Whether you shop at the grocery store, the farmer's market, or the farm stand, you can't go anywhere without running into squash this time of year! The best markets should have a rather diverse selection, which might include kabocha, acorn, buttercup, delicata, butternut, spaghetti, and carnival squash. All are wonderfully flavorful and nutritious, and each has it's own unique characteristics.
The delicata squash may look rather unassuming next to the cute and colorful carnival squashes or the rustic, brightly-colored sunshine kabocha, but it is actually a wonderful little vegetable! Delicatas are small and yellow with green striping and are one of the easiest squashes to prepare raw because of their small, easy-to-manage size and their thinner skin. Their flavor is rather mild and "delicate" compared to other varieties of winter squash. The delicata blends well with other ingredients because of it's unassuming flavor but still lends that signature nutty-sweet flavor of squash to any dish.
This stew is a nice, easy weekday meal with a lot of the cooking time being inactive. It is healthy yet hearty and quite inexpensive to put together, and makes great use of a lot of kitchen and pantry staples. Since it has some distinctly mexican characteristics to it, I had a couple tortillas on the side (and for dipping!) to make it a nice, filling meal.
*note: If you aren't fortunate enough to have a pressure cooker to make your cooked beans and would rather use canned, substitute 3 15-oz cans of pinto beans —the preservery.
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