Shaved Butternut Squash With Dates Recipe (2024)

My reaction to this recipe is that I would either blanch or lightly sauté the squash to bring out the sweetness. Shaved raw sounds chic but not something my family would ever be interested in. Other than that, I love the sound of this mixture of ingredients. I love almost anything with dates or figs.

It is almost mid-November, and I live in central Alberta. It will be impossible to find young butternut squash. Suggestions on what to do in this case?? Blanch the shavings? Please advise. Thank you.

Soymilk with about 1/8 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.

Any suggestions for a vegan dressing as a substitute for the buttermilk?

I love raw butternut, and this recipe is pretty fantastic. My minor variations: I used dried cherries instead of dates (had them on hand), mixed the buttermilk with the rest of the dressing, and let it sit at room temp for a hour with minimal mixing to avoid the 30 minutes of maceration - worked perfectly! I would recommend the thinner setting on your mandoline (or use a veggie peeler) because the dressing won't penetrate thick slices very well. A perfect non-traditional thanksgiving dish!

Skip the buttermilk and dates.
Note from Thanksgiving 2015

Loved the idea of dates AND figs but I didn't want the buttermilk...I used squash cut in spaghetti and it worked fine; better the 2nd day as the squash softened a little more and it was a big hit. I served it along with grilled Black Sea bass and black eyed peas in a cumin/paprika/tomato sauce. Wonderful concert of flavors :)

I have made this a few times and it’s a big hit. It’s bright and light and provides a great side for an often heavy meal. I do leave out the buttermilk so it’s dairy free and vegan. I’ve not made it with buttermilk so I don’t know if that makes any difference, but no one missed it when mentioned. It’s great the next day and I will freshen it with warm toasted pumpkin seeds.

Made this the other night, and it was delicious. But it was even better the next day! The flavors really had a chance to sink in. (I find this is often the case with dishes, such as pesto, eggplant parmigiana, anything that soaks up flavor.)I also agree with another commenter who suggested adding the buttermilk to the lemon mixture from the get-go, and letting everything steep together. I did that, and it was wonderful.

Shaving the entire squash was a bit tedious, so I decided to shave the long neck only and bake the rest. I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so used a sour cream/whole milk mixture. Fresh and a nice side dish!

I used my mandoline to get perfectly shaved slices. The finest shaving is 1/16th in, & seemed too delicate and thin, so I used the next setting up which was 1/8th". However, after the whole thing came together, I found the 1/8th" slices actually too thick. They were difficult to spear on a fork due their thickness. If I were to make this again, I would definitely use the very finest setting of 1/16th inch. Also, I used Medjul dates, which were hard to separate after chopping.

I love raw butternut, and this recipe is pretty fantastic. My minor variations: I used dried cherries instead of dates (had them on hand), mixed the buttermilk with the rest of the dressing, and let it sit at room temp for a hour with minimal mixing to avoid the 30 minutes of maceration - worked perfectly! I would recommend the thinner setting on your mandoline (or use a veggie peeler) because the dressing won't penetrate thick slices very well. A perfect non-traditional thanksgiving dish!

Skip the buttermilk and dates.
Note from Thanksgiving 2015

Any suggestions for a vegan dressing as a substitute for the buttermilk?

It is almost mid-November, and I live in central Alberta. It will be impossible to find young butternut squash. Suggestions on what to do in this case?? Blanch the shavings? Please advise. Thank you.