Before You Pack Up Your Grill For The Season, Throw On One Fall Vegetable

You may have thought you had thrown the cover on your grill for the last time this season but you might want to rethink that. Knowing that you can get the most out of one of our Fall favorites, butternut squash, will make you want to pull out your tongs, throw on your coat, and either turn on the gas or light up the charcoal for at least one more night of grilling.

Why go through all the effort of firing up the grill when you can stay warm and cozy inside while your butternut squash roasts in the oven? There are several reasons, the simplest of which is to save time. Grilling cooks at a higher temperature and for shorter periods of time than roasting does. You'll also get a different, if not, better texture. Roasting, which applies an even temperature throughout the cooking process, makes vegetables nice and crispy throughout. Grilling, on the other hand, gives butternut squash a charred, crisp exterior, which is a lovely contrast to the creamy, smooth interior.

But the most important reason to light up the grill is undeniably the taste. The dry heat of the grill turns the starches in butternut squash into sugars, giving them a nice, caramelized sweetness with a hint of subtle smokiness. You can even turn up that smoky flavor by placing wood chips on top of your coal or briquettes.

After a summer of grilling fruits and vegetables, you'll need to use some different techniques for heartier Fall vegetables. Butternut squash, for example, has a dense, firm flesh and thick skin. If you want to cook the whole squash or even halves, indirect grilling, in which you place the vegetable alongside the heat, not directly on top of it, is the method you'll want to use — make sure to close the lid to keep the heat inside the grill. This method, which uses a medium temperature, won't be as quick as direct grilling, taking at least 40 minutes to cook through.

For faster cooking, you can also peel the squash, remove the seeds, slice it, and then place the slices directly over the heat. In addition to a shorter cooking time, you'll get more of the grill flavor throughout the flesh. You can even turn your butternut squash into a veggie burger by cutting rounds, grilling it, and serving it on a brioche bun. If you want the sweetness from the high heat but not the char, cube the squash, pour into foil packets, and place directly on the charcoal or briquettes.

Once off the grill, you can get creative with butternut squash. Use it to add some sweetness and smokiness to your favorite butternut squash soup recipe or your favorite stew. Cube it and toss it into a salad for an added bit of crispiness. You'll add so much flavor and texture to your Fall dishes, you may want to keep that cover off the grill for a few more weeks.