When thinking about seasonal produce, squash tends to be a fall favorite. A total spoup-er star, squash is tasty roasted or pureed. With squash, our minds immediately jump to the hearty thick-skinned vegetables that make up our cold-weather menu. Did you know you can start enjoying squash right now, at the height of summer? Today we’ll take a closer look at summer squashes and how they can be used.

The best known of the summer squashes is the zucchini. Long, slender, and dark green, zucchini shows up in anything from baked goods to pesto sauce. Zucchini tend to have a higher water content than other squashes, which is what ends them so well to baking. As a general rule for zucchini, the bigger the fruit, the more water within. If you plan to use your zucchini for grilling or roasting, look for smaller fruit for stronger flavor.

Pattypan squash are a great way to introduce summer squash into your child’s diet. Their range of colors and distinctive scalloped edges make them a great conversation starter. Pattypan are a firmer fruit and offer a nice crunch. They can be quartered or cooked whole, which adds exciting variety to the dinner plate. What do you think they look like? UFOs? Christmas ornaments? A spinning top toy?

Crookneck squash are bright yellow and taper from a bulbous bottom to a – you guessed it – bent and slender neck. These summer squash are a great way to add color to your diet. In taste, crookneck squash are similar to, and nicely complement, zucchini.

Another summer squash you might find at our farmers’ market is a tatuma. You’ll be able to recognize them by their pale green flesh, which is slightly firmer than their zucchini cousin’s. Sometimes longer and sometimes more spherical, the tatuma is a Mexican variety of summer squash that has a sweeter taste to it.
Zephyr summer squash is a hybrid of the yellow crookneck squash and two of our fall favorites, the delicata and the acorn squash. The Zephyr stands out visually, with it’s yellow coloring fading into a softer green at the blossom end. These squash get some of their flavor from their fall family, giving them a nuttier tatse than other summer squash.

When preparing summer meals, avoiding using the oven is key to keeping your kitchen cool. Instead of roasting these summertime squashes, consider grilling, steaming, or sautéing. Some cooks like to make strands of veggie pasta out of squash as well. In order to get the desired effect, you can use a vegetable peeler, a julienne peeler, a mandolin, or a spiralizer. Salt the squash to let it sweat and then lightly sauté, to maintain the al dente bite of pasta. Then top with your favorite pasta sauce!

Farmers’ market fresh squash is also a great candidate to thinly slice and enjoy raw in salads. Grate squash to use in a lighter version of latkes or add thin slices to your homemade pizzas. The options are endless!

Stop by our market this Sunday and see how many varieties of summer squash you can spot.