Winter squash is the general name for a wide family of richly colored, thick-skinned varieties such as butternut, kabocha, acorn, buttercup, delicata, spaghetti squash, and many more. Unlike their summer cousins (like zucchini), winter squashes are harvested when fully mature, with a hard rind that protects their sweet, golden flesh during long storage. Botanically, they are fruits, but in the kitchen they’re treated as hearty, grounding vegetables, nourishing us especially through the colder mo