I've had my cousins little one with my the last two days again this week and can I tell you how much baby fever I've had? Goodness, the rolls and sweet baby smell.
Like OMG I want 5 of them...
I have still managed to make dinner, make it to a local Too Cute to Spook event and stay awake during my sister's birthday dinner! I mean if that doesn't deserve a prize (or early bedtime tonight!) then I don't know what does.
Now onto this week's dish: quinoa stuffed squash.
One of my absolute favorite parts of fall cooking is tossing squash into everything I make. Even chili or cutting it thinly and making chips. I am seriously obsessed with it. Make it fresh and locally grown (from my CSA) and I really can't get enough. I promise you that your house will smell divine while this is cooking, just ask my cousin Jenni who sat in my kitchen while our babes napped and the squash roasted in the oven...
I roasted the squash and made a batch of quinoa the day before (during nap time) and then whipped up the filling the next day, stuffed the squash and served the delightfulness for dinner with a little red wine and a toasty fire in the background...
Ingedients
2 small acorn squashes
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp rosemary powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder (I'd do more if Zoe wasn't eating it)
1 tbsp agave
1 tbso butter (melted)
Filling
3 uncooked sausage links out of the casing (we use Nature Promise organic chicken sausage, again I would have used spicy ones if Z wasn't eating it)
1 cup of cooked quinoa
a few handfuls of spinach
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
Recipe
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (do thisssssss or the cooking time is longer).
Cut squashes in half and clean out the insides (I cut a little off the bottoms so they'd sit on the cookie sheet better.
Melt butter and add all ingredients, mix thoroughly.
Brush onto the squash (inside and out)
Place squash on a cookie sheet and roast for 40-50 minutes or until soft.
While these babies are roasting, brown sausage on medium heat in a heavy pot with oil and garlic. Use a wooden spoon to break apart sausage.
Add a little liquid (wine, chicken stock or simply water works) and scrape all of the goodness the sausage leaves around.
(Goodness I wish O liked pork because this woudl have been amazing with yummy bacon.
Add quinoa and mix well.)
Add spinach and put lid on the pot to allow it to wilt.
Mix the spinach completely in.
Let it cool completely before loading each half of squash with as much as possible.
If you make the squash ahead of time (like I did) throw them back in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. I made a waist friendly version with no cheese to bind it but you could add some cheese or a beaten egg. Or simply top with a little freshly grated parmesan cheese??
Or maybe some cranberries to make it more festive and give it a pop of flavor?? Possibilities are ENDLESS with this one my friends. Go on, make it.
Hope your Wednesday will soon end with a little vino because mine may have to...
xo
Natalie