Ready to "season" your family meal with autumn flavor and color? Winter squash adds both. Their hard yet edible skin and more intense flavors distinguish acorn, butternut, pumpkin, buttercup, calabaza, golden nugget and turban squash from tender-skinned, mild-flavored summer squash.

The inside scoop makes a great nutrition store. The deep-yellow to deep-orange flesh offers more nutrients, fiber and other phytonutrients than summer squash, notably more beta-carotene and lutein (two antioxidants), more soluble and insoluble fiber (helps control cholesterol levels and promote elimination) and more thiamin and vitamin B6, potassium and iron. It's also a low-fat source of another antioxidant: vitamin E.

Enjoy winter squash:

• Peeled and cut up cooked in pasta sauces, soups and stews.
• Mashed and seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Cooked and tossed with other cooked veggies.

Source: 365 Days of Healthy Eating from the American Dietetic Association (Wiley 2004), Roberta Larson Duyff, MS, RD, FADA, CFCS