Winter Squash

Winte squash--from butternut to acorn--provides a wide and balanced array of nutrients and minerals, with particularly high concentrations of antioxidants, dietary fiber, manganese, and vitamins A, C, and B6. Though the squash is composed mainly of carbohydrates, this high starch content provides key health benefits. The complex polysaccharides in squash have been shown increasingly to promote antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, as well as anti-diabetic and insulin-regulating effects. Winter squash is one vegetable that health experts strongly recommend buying organic, since squash are especially vulnerable to absorbing soil contaminants. The squash's hard skin makes it an excellent storage vegetable (squash can last from 1 week-6 months), and thus a popular winter staple.

Not only is the squash itself delicious and nutritious, but the seeds are as well! Simply tiss squash seeds with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them in an oven at  275 F for 15 minutes, or until the seeds begin to pop.

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