Roasted Butternut Squash

Courtesy of A. Toller at Quick Free Recipes.

(Serves 5-6)

Ingredients:

2 small butternut squash
2 red onions, sliced into thin wedges
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Halve the butternut squash and remove the seeds in the centre. Peel the squash and chop the flesh into small cubes, place in a large bowl.

3. Add the chopped red onion to the squash, along with the olive oil and then season lightly with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer the vegetable onto a baking sheet and place the rosemary sprigs with them. Roast in the oven for around 30 – 40 minutes until the squash is nice and tender and it is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges.

5. Serve once ready.

Butternut Squash Nutrition

Easy to utilize in a variety of recipes, and packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other properties, Butternut Squash is an easy way of introducing healthy foods to your family.

One cup of butternut squash contains 82 fat-free calories with 457% of the daily value of Vitamin A, 52% of Vitamin C, 8% of Calcium, and 7% of Iron -- a deliciously healthy substitute for mashed potatoes! Butternut squash also contains the following nutrients:

Thiamin 18%

Riboflavin 4%

Niacin 16%

Panthothenic Acid 12%

Vitamin B6 22%

Potassium 28%

Phosphorus 10%

Magnesium 24%

Zinc 2%

Copper 10%

Butternut Squash is touted for its marvelous concentration of Vitamin A compounds containing terrific antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Winter Squash is sometimes given a bad name because of its starchy content. Not all "starch" is created equal. Depending how starches are prepared, and what they are eaten with, starches perform differently within the body. In fact, our bodies often utilize starches in a variety of ways, depending what they are consumed with, and how they have been cooked.

According to World's Healthiest Foods website, the carbs in winter squashes contain healthful benefits including regulation of insulin, which is an asset to hypoglycemics as well as diabetics.

For fascinating, elaborate and extensive information regarding the benefits of winter squash on the "cellular level", and some great recipes, please Visit the World's Healthiest Foods website here.

Winter Squashes are known for their storage longevity when kept in a cooler or refrigerator.

For a wonderful alternative to mashed potatoes, try mashed butternut squash. Just click here for the recipe. Traditionally Winter Squashes are served with sweeteners, but try using stevia in place of the sweeteners. Or try different flavors like nutmeg, pure maple syrup, olive oil or topped with plain yogurt.

Tasty and Healthy, January 6, 2012

Happy New Year, Everyone! We hope you enjoyed a memorable and sweet holiday season. With the celebrations behind us, and 2012 already begun, it's a great starting point to make changes in our lives, establish new habits, or even reinforce healthy routines in our lives.

At Beasley Farm, we are "sort of" back to our regular schedule of satellite locations, and working hard on the farm. It's a constant rotation of jobs here, maintaining machinery, weeding, laying water lines, weeding, inspecting for pesky critters, weeding, keeping our bee hives clean and healthy, weeding, planting seedlings and seeds, weeding, cultivating and tilling the soil, weeding, and harvesting. Oh yes, and more weeding. Weeding ensures that the crops are healthy, having plenty of nitrogen in the soil, and keeping the pests away.

But as I prepare this newsletter for publication, we have extremely sad news to share. The two nights of freezing temperatures (21 and 23 here), we lost everything in our fields. Some of our turnip and beet roots will continue growing, but all our mature Winter crops, and newly planted early Spring crops, are gone -- we are heart broken to see crops succumb so quickly like this. We hope to replant soon, but most items take 60-90 days before they may be harvested. We're sad for you, too, because these were specially grown for our local community for maximum flavor and nutritive value.

We are going to experiment by "trimming" our greens to see if their roots survived and if they might spring forth anew. Otherwise, it means plowing them under and replanting another time.


Though our farm was hit hard, as were others, we still went to the Plant City Farmers Market and picked up the normal veggies and fruits for your family's eating pleasure. It will be great seeing you all at our satellite locations as well as at the Product Barn:

Monday - we will be at the Cloverleaf location. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Friday - Rolo will be at the Spring Hill location. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with him.

Saturday - Rolo and Joann will be at the Hernando County Farmers Market on Hwy 19 with nearly 80 other vendors! Come browse, shop, and visit with your neighbors - it's an all 'round enjoyable time. You'll also be supporting local businesses by visiting their booths. If you would like any of the pesticide-free greens, please phone to reserve them, so that we know to bring them with us.

Saturday and everyday - Gran'ma Angie, Nana Phyllis, Joann and Rolo will be at the Produce Barn until 6PM. Fresh Cut Pesticide-free Greens will be eagerly awaiting you in their little wading pool.

For our Calendar of Locations, and special times and dates for January, please click here, or click on the Calendar Tab at the top of this page.

This week's recipe includes meat, fruit and veggies. Can you guess what it is?

Click here to find the answer.

In light of all the things which have happened in the past, and the difficulties we might encounter in the future, we find the following 2 quotes encouraging:

Wake up every morning 

with the thought that

something WONDERFUL

is about to happen.

-unknown

The heart is like a garden. 

It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. 

What seeds will you plant there?
- Jack Kornfield -

As always, thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement. Gran'ma Angie, Rolo, Joann, Nana Phyllis, Chef Jack and I love our customers, and appreciate you very much. Thank you for making our farm possible.


Veggie Hugs,

Swiss Chard Nutrition Chart

Swiss Chard - One of the Healthiest Veggies Around

Swiss Chard is often overlooked because it's not well known in the traditional produce shopping sections of most grocery stores. But try to find it, because it is one of the healthiest ever veggies! 

Swiss Chard tastes best when it is freshly harvested. Newly picked, the flavor is more sweet and delicious. As time goes by, it can become more tangy or bitter in flavor. It is best to prepare Swiss Chard when it is very fresh, or fresh frozen.

Swiss Chard, a tall leafy green vegetable with a thick, crunchy stalk that comes in white, red or yellow with wide fan-like green leaves, belongs to the same family as beets and spinach and shares a similar taste profile: it has the bitterness of beet greens and the slightly salty flavor of spinach leaves. Both the leaves and stalk of chard are edible, although the stems vary in texture with the white ones being the most tender.

In a nutshell, Swiss chard supports bone health with its mineral content (in particular, calcium) and vitamins such as K1, (which is converted to K2) just like Collards, Kale and Spinach. Chard helps to regulate blood sugars, provides a wealth of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, contains anti-inflammatory properties, -- all of this and great tasting, too!

The combination of traditional nutrients, phytonutrients (particularly anthocyans), plus fiber in this food seems particularly effective in preventing digestive tract cancers. Several research studies on chard focus specifically on colon cancer, where the incidence of precancerous lesions has been found to be significantly reduced following dietary intake of Swiss Chard extracts or fibers. Preliminary  research also suggests that Swiss Chard may confer a protective effect on the kidneys for those with diabetes through reducing serum urea and creatinine levels.

Swiss Chard contains concentrations of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron, vitamin E, and dietary fiber, as well as being a very good or good source of copper, calcium, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, protein, phosphorous, vitamin B1, zinc, folate, biotin, niacin and pantothenic acid.

Because it is extremely rich in phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals, the health benefits of Swiss Chard are very numerous. 

Getting started with Swiss Chard:

With a taste similar to spinach, romaine or beets (depending on color and maturity), Swiss Chard is best lightly boiled, though it may be stir-fried or eaten raw in salads.

Many prefer cooking it much like "greens".

As a dark leafy "green", Swiss Chard is very tasty and easy to add to your daily meals.

1) Add some to a salad with Romaine and different kinds of veggies, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce.

2) Substitute Swiss Chard for lettuce entirely.

3) Wrap it up: Make a wrap with tuna, chicken, or turkey  adding Swiss Chard  for some extra flavor.

4) Actually use the Leaves of Swiss Chard as the wrap itself!

5) Add to soup: Try mixing some finely-cut leafy Swiss Chard in your favorite soup.

6) Stir-fry: Add chopped leafy Swiss Chard greens to your stir-fry.

7) Chicken or tofu stir-fried with olive or canola oil with Swiss Chard and other vegetables is delicious!

8) Steam it: For something new, steam Swiss Chard by adding water to a pot, and an assortment of vegetables and Swiss Chard in the steamer basket! 

Swiss Chard is as diverse as lettuce when it comes to salads.

Combine sweet dressings, raisins and nuts for a fun flavor (tricks kids into eating a healthy vegetable!)

Use cheeses and assorted vegetables for a unique dish.

Add meats or cooked poultry chucks for a "chef" salad.

Best when harvested freshly!

According to World's Healthiest Foods.com, Swiss Chard ranks right on up there.

Chard contains an inhibitor for carbohydrate-laden foods. It helps maintain a healthy blood-sugar count. It is packed with several antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. I found this very tasty plant a wonderful addition to my diet, with great preparation options and a light texture. Though many say they don't care for it raw, I found it to be my favorite way of enjoying Swiss Chard. The Green Chard reminds me of Spinach. The flavor of the Red Chard is sweet like red beet roots!  The World's Healthiest Foods.com website contains a thorough description of the benefits of Swiss Chard, how to prepare it, and what Chard does for the human body. I hope you will take time to visit the link at the beginning of the previous sentence to see how perfect this easy-to-use vegetable is! 

Swiss Chard Side Dish by Emily

Emily created the most yummy and nutritious Swiss Chard recipe! The recipe is perfect for spinach as well.


Because it is on her website, I'll give you a sneak peek of the finished product, but please visit her place to obtain the wonderful step-by-step photos and directions for creating this fantastic addition to any meal!


Emily claims this is equally as good with Spinach! YUMMMMMM...

Emily's Swiss Chard Recipe