Yellow squash  

Both yellow straightneck and yellow crookneck are commonly known as “yellow” squash. They’re close cousins, and in many ways other than appearance nearly identical.

They’re summer squashes, with a mild, sweet and somewhat nutty flavor, stronger than the taste of their relative, zucchini. They’re tender, too, with a thin skin and crisp flesh.

Straightneck is shaped like a round-bottom bowling pin, while crookneck has a curving, sometimes nearly U-turn neck. Both usually have smooth, bright yellow skin, though some cultivars have a pebbly, even warty surface.

Like all other squashes, they’re 7,000-year descendants of weed-progenitors in Mesoamerica. They were refined by early dwellers of what is now the eastern U.S.

Some historians believe crookneck may have been the squash Native Americans taught Pilgrim settlers to grow, and perhaps was served at the first Thanksgiving in 1621.

Yellow squash can be prepared and served in many of the ways used for zucchini. Like zucchini, it is not exceptionally nutritious, but is often used as an ingredient in other dishes and preparations.