Many people shy away from baking acorn squash at home. We don’t blame them: Unless you know how to cut one properly, the prospect of using a big knife to cut open a thick winter squash can be scary. The thick, green, ribbed skin can seem impenetrable.

Yet the yellow-orange flesh inside is delicious: sweet, nutty and simple to bake.

In this video, you’ll see how easy it is to cut and bake acorn squash. Instead of the cinnamon and clove used in the video, you can brush maple syrup on the squash for a different flavor profile.

Acorn squash is loaded with the powerful antioxidant beta-carotene (it’s what gives the orange color to vegetables; the body converts it to vitamin A). A one-cup serving has about 115 calories—less than a cup of potatoes—plus 9g of dietary fiber, 2g of protein, manganese, magnesium, potassium and vitamins A, B1 (thiamine), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6, B9 (folate) and C.

And it’s so yummy!

Get cooking:

Do you know your acorn and butternut squash from your Hubbard and kabocha? Check out all the different types of squash in our Squash Glossary.