Versatile Stuffed, Roasted Winter Squash

Vegetarians: Choose tofu over sausage.

Vegans: You’re all set with the Veggie option if you skip the goat cheese garnish.

Omnivores: Get yourself some sausage from local, humanely raised animals and enjoy.

(Serves Eight)

Ingredients:

• 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).

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