Mashed kalabasa (squash)

No, I didn’t “invent” this one. My 12-year-old daughter’s idea. She figured what we could do with potatoes, we could do with kalabasa (squash). And that’s because kalabasa tops her list of favorite yellow vegetables. She’s been asking me to buy kalabasa for over a week but the weather wouldn’t cooperate. Unless her father could pass by the supermarket, there was no way I’d risk going to the public market to buy the vegetables. We had to make do with whatever was available in the neighborhood vegetable stalls. What neighborhood vegetable stalls? Oh, these are makeshift stalls along the roads where residents sell produce from their own backyards. This is the suburb, remember, and residents do plant fruits and vegetables. But mostly, it’s just kangkong (water spinach), repolyo (native cabbage) and gabi (taro). The more enterprising ones buy vegetables from the public market early in the morning and re-sell them at their stalls. With the cost of fuel/public transport to go to the public merket, most times, it had been more practical to buy the day’s vegetables from these vendors. They would have carrots, onions, kalabasa, chayote… But when the continuous rains began more than a week ago (and it is still raining), even these entrepinoys stopped their daily trips to the market.

To make this side dish, you will need kalabasa (obviously), butter, milk or cream, salt, pepper and parsley. I won’t bother with the proportions–add more or less of everything according to your desired saltiness and/or consistency.

For best results, steam the kalabasa. While we boil our potatoes in water to make mashed potatoes, kalabasa contains more water and boiling it will make it too mushy. You can’t add too much milk or cream to an already mushy mashed kalabasa. So, cut off the skin of your kalabasa, scrape off the seeds, cut them up into about 2″ cubes and steam them over vigorously boiling water for about 20-30 minutes or until soft enough to mash with a fork.

Transfer the cooked kalabasa to a bowl and, while still hot, add butter, salt and pepper. How much butter depends on how much fat you can afford in your diet. If that’s not a consideration, add several tablespoonfuls. While the butter melts in the hot kalabasa, mash everything with the back of a fork. Blend well. Add the parsley. Blend again. Pour in the milk or cream in a thin stream while stirring constantly. This is the last step where you can control the consistently of your mashed kalabasa. The more milk or cream you add, the softer the mixture will be. If you want to have a consistency similar to mashed potatoes, you may want to use powdered milk instead. All the added creaminess without the liquid.

Adjust the salt and pepper before serving.

Serve warm.

Best with fried/grilled meat, chicken or fish.