Recipe and Photo by Megan Winfrey

Finding yourself with an excess of butternut squash is never a bad thing. You can use it in so many diverse ways - just look at the plethora of recipes on this very blog! My new favorite way to fly through butternut squash is... wait for it... to put it in a SMOOTHIE. Yes. It's delicious. And it brings on those fall feels while still cooling you off during these 50+ days of 100-degree weather. While most people are getting excited about pumpkin-spice lattes, I'll be over here with my butternut squash smoothie.



For the squash:

Peel whole butternut squashes, however many you want. Slice them in half, scoop out the seeds, and cut into cubes.

Fill a large pot with about 2 inches of water. In a steaming basket, steam the squash (in batches if you have to) until fork tender.

Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temp, then transfer to a bag or container for freezing.



For the smoothie:

Get creative! Butternut squash has a pretty neutral flavor, so you can mix and match pretty much anything that you'd normally put in your smoothie.

My smoothie went like this:

• 1/4 cup frozen butternut squash
• 1/2 cup frozen mango, strawberry, pineapple mix
• 1 tbs. cinnamon
• 1 tbs. nut butter
• 1 cup green juice
• 1 cup plain kefir yogurt
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• coconut flakes, pistachios, almonds, and craisins for topping