AWESOME acorn squash!

When the weather begins to change and winter approaches we start to see the beautiful and oh so tasty winter squash popping up everywhere! Squash although all slightly different are relatively similar in their composition of nutrients. Loaded with antioxidants necessary to get through the winter months. Squash has high starch content, which scares some people away, but not all starch is created equal...in fact, carbs and starch are quite necessary. So much, that 50-70% of your daily caloric intake should come from carbohydrates...it's all about finding the right sources of carbs. Squash, in my opinion, tops that list. The vitamin and mineral content makes them a super food. No other food across the globe provides a greater percentage of certain carotanoids than winter squash. They are also insanely rich in Vitamin C and the yet another antioxidant mineral manganese. If you need an immune system boost, winter squash has got you covered! They are a low fat food but they do contain essential omega 3's! The combination of nutrients in winter squash gives them anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory properties. They are so perfectly digestible, and actually regulate our blood sugar, rather than spiking it like other refined carbohydrates do. Being a vegan, healthy starch's and carbs are my primary energy source...which means I eat a lot of these super foods! (They are so incredibly delicious that I have no reason to complain about having to eat so much of it!)

Needless to say last weekend I was excited to find 3 pretty acorn squash in my produce basket! Too many possibilities, I'm so indecisive that it makes it very difficult to narrow down my ideas to just 1. I finally went with a very fall festive stuffed squash route. Once you see the ingredients list you'll see exactly why I couldn't resist the urge to make these.

Wild rice stuffed acorn squash

Ingredients:

3-4 acorn squash

1 1/2 c organic wild rice (I use and Organic Harvest Medley from Costco)

4 cups of vegetable broth (I use better than bouillon vegetable base with 4 c water)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion-chopped

3 ribs of celery- finely chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 c craisins

1/2 c dried apricots- chopped (optional, but HIGHLY recommended)

1/2 c chopped pecans

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of ground cloves

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:  

Half squash, and de-seed

Place skin side up on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the squash. You want it soft all the way through to the skin. 

While squash is baking, add oil onion, celery, and garlic to a saucepan and saute for about 5 minutes, then add your vegetable broth and rice, and simmer covered until rice is tender (stirring occasionally). This took about 35 minutes for my variety of rice.

Once rice is done, scoop a some of squash out the center of each squash and stir into rice. You want to leave plenty of flesh in the squash though too.

Lastly, fold in seasonings, dried fruit, and nuts, then spoon into the center of your cooked acorns, as pictured below.

I had a little extra rice, which I served to my kiddos and they gobbled it right up!

I garnished my stuffed acorn squash with a little more dried fruit, pecans, and cinnamon.

Not to toot my own horn, but these are beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! It brought me a taste of thanksgiving dinner early! Perfectly sweet and savory. MMMMMM!

You won't regret making these bad boys, at all!

Enjoy!

Simply-Healthy-Nikki