What do these have in common: acorn, Australian blue, banana, buttercup, butternut, calabaza, carnival, chayote, delicaza, gold nugget, hubbard, kabocha, orangetti, red kuri, spaghetti, stripetti, sweet dumpling and turban?

They’re all winter squash—but you probably guessed that from the headline. Do you know how delicious they all are, though?

We got a huge shipment from Melissa’s Produce, purveyors of exotic fruits and vegetables, just so we could taste through them all. Call it two weeks of squash bliss.

They’re all wonderful, but if we had to pick our personal winner, it’s carnival squash (photo #1), so good that we ate the rind. Sweet Dumpling Squash (photo #2) took second place.

So check your farmers markets or order online from Melissa’s. You won’t be disappointed!
 
 
SQUASH NUTRITION

Squash is good for you, with tons of vitamin A (one serving has four times the RDA—and 52% of vitamin C) and a good source of vitamin E (alpha tocopherol), thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, magnesium, potassium and manganese.

The calories: just 80 to 100 per cup, depending on variety.

Read more about these gorgeous vegetables in the Squash Glossary—one of 100 fascinating food glossaries on THE NIBBLE.

Try these recipes:

[1] Carnival squash (photo © Kitchen Agents).

[2] Sweet dumpling squash (photo © Organically Grown Company).

For a slam dunk, cruise on over to The Gourmet Institute to order a copy of The first-ever Chefs of The Gourmet Institute calendar. Melanie Dunea, photographer of My Last Supper (above), took these gorgeous photos, too. They don’t call it a pinup calendar of top New York chefs, but we will. Dan Barber, Anthony Bourdain, Cesare Casella, Scott Conant, Kurt Gutenbrunner, Masaharu Morimoto, Charlie Palmer, Dave Pasternack, Eric Ripert, Marcus Samuelsson, Laurent Tourondel and Jonathan Waxman are the pinup guys. Calendars are $19.95 each, $1.00 of which goes to Citymeals-On-Wheels. The photo of Marcus Samuelsson (at right), looking like a culinary Cole Porter, is alone worth the price; but each photo is suitable for framing. By the way, Gourmet Institue: why are there no women in this calendar? Were Lydia Bastianich, April Bloomfield, Alex Guarnaschelli, Gabrielle Hamilton, Sara Jenkins, Anita Lo, Jody Willliams and Patricia Yeo all busy the day of the photo shoot? Or is Moet & Chandon, the calendar sponsor, more comfortable with an all-male roster of “favorite chefs?”