This was new for us: Raw Winter Squash. A concept we’d have never dreamed of if not for Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons. This is one of our go-to cook books when we’re feeling a little un-inspired in the kitchen (like, say, after we’ve tried preparing butternut squash in every way we knew how, weren’t wanting to try another recipe involving roasting, boiling, or otherwise cooking, but still have that one left on the counter mid-February).

The key feature of Six Seasons is how it’s organized: by season! McFadden suggests that there are more than the four seasons we all know and love, and that the in-between seasons deserve some acknowledgement, as well, and an appreciation of how fruits and vegetables change and develop throughout their growing seasons. We do, however, take his division of seasons with a grain of salt, as we know that seasonality and location cannot be separated; what may be growing in late Spring in a cool coastal climate could be very different than what we find in our arid valley fields at the same time of year. But, that does not take away from the book’s clear appreciation of fruits and vegetables and inspiring ways to make their flavors shine. Anyways…let’s get back to the topic at hand: raw winter squash.

We were, as I suggested, feeling like our winter squash preparations needed a little kick in the pants towards the end of winter so we looked to Six Seasons and found just that. In the intro to his Raw Winter Squash salad recipe, McFadden assures us that “Once you try this salad, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been eating raw squash all along,” and we must agree - why hadn’t we done this sooner?! Not only is it surprisingly fun to turn a butternut squash into curly ribbons (“surprising” because on paper that seems like a really daunting task…), but it was also delicious. The resounding feedback from the farm kitchen as the salad came to the plate was “you can eat this raw?!”

Though we’ll have to wait many months, we are excited to try this recipe again, starting earlier in the season, to compare how the raw texture and flavor of the squash develop as they “cure” on our counters and cupboards over the winter (we do not do much in the way of field curing for our winter squash here, as the sun and heat are too intense and will damage the fruit - hello sunburns!).

But, after a winter of winter squash, this was a real treat as an early Spring salad (especially after adding some more colorful spring additions - who doesn’t love eating the rainbow?).

So here it is:

Raw Ribbons of Winter Squash Salad

Based on Joshua McFadden’s Raw Winter Squash with Brown Butter, Pecans, and Currants from Six Seasons, Artisan Books, 2017. We made a few changes and omissions based on what we had on hand – one example, we replaced the currants with hibiscus flowers.

Ingredients:

½ cup dried hibiscus

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 lb butternut squash, peeled and seeded (we used 1 butternut – remember to wash your squash before peeling it, and wash your peeler between peeling the outer skin and beginning on the flesh)

3 green onions, thinly sliced on an angle including the green tops, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes and drained well

½ teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes

salt & pepper

¼ cup browned butter (make this after assembling all other ingredients)

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup lightly packed fresh herbs, chopped (we used parsley, marjoram, lemon balm, thyme)

½ cup lightly toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds…whatever you love most)

Add-ins: we added lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice, thinly sliced fennel, shredded beets, and asparagus ribbons! If you are going to add additional elements to the salad “base,” as we did, you will need to increase your dressing. We doubled it to accommodate the extra ingredients.

Method:

In a small bowl, soak the hibiscus in the vinegar for about 30 minutes.

Use a vegetable peeler (if you don’t already have a great peeler, now’s the time to get one!) to shave the squash into very thin ribbons. It does not matter if they are all the same length or shape, just that they are all very thin and delicate.

Transfer squash into a large bowl. Add all ingredients up to the browned butter. Toss, taste for seasoning, and adjust to your tastes.

Pour in the warm brown butter and toss again. Add the olive oil, toss again, and taste. Add the herbs and nuts and toss again.

Serve right away so the brown butter doesn’t cool and set up.