Grilled Butternut Squash

With fall right around the corner, many think of pumpkins, apples, gourds and other hearty fare for their cooking and baking. We happen to be quite fond of grilled butternut squash as it affords a variety of approaches, especially when you serve it along with some quality grilled chicken. To that end, we present a delicious and simple recipe for grilled butternut squash.

Garlic Coconut Grilled Butternut Squash

Ingredients and Equipment

• Butternut squash, 3 pounds.
• Coconut oil, 1 tbsp, melted.
• Balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp.
• Thyme, dried, 1 tsp.
• Garlic cloves, 3, minced.
• Zest from half an orange, roughly 2 tsp.
• Salt and ground black pepper, your preferred amount.
• Knife.
• Cutting board.
• Mixing bowl.
• Cling wrap.
• Grill.

Directions for Preparing our Garlic Coconut Grilled Butternut Squash

1. Cut the squash into halves and then cut them again in the other direction. Finish your work on the squash by cutting the mass into quarter inch thick slices.
2. Add the sliced butternut squash into a mixing bowl containing your coconut oil, vinegar, thyme, garlic, and orange zest. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and allow the mixture to marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.
3. Extract the squash from the marinade and set the marinade aside.
4. Set your grill to the high setting and allow it to preheat for roughly 10 minutes.
5. Add your squash to the grill, close the lid and leave each side to grill for 5 minutes; long enough to reach a delicious golden brown color.
6. Lower the heat to medium-high and continue to grill until everything is nice and tender roughly 5 to 10 minutes. Make sure to check on the squash slices every so often and make sure that they have reached your ideal level of tenderness.
7. Once you have grilled your squash to your ideal tenderness, remove it from the grill and transfer it to the marinade from earlier.
8. Season the mixture with your salt and ground pepper.
9. Allow the mixture to rest and reabsorb the marinade for at least 10 minutes.
10. Serve.

You may wonder why we are so fond of squash. While we could just say “because it’s delicious,” we would rather explain in finer detail. One of the major reasons we favor squash is its litany of health benefits. In addition to being loaded with Vitamins A, B6, and C, squash contains plenty of:

• Fiber, which aids in digestion and inducing fullness.
• Magnesium, important for maintaining bone health as it affects the body’s calcium absorption rate.
• Manganese, which helps strengthen bones and the body’s processing of fats and carbs. Note that this is only found in yellow squashes.
• Phosphorous. which helps maintain bone and tooth health and helps in regulating digestion.
• Potassium, which manages blood pressure.
• Riboflavin, which helps the body process fats and carbs while also guiding oxygen through the body.

Swing into The Butcher Shop and pick up some butternut squash for your grill!

For more grilling tip check out our youtube channel.