If you’ve never had this underrated squash, I recommend you give it a try. Kabocha squash is available year-round, but is at its best in late Summer and early Fall. The flavor is slightly sweet and has the same texture as butternut squash. It’s rich with vitamin A that is good for immunity, eyes, skin, hair, and healthy white blood cells. It’s also is a good source of iron.
The hardest part about this recipe is cutting and peeling the Kobocha, also known as a Japanese pumpkin. But here is a trick. Cut it in half and microwave for about 2-3 minutes. This will help soften the skin, therefore easier to peel. All else fails, leave the skin on. It is actually edible.
Serves 3-4 Difficulty level – easy peasy
- ½ medium Kabocha – about 1-1.5 pounds
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1/3 cup diced or thinly sliced red onion
- 1 cup shredded Romaine lettuce
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 avocado sliced for topping
- 1 lime cut into wedges
For the chili-lime crema
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (less if you don’t like it spicy, more if you do)
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 425°. Start by cutting the ends off. Then cut in half, seed, and peel.
Chop the Kabocha into small cube-ish pieces – about ½” x ½”. The shape doesn’t matter so much, as long as they are about the same size so they will cook evenly.
Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper. (Note: You can roast the whole squash and save half for snacks, to put in a salad, or soup.) Roast in the oven until soft and slightly brown about 20-25 minutes.
In the meantime, mix the black beans, ground cumin, about ¾ of the red onion, and cilantro in a medium bowl. Once the squash is cooked, add to the bean mixture and toss to coat.
Warm the tortillas on a griddle pan and keep warm by wrapping in aluminum foil, kitchen towel, or tortilla warmer if you have one.
To make the chili-lime crema, mix all the ingredients together. Set aside.
Put the lettuce, extra chopped onion, feta, avocado, chili-lime crema, and lime wedges on a platter for self-serving. Serve the squash and bean mixture, along with the condiments and warm tortillas.
Variations:
- Make it lighter and use non-fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
- Make it low carb and add all the condiments to the squash mixture and turn it into a salad.
- Use other winter squash or sweet potatoes instead of Kabocha.
- Use other kinds of beans like pinto, white beans, or kidney beans.
- Add some cooked rice to the squash and bean mixture.
- Add black olives to the squash and bean mixture.
- Make it a tostada by keeping the tortillas on the griddle until crisp.
- Make it into enchiladas by adding some cheese, rolling them up, putting them in a baking dish, adding enchilada sauce on bottom and top, with some cheese, and baking them at 375° for 20 minutes.
Do Ahead:
- Kabocha squash can be roasted 5 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.
- The mixture can be make 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated and reheat in a pan on the stove or in microwave.
