Edible squash leaves

At one point I thought I had put up this information, but if so, I can no longer find it, so here it goes again!

Squash leaves and stems are among those foods that are not commonly eaten here in the USA in my area, but are quite common in other areas of the world. Below is a great link to a variety of recipes for preparing and cooking them: http://poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-to-do-with-squash-leaves-and-stems.html



For a brief summary, however.
Prep info:
- Any edible squash seems to have edible leaves, from what I can tell.  Although I would always double check that a particular squash IS an actual squash, so nomenclature issues don't have you trying to eat leaves from a non-squash with a squash name.

- You can scrape off the fuzzy outside of the leaves and the prickly part of the stems, but these seem to soften to the point of not being an issue, if you cook them long enough.

A few examples of cooking methods.
 1) Simmer in broth like soup.

2) Sauté in oil or butter. Can add garlic, lemon juice, salt and/or pepper when cooking.

3) Cook squash leaves in coconut milk. Can add a huge number of aromatic herbs and seasonings with this.

The link to Poor and Gluten Free has links to a few actual recipes, as well as more in depth ideas on how to cook these, so I'd recommend taking a look!