial value of delicata squash are able to aid cell reproduction and repair over the damage.
- Aid skin health
Vitamin C from delicata squash is also able to improve skin health. It nourishes skin while counters the aging process. Therefore, having the high vitamin C intake may maintain your youthful skin. Besides the health benefits of delicata squash for skin, we have also known the health benefits of lemon for skin which is credited to the content of vitamin C in it.
- Improve vision
Just from the color, we can notice that delicata squash is good for the eyes. The yellow color contributed by the content of beta-carotene is able to improve vision. So, we can say that the health benefits of delicata for eyes might be equal to the Carrot Juice Benefits in improving vision.
- Improve hair health
The vitamins and minerals in delicata squash are also good to improve hair health. Therefore, consuming delicata squash is not only pleasantly delicious, but also healthy and beneficial for your beauty.
- Aid digestion
Just like the other kinds of squash, delicata squash contain good amount of dietary fiber. The dietary fiber is very good to improve digestive health. It can also avoid you from developing digestive problems such constipation, flatulence, and bloating.
- Control weight
One of the reasons why people are praising fiber is because it is very effective to control weight. Eating delicata squash will provide you with fiber. The fiber rich foods keep you full and prevent you from craving. This way, you can control your weight and lose some pounds as the bonus.
- Good for cardiovascular health
One of the mineral beneficial for cardiovascular health is potassium. It is able to improve heart health. Besides, the dietary fiber can also able to reduce the cholesterol level which is one of the factors of cardiovascular diseases.
- Good for lungs
Vitamin A in delicata squash is surprisingly beneficial for lungs health. The healthy lungs will definitely avoid you from many respiratory problems such bronchitis.
- Gluten free
Some of you might be allergic to gluten, but really want to taste some food with gluten such spaghetti. In this case, delicata squash offer you the substitute for the pasta. We can grate the soft meat of delicata squash and boil it in water. You’ll be surprised on how the squash resemble the taste and texture of pasta. You can just add some sauce onto it. In addition, it won’t make you gain weight.
The other health benefits of delicata squash are:
- Aid muscle health
- Strengthen teeth and bones
- Reduce cholesterol
- Regulate blood sugar level
- Prevent cancer
Recommendation in Consuming Delicata Squash
To get the health benefits of delicata squash, it is important to pay attention toward the cooking process. In this case, steaming and roasting are the best ways in cooking the squash. However, roasting may be the one boosting the initial taste of the squash. Plus, we can also spice up the squash, with anything wen like and have the delicata squash as snack or side dish. Here is the recommendation in preparing clean and delicious roasted delicata squash:
- Wash the squash entirely
- Trim off the top and bottom part
- Slice the squash to the lengthwise
- Scoop the seeds
- Flip onto the side and then slice into half inch moons size
- Put on a roaster plate, sprinkle some black pepper, salt, and toss it together with olive oil
- Get all the squash laid out to get the perfect caramelized roasted delicata squash
- Roast in 425 degree within 12 minutes
- After 12 minutes, flip them and go for another 12 minutes to get a delicious golden brown roasted delicata squash.
You can eat them just the way they are, or combine it with the other foods such broccoli soup to get the Health Benefits of Broccoli Soup and have the filling gluten free meal. It’s very good to help you lose weight. Or else, you can combine the roasted delicata squash with lean protein ingredients such turkey lunch meat to have the Health Benefits of Turkey Lunch Meat.