Grilled Banana Squash

A few weeks back, one of our last CSA boxes of the season contained a variety of squash called the blue banana.  While not exactly blue (but it does have hints of grey-blue in the skin I guess) and not really shaped like a banana, it’s not my job to name fruits and vegetables, or critique the names given by others.  It is, however, my job to cook them – and new varieties and ideas are always welcome to try. It was suggested slicing it across (rather than lengthwise) and grilling it.  So the other night when was getting ready to grill up some quick chicken, I figured it was a good time to give this squash a try too.

Gather Up:

• 1 blue banana squash.  If I had to guess, this one is about 2~3 pounds.
• 1~2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil
• 1~2 tbsp no-salt seasoning blend
• pinch of sea salt

Preheat the grill to 400 degrees indirect heat, then cut the stem and flower ends off of the squash.  Slice the rest into about 1-1/2″ wide sections (a sharp, heavy chef’s knife works well for this). Remove the seeds.  Using a thin-blade fillet knife, cut around the edge of the pithy part of the inside, leaving a series of squash “donuts.”

Brush the squash with olive oil or melted coconut oil on both sides and around the inside.  Sprinkle lightly with the herb/seasoning blend and just a dash of sea salt.

Place the squash on the preheated grill and cook until fork tender – about 30 minutes (which is conveniently how long it took for the chicken cooking with it!).  A nice thing with this squash is that the skin is fairly thin and soft.  So while I usually will scrape the flesh out of the skin when eating squash, I was able to simply cut this with a fork and eat the whole thing.  Enjoy!