Yesterday while I was making soup Andrew walked through the door and asked “Didn’t we just have squash last night?” Well, in fact, yes we did have squash last night….but it was different squash. That was acorn, this is butternut!
One of the best things about Fall is squash! You’ll see lots of it when you visit your local farmers market. When you buy local, seasonal food you can usually be assured that the food will be fresh and taste good and you’ll be strengthening the economic base of your local community!
The other day I had a vision. I’m not sure where it came from but suddenly I began to picture acorn squash stuffed with turkey. I jotted down some ingredients, stopped at Whole Foods and picked up another acorn squash (had one at home already), a red bell pepper, a sweet onion, 5 large white mushrooms and a pound of lean ground turkey.
When I got home I got right to work; I wanted to take full advantage of my creative juices. First I preheated the oven to 350 then punctured both acorn squash and microwaved them for 3 minutes so they’d be easier to cut (but you can skip this step). When the squash was cool enough I cut them in half and placed them skin side down on a cookie sheet. After lightly brushing the tops with olive oil I put them in the oven and baked them for about an hour. Later I prepared the rest of the entrée.
Ingredients
2 Acorn Squash
1/2 cup cooked wild rice (brown is ok too)
1 Tablespoon olive oil + a little for brushing
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 sweet onion, minced
5-6 large white mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
2-3 twists of the pepper mill
What to Do:
Heat the oil in a large skillet then add onion and bell pepper. Saute for 3 minutes until soft. Add garlic, mushrooms, ginger, salt and pepper and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Cook ground turkey in skillet with vegetables until no longer pink, about 5 minutes then add the cooked rice. Meanwhile carefully remove the squash from the shell to avoid ripping the skin.
Add the squash to the turkey mixture in the skillet and cook for a few minutes on low heat to thoroughly combine all the ingredients. Divide mixture evenly between 4 shells. Place shells on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until heated through.
We served our stuffed squash with a big fresh salad because we all know how good those leafy greens are for us! I think this meal scored a 9 or 10 with my audience. If you make it plesase let me know what your judges think!
