Stuffed Acorn Squash

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Vegetarian dishes that are simple, flavorful, and filling are hard to come by. There has been so much buzz in the food world about cutting back on how many nights we eat meat, but they don’t really suggest meals that are just as filling. I would love it if some of those health conscious documentaries came with recommended recipes in the ending credits. Don’t get me wrong, we love meat. A lot. But we’ve been trying to cut back and to incorporate more vegetarian dishes throughout the week. Cold weather produce is now appearing at the market and we’re excited to develop some vegetarian dishes highlighting seasonal flavors.  Enter, the squash.

I love to decorate with mini squashes throughout fall, but never really cooked with an acorn squash before. The huge display of squash at Whole Foods was calling me this week and I went for it. This dish is whole grain, sugar free, vegetarian, and full of autumn flavors. The sweet dried fruit paired with the savory garlic and green onion make this satisfying dish burst with flavor.

Honestly, acorn squash tastes similar (to me) to a butternut squash. They come in all sizes. If you’d like for this to be more of a meal in itself, go for the big squash and really stuff the insides. This works great as a side though too, using smaller squash and less filling.

Oh, and as a side note, I had to Google the plural form of “squash.” (Squashes just sounded funky!) Ha!

Ingredients:

4 small acorn squashes, seeded and halved

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 cup dried fruit (cranberries or prunes), chopped

1 cup blanched sliced almonds

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons green parts of a green onion, sliced thin

1 teaspoon fine kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Place each squash half cut side up in a large glass baking dish. Drizzle each half with olive oil. Bake for 40-50 minutes until soft when poked with a fork.

While squash is baking, prepare the stuffing. Bring 1 1/4 cups salted water to a boil. Stir in couscous and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.

In a small sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and green onion and cook for about 4 minutes until fragrant.

Add the garlic, green onions, and butter to couscous and stir until well combined. Stir in salt, pepper, almonds, and dried fruit.

Fill each squash half with couscous mixture, using between 1/4 – 1/3 cup per half. Serve warm.

*Don’t forget to enter our baker’s blade giveaway this week!*

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Comments (16)

  • Erin Renee 11 years ago Reply

    Dude…vegetarian meals are TOTALLY satisfying! I’ve been a vegetarian for a while now and that’s a common misconception. What it’s really about is knowing your own eating preferences and then knowing your vegetables and what you can do with them. We eat vegetarian here and we’re both quite happy and healthy and FULL. I often wish everyone was required to be a vegetarian for 6 months so they were forced to really learn about vegetables. Stuffed acorn squash is SUPER good. I’m glad you’ve found something you like.

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    Hi Erin! I agree that many vegetarian dishes are filling, but I’ve found it difficult to find really filling ones besides pasta and starch dishes. Do you have any favorites? Post them here so others can find them! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  • Mom 11 years ago Reply

    You had me at couscous, cranberries and almonds. Looks yummy! (Good use of reference material to determine the plural of squash.)

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    Thanks for the comment, mom! I think this is a recipe you’ll really like. For some reason, I thought the plural of “squash” was “squash.” Hmm… it’s not!

  • Sarah 11 years ago Reply

    oooh, this looks great. we eat several veg meals a week- i’ll have to give this a try 🙂

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    Hi Sarah! You’re so sweet to return again to our blog and leave a comment. What are some of your favorite vegetarian recipes?

  • ashley 11 years ago Reply

    I’ve never cooked with an acorn squash before, either. Looks so good!!

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    It’s super easy! Give it a try and let us know if you like it. Thanks for stopping by Ashley!

  • Sally 11 years ago Reply

    acorn/butternut squash – I can never tell the difference taste wise! I eat veggie often, so this is a perfect recipe. Plus the whole stuffing idea.. so fun! 🙂

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    Hi Sally! Yeah, I was surprised how similar acorn squash tastes to butternut. Happily surprised because I love butternut 🙂 Take care!

  • I ADORE acorn squash and am always looking for new yummy combos to fill them with. I’m also forever on the lookout for filling vegetarian meals that even the hubs (a would be carnivore) can enjoy. This looks like a stellar one. Yum!

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    Hi Erin! Glad you stopped by! I never knew acorn squash was so delicious! Thanks for the comment.

  • PS. I had no idea squashes was a word. Sounds weird to me too.Thanks for the grammar lesson, lol

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    Okay, so apparently, “squash” and “squashes” are BOTH acceptable as the plural form! Who knew?!

  • I love stuffed squashes! This will definitely be making an appearance on our table soon!

    The Newlywed Chefs 11 years ago Reply

    I never knew stuffed squashes were so delicious! Enjoy!

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