Pumpkin and acorn squash are both delicious, sweet fall-like and of course fun to make into edible pinatas. (We haven’t actually blindfolded each other and beaten our vegetables with sticks before eating its contents but that does seem like a fun idea.)
One of our favorites, thanks to my growing up with a creative mom who loves to cook, is stuffed acorn squash with fall spices.
Yield: 2 halves (serves 2)
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 acorn squash
2 servings of grain (we’ll use kamut here)
1/4 C red onion
1 chopped garlic clove
1/2 C chopped carrots
1/2 C chopped celery
1/4 C pepitas
1 C meatless chicken (or another protein of choice)
1 T rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1 tsp cinnamon
salt
pepper
light olive oil to coat bottom of sauté pan
optional balsamic or fresh-squeezed orange juice
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°
Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. You can bake and eat them if you want!
Next, turn each half skin side up and poke some fork holes in the skin. Place in a pan or casserole dish with about 1/2″ of water and bake for 30-45 minutes at 350°. When the inside portion is soft you’ll know it’s done.
While that’s cooking you’ll want to make your stuffing. Sauté onion and garlic in light olive oil on med-low for about a minute then add carrots, celery and pepitas.
Turn heat up to medium and cook for a few minutes while stirring frequently to avoid burning garlic. Add meatless chicken. Stir and cook until meatless chicken is warmed. Add rosemary, thyme, sage, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir and remove from heat.
Simultaneously cook your grain of choice (kamut is pictured here).
Mix the grain and the sautéed portion together in sauté pan, then place inside the squash.
Top with some fresh-squeezed orange juice or balsamic if your mix seems too dry.