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Stuffed Winter Squash to Suit the Tastes of Vegetarians & Carni(Omni)vores Alike

Here's what you begin with: Delicata (back) & Acorn (front) Squash.

I believe I have already done my waxing poetic about winter squash in some of my previous posts (Lovin' the Winter Squash & Soup Season), so I'll spare you most of that (can't make any promises) and get right to the recipes.  It's really only one recipe, but I'm including two versions: veggie (using tofu and black beans for protein) and omnivore (using sausage and black beans for protein).  I personally love both -- they are tasty, packed with nutrients, and beautiful on the table (check 'em out in the final product pics at the end).  One final note: if you use delicata squash, the skin will be very tender and tasty, and you should try eating it.  Believe me: it's really good.  You might find the skin of other squashes a little tougher, but you can still eat them if you like.  Enjoy...

Versatile Roasted, Stuffed Winter Squash

Vegetarians: Choose tofu over sausage
Vegans: You're all set with the Veggie option if you skip the goat cheese garnish
(Serves 8)

Ingredients:

oh man, shallots are beautiful!



• 4 winter squash (2 delicata + 2 acorn to keep things interesting?)
• 1/2 cup (uncooked) quinoa -- white, red, or a mixture (makes 1-1/2 cups cooked)
• 6 oz high-quality sausage or organic tofu
• 1 medium red shallot, chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small-med sweet yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cups (uncooked) mushrooms of any variety, chopped)
• 4 large kale fronds (~1/2 bunch), torn/chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• ~3/4 cup organic black beans (or use a whole can of Eden black beans if you like)
• 1 med-large tomato, chopped (optional, but adds great color)
• 4 oz goat cheese, for garnish
• olive oil to sautee your veggies
• salt to taste

Making Your Amazing Stuffed Squash:

1. First things first: get your squash cleaned and roasting.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Clean outside skin of squashes well.  Cut each squash in half lengthwise and clean out the centers -- remove seeds, rinse and dry them, and set aside to toast them for your garnish.  Place squash halves skin-side up in baking dishes with ~1/4-1/2 inch of water.  Bake ~40 minutes until soft (a knife will easily slide through the skin).
2. Prepping your main protein (sausage or tofu). For sausage, crumble out of casing into a frying pan over med/med-high heat until browned.  For tofu, cut the tofu into small cubes and either toss with olive oil and salt and bake for ~10-15 minutes at 350 degrees or cook in a frying pan until lightly browned (whichever your preference).  Set aside your main protein for a bit later.
3. Cook your quinoa.  1/2 cup quinoa, 1 cup water, and dash of salt in a small saucepan.  Bring to boil and immediately reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer, covered, until the water is almost all gone (~15+ minutes, depending on your stove), then remove from heat and set aside (still covered) because the quinoa will continue cooking.
4. Meanwhile, sautee garlic, shallot, and onion in ~1 TBSP olive oil until onion is translucent.
5. Add mushrooms to onion mixture and continue cooking.
6. Once mushrooms have reduced, add parsley and kale.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted.
7. Add tomato and black beans and combine with veggie mixture.
8. Add sausage or tofu & quinoa and combine over heat to blend flavors. Your stuffing is now ready.
9. By now, your squash is probably ready as well.  Did you remember to toast your squash seeds in the toaster oven (or reg oven) -- salted, drizzled in olive oil, and toasted for ~40 minutes at 250-300 degrees?  Take 'em out now -- you don't want them to burn!
10. Stuff the Squash.  Remove the squash from the oven.  Pour off any remaining water from the baking dishes and flip over squash halves, so they are now skin-sides down.  Add 1/2 cup of your stuffing mixture to each squash half. 
11. Return to oven for ~4-5 minutes.
12. Garnish with toasted seeds & crumbled goat cheese (you can also add the goat cheese before returned stuffed squash to the oven, if you like).

A few pics to whet your appetite.  Veggie and Not-So-Veggie Versions...


Not-So-Veggie (Sausage & Black Bean) Version



Veggie, actually Vegan b/c the goat cheese hasn't been added yet, Version with Tofu & Black Beans

Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well.  Enjoy Seasonal Veggies.

Lovin' the Winter Squash These Days

Roasted Delicata Squash with Sweet & Savory Greens

I love winter squash.  There are so many different varieties: butternut, acorn, pumpkins, delicata, and spagetti squash, to name a few.  They keep forever in your kitchen/pantry/cellar without going bad, they are incredibly nutrient dense, they're so sweet and tasty, and they are really great for you for several reasons.  Winter squashes are a great source of carotenes, vitamins B1, B6, and C, niacin, folic acid, and fiber, which means that eating winter squash loads you up on antioxidants, boosts your immunity, helps fight cancers (especially lung cancer), promotes good vision, and may help fight heart disease.  And you know what else?  Adding more naturally sweet veggies to your diet is an excellent way to reduce those out-of-control cravings for sugar.  I know that sounds a little crazy, but you'd be surprised.  So, how great is all that?  Also, you may not know it, or think it would taste very good, but you can even eat the outside skin of most winter squashes (definitely acorn squash and delicata -- you may find some of the other varieties a little tougher, but give 'em a try) and I love the texture it adds to the dishes.  Also, lots of the fiber and carotenoids are present in the skin, so eat up.  Give it a try using delicata squash in this recipe and you'll see what I mean.  Trust me!  Plus, do you really want to try peeling an uncooked squash?  That's no fun.

I just came up with this squash and greens recipe the other night because I had some delicata squash and I had a beautiful bunch of rainbow chard, and I decided to put those hands together for a healthy, tasty meal.  It turned out great.  In fact, I just ate the last of the leftovers for lunch and was reminded of how rich, savory, and sweet it was.  Yum!  Not only will you get all those health benefits from winter squash, but this recipe also ensures that you're getting your daily dose of leafy greens, which are one of the most important and underrepresented foods in the typical American diet.  Alright, on to the recipe...

Roasted Delicata Squash with Sweet & Savory Greens

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Delicata Squash (or large acorn squash)
• 1 large bunch rainbow chard (or other greens, like kale)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small sweet onion, chopped
• 2 tsp 100% pure maple syrup
• 1 generous TBSP tamari sauce
• ~2 TBSP olive oil
• salt to taste



sliced chard stalks



Making Your Squash with Greens:

(serves 3)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Prepare your squash --- (1) wash squash well and cut in half lengthwise; (2) remove seeds, etc. from inside, and set aside seeds for toasting; and (3) cut squash into bite-size cubes (1/2 inch).
3. In a medium bowl, mix together squash, onion, and garlic.  Coat with olive oil, but not too much, and salt lightly.
4. Move squash-onions-garlic mixture to a glass baking dish or cookie sheet and roast in oven for 30-35 minutes, or until squash is soft.
5. While squash is roasting, remove stalks from chard and slice stalks, as you would slice celery (see pic).  In a large pan, sautee chard stalks in a tsp olive oil for 3-5 minutes on medium heat.
6. Add tamari and maple syrup to chard stalks and continue cooking another 2 minutes.
7. Add chopped/torn chard leaves to sauteed stalks, combine, and continue cooking until leaves are wilted (stirring occasionally).
8. Combine roasted squash with chard mixture in sautee pan. 
9. Serve over brown rice (or quinoa) and garnish with toasted squash seeds, if you like.



sauteeing chard stalks with chard greens




Combining roasted delicata squash (beautiful skins, right?) with chard





















Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well.  Eat Whole Foods!