Delicious Cooking with an RV Convection Oven: Acorn Squash and Seeds
This week, we talk more about cooking with an RV Convection Oven as we make a fun fall dish of acorn squash.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog about convection oven basics to help folks become more familiar with cooking with an RV Convection Oven, a common appliance on RV's, 5th Wheel's or trailers.
Today, I want to focus on a specific feature of the oven that you may not be familiar with; it is the roasting feature! I like to roast chicken, acorn squash, and roasts using the ‘roast' feature.
Listed below I have a simple recipe with just a few ingredients that will cook up to a delicious main or side dish. Feel free to sprinkle on some dried cranberries and some walnuts after the cooking is complete.
As a bonus I added a recipe on making Roasted Acorn Squash Seeds.
Cooking with an RV Convection Oven – Roast Cooking
There are ten temperatures of convection: 100F,150F,250F,275F,300F,325F,350F, 375F,400F,425F.
1. Place the food that you are roasting in a Pyrex casserole dish that fits easily on the convection oven rack and turns freely while rotating on the flat microwave plate and the turntable below. Close the oven door.
2. Now… Press the” Roast” button on the oven. The temperature will display “325 degrees F”. If you want to roast at 325 degrees F, simply press ‘Roast” again to confirm that this is the temperature setting of choice.
Now select the time by using the number keys. For 30 minutes roast time press the following number keys in the order listed – 3000. This is '30' minutes and '00' no seconds of time. The oven will now count down the 30 minutes of roasting.
For this recipe, I want to roast at 400 degrees F. Start the process the same as above placing the casserole dish of food on the convection rack which rest on top of the rotating mechanism and microwave plate and close the oven door.
Select ‘roast', the 325 F will display on the oven… now to change the temperature to 400 degrees F simply press the ‘9 number key' and 400 degrees F will now show on the digital display. Next – confirm the temperature by pressing the ‘roast' button again.
For the roasting time, pressing the number buttons. For 30 minutes press ‘3000' which equals '30' minutes and '00' no desired seconds. The oven will now start to count down the 30 minutes and beep when complete.
Time for cooking with an RV Convection Oven 1/2 acorn squash is 30 minutes
Cooking with an RV Convection Oven: Our recipe Ingredients
1/2 acorn squash, remove stem, seeds and stringy pulp
1 tbsp dark brown sugar or using 2 tbsp substitute maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (add a sprinkle of cinnamon instead if you like)
1/2 tsp olive oil
sea salt and ground pepper to taste
- Rinse acorn squash, pat dry and cut it in half lengthwise.
- Remove seeds and stringy pulp from both halves of squash. Rinse and separate the pulp from the seeds in a colander placed under running cool clean water. Gently separate the stringy pulp from the seeds. Lay seeds on a clean dish towel and discard the stringy pulp. Seeds will be sticky and stick some, but the dish towel will clean up when washed.
- Reserve 1 half squash for another use, wrap that half in saran wrap and place in the fridge to use in another recipe in the next few days.
- Place the half squash you are using in this recipe cut side up in an ovenproof dish that fits easily in the convection oven.
- Rub the inside and cut edges of the squash with a tsp of olive oil.
- Season the inner portion of the squash with spices listed in the ingredients and salt and pepper.
- Place 1 tablespoon of brown sugar (or maple syrup) in the concave portion of the squash.
- Set the baking dish on the convection rack above the microwave plate and turning mechanism.
- Follow the oven setting guideline above for cooking function selection and time.
- Serve squash warm.
Bonus! I have a video tutorial that shows me Roasting acorn squash to illustrate cooking with an RV Convection Oven.
Roasting Acorn Squash Seeds for Snacks: Cooking with an RV Convection Oven tip
Acorn squash seeds are smaller, less fibrous than pumpkin seeds and they give off a pleasing aroma as you open the RV convection oven door. The whole squash will give you about 1/2 cup of seeds. Discard seeds that are shriveled or small and look dry. Place the clean seeds in an ovenproof Pyrex dish. Toss the seeds with 1 tsp. of olive oil and 1/2 tsp. of garlic salt.
Place the Pyrex dish with the seasoned acorn squash seeds on the convection rack as you did in the instructions for roasting the squash in the recipe above.
Close the oven door.
Press the “Roast” button on the oven.
Change the temperature 275 degrees F now by pressing the ‘4 button'.
Now press the ‘roast' button again to confirm the temperature.
Set the cooking time.
Press the number buttons for 10 minutes by pressing 1000.
When roasting time is complete, swirl the acorn seeds with a fork and Roast for an additional 10 minutes by following the same instruction sequence you followed for the initial 10 minutes of roasting.
Remove the dish from the oven.
Let the seeds cool and place them in a container to enjoy as a snack.
Here are some interesting facts about acorn squash that will make you want to do some cooking with an RV Convection Oven!
Vitamins
Acorn squash contains vitamin A, niacin, folate, thiamine and vitamin B-6, but it is an especially good source of vitamin C.
A 1/2-cup serving of cooked, cubed acorn squash provides approximately 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C for healthy adults following a 2,000-calorie diet.
Adequate vitamin C intake promotes the health of the immune and skeletal systems and may help prevent hypertension, heart disease, cancer and osteoarthritis.
The vitamin C content of foods is degraded by exposure to air, light, heat and water.
To maximize the amount of vitamin C you receive from acorn squash, use the vegetable three to four days after purchase and cut it only right before cooking. Steam or bake the squash instead of boiling it to keep vitamin C from being lost in the cooking water.
Minerals
Each 1/2-cup serving of acorn squash contains 13 percent of the recommended daily allowance of potassium and 11 percent of the RDA of magnesium.
As both a mineral and an electrolyte, potassium plays a vital role in muscle contraction and in maintaining the body's water balance. Magnesium regulates potassium levels, strengthens bones and teeth and aids in proper energy metabolism.
Regularly eating potassium- and magnesium-rich foods like acorn squash can lessen your chance of stroke, osteoporosis, depression and diabetes. Acorn squash also contains small amounts of iron, calcium, zinc and phosphorus.
Dietary Fiber
Acorn squash provides 5 grams of dietary fiber in every 1/2-cup serving, an amount that fulfills 18 percent of the recommended daily intake of fiber. The majority of acorn squash's fiber is soluble fiber.
According to the Mayo Clinic this type of fiber helps regulate blood levels of both glucose and cholesterol. In 2009, an article published in “Nutrition Reviews” summarized current dietary fiber research and concluded that a diet containing fiber-rich foods like acorn squash could help prevent stroke, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and gastrointestinal disorders.
Antioxidants
The American Dietetic Association lists winter squash as one of the best sources of the antioxidant beta carotene. Antioxidants are compounds that can prevent cellular and DNA damage by inhibiting the activity of unstable free radicals.
A high intake of antioxidant-rich foods is linked to a lower risk of cancer, neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Beta-carotene is a carotenoid that may specifically support eye health and prevent the development of age-related macular degeneration.
We have one more question please. What is the use for the grilling feature and what are some examples of use. Haven’t seen other articles covering this
I believe I got back to you through g mail but just in case. You can grill in the High Pointe convection oven for any foods you normally grill outdoors. Use the grill/convection rack with the rack in the high position when grilling steak, chicken etc. so that it is closest to the heat source.
Thanks for the video on roasting. Our racks in the oven have “longer legs on one side and shorter “legs” on the other side. Our question is: which legs go down when baking and which legs go down when roasting?
I posted a recipe on roasting squash last week that may help you. I roasted the squash with the rack in the low position on that recipe.