Squash a great alternative to traditional carbohydrates

Tuesday, June 14, 2011
One of the hardest things to give up for me and my family has been the traditional carbohydrates like mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, white rice and semolina flour pasta. We were brought up to think that a balanced meal meant you need to have your meat, your vegetable and your starch. So how do you satisfy the need for that balanced looking plate with the need to balance your calories and better nutritional value for each bite you take? You can certainly go the whole grain route for pasta, switch white rice to brown rice and go to sweet potatoes instead of russet potatoes. The biggest surprise for us was discovering squash as a great alternate choice for a starch on your plate.

Spaghetti Squash is great on its own or as the "pasta" for a spaghetti dish.

Butternut Squash is a starchy vegetable that can be cubed and roasted, just like potatoes, for a delicious dish. Add a spice rub and you have a flavorful dish that adds dimension to any meal. It is not a substitute. It has actually become a favorite choice of ours for various meals. One of our favorites is Roasted Butternut Squash with my husband's delicious spice rub, Roasted Asparagus with Herbes de Provence and Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Rosemary. Yum!

Look for my upcoming post with the recipe for the spice rub for squash so you can try it out yourself!

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