Yesterday I decided to try something new. Stuffed acorn squash! I got the idea from a recipe I found online from a local grocery program I’m currently enlisted in. If you are interested in the recipe click here. I had 90% of the ingredients and decided to substitute for the ingredients I did not have. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I brought the left over ‘stuffing’ to work for lunch and ALL my coworkers mentioned how delicious my lunched smelled. I ate the ‘stuffing’ with tortilla chips in case you were curious. Below is how I made the stuffed acorn squash.
After I cut the acorn squash in half I gutted it and placed the halves face down in a baking pan with a touch of water.
The squash needs to bake flesh side down for about 30 minutes then flipped flesh side up and baked for another 8-10 minutes. While the squash was baking I started on the ‘stuffing’. The recipe calls for black beans but I didn’t have any. I decided to use chickpeas instead. I am not well versed in chickpeas for the record. I didn’t want to boil them because I felt like it would take to long. So I decided to make crispy chickpeas. I placed 6 tablespoons of olive oil in a non stick pan, threw in my 9 hour soaked chickpeas, covered with a lid, and prayed for the best. After 20 minutes, they were nicely browned. I put them in a bowl lined with a paper towel to soak up some of the olive oil left on the peas.
While the chickpeas cooled I made the Tex Mex spice mix.
The recipe calls for ground beef but I don’t eat meat. Instead I used Beyond Beef crumbles. I cooked my crumbles, added the spice mix, and again removed from the pan. In the same pan I sautéed onions and garlic for 3-5 minutes. Once the onions started to become translucent I added in my tomatoes, Beyond Beef (already cooked), chickpeas (already cooked), and sweet corn. You could add jalapeno’s, bell peppers, etc. I just didn’t have any so they got omitted.
I added some more of the Tex Mex spice blend, covered, and let that cook for about 10 minutes on low heat.
Once that was all done it was time to stuff the acorns! I scooped some of the mixture in the acorns and topped with ‘cheese’ (side note: I am dairy free for the most part so the cheese I use is vegan cheese).
Back into the over they go for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and brown. Vegan cheese is not really known for melting soooooooo you know, hey *shrug*.
Here is the finished product!
If you have no food restrictions (and all of the ingredients) and follow the recipe, it should look more like this:
If you decide to try the recipe referenced above, let me know! I’d love to know how it turns out. Be sure to tag me on social media (@mjrmorris on Twitter and Instagram).
Until next time…..
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Major Morris 