Squash Tacos

Summer squash seems to be hitting it's peak right now, and I've had more than I know what to do with most weeks.  I stumbled across this recipe and thought it was worth trying out.  It wasn't my favorite squash recipe ever, but I suppose if I had taken the time to make corn tortillas from scratch as the recipe suggests, it would have been better.  But, I didn't have that kind of time, so organic tortillas from Whole Foods had to suffice (I'm breaking my rule of not eating food that comes from packages more often than I would like recently, ugh).  There are no lovely pictures of the squash in the tortillas because they totally fell apart.  Flour tortillas may have been a better choice, but I have to stick with corn to avoid gluten.  Just make sure you don't get too much of the liquid in the tortillas and you should be fine. 

Fresh organic squash from the CSA

• 4-6 yellow crookneck squash
• 1 cup of fresh dill, minced
• 1 red onion, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1 tsp grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• salt/pepper
• chopped kale or other green

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1.  Cut squash into small diced bits. 

2.  Combine with minced red onion, shallot and kale over medium heat with the olive oil and vinegar. Coat and stir until you get a bit of steam going, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, mix in dill, mustard, and salt and pepper.

3.  Mix feta into the squash mixture and toss with a bit more salt and pepper.

Health Benefits

I found these tidbits about dill here:

1. Dill can be use as a digestive aid. The dietary fiber is believed to calm an upset stomach, reduce acid reflux, and prevent diarrhea. If you need a little help in this area, toss some fresh dill on your salad.

2. When dill leaves are the brightest green they have the strongest ability to fight free radicals. These are environmental toxins found in such things as second-hand smoke and air pollution. Reducing the amount of free radicals you are exposed to is linked to preventing hair and skin damage, heart disease, and a range of cancers.

3. Surprisingly dill has been used for centuries in preventing bacterial overgrowth. Like its pungent friend, garlic, dill is a natural antibiotic. Maybe the stronger an herb smells, the higher the antibacterial properties? That's something to look into later. What is for sure is that chewing on some dill seeds helps prevent bad breath by fighting bacteria. Conversely, chewing on garlic will most definitely not help halitosis.

4. As great plant-based source of calcium, dill promotes bone and tooth health. Be sure to pair this with a generous helping of Vitamin D from (safe) exposure to sunshine to beef up the bone benefits.

5. The seeds and essentials oils have long been used as a calming aid and a cure for insomnia. A tea steeped of warm water and dill seeds is said to calm a colicky baby. And for adults dill is traditionally used in conjunction with chamomile to promote a restful night sleep.