Stuffed Acorn Squash

For my first time making and eating acorn squash I was really happy. This recipe used many of my favorite ingredients like quinoa, spinach, and feta. Not only does it look pretty, it's also pretty healthy. As with stuffed peppers, you can really add anything you want to this. I also found out that acorn squashes last for a few weeks after purchase so I bought 2 and am already trying to decide what I want to do with our 2nd one.

Ingredients
1 Acorn squash
1Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red chili peppers, finely diced (remove seeds if you want it less spicy)
1/2-1 cup portabella mushrooms, chopped ( I used what I had in my fridge which was about 3/4 cup)
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper

Directions
1.Pre-heat oven to 375
2. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds
3. Sprinkle each half with salt and pepper and add 1/2 tbsp butter to each
4. Roast for approximately 45 mins or until fork tender
5.While squash is roasting, cook the quinoa in the vegetable broth according to package directions
6. Saute the onions, mushrooms, garlic, and red chili peppers in the olive oil for about 8 mins or until nice and soft and then add the lemon juice
7.Turn the heat down and add the cooked quinoa then the spinach and stir until it begins to wilt
8. Add in the parsley and feta (save some for topping if you want)
9.Season with salt and pepper if desired
10. Add a few spoonfuls of mixture to each half of the roasted squash and top with parsley and feta
*You will probably have leftovers of the filling, but it is yummy by itself as leftovers.



Recipe source: just barely adapted from wearenotmartha.com

Butternut Squash Pizza

With the abundance of pretty fall squashes available right now, I promised myself I would try and make at least a few dishes with them.  To be honest, I've never really made much with butternut squash (besides a soup I made last fall) or any of the other varieties in season. However, I decided to try and cook with them, whether the dishes turned out or not. The first dish I made was a butternut squash pizza. I have been using a super easy homemade pizza dough recipe I found on a blog called Oven Love, and I have used it several times now. You can throw it together in just a little more time than it takes to call your local pizza shop. We will order the occasional take out (we live in the boonies and the pizza places won't deliver to us..crazy!) but I've been making some pretty good homemade pizza if I do say so myself. It may not be the fanciest or even the most amazing pizza dough/crust I've ever had, but it's simple, it's tastes good, and I know the ingredients that are in it. I got a bit annoyed that my pizza stuck to the peel and messed up my almost perfect circle but I have since found that using parchment paper works wonders. I made 2 different pizzas on Monday (this butternut squash pizza is from a few weeks ago) and used parchment paper instead of cornmeal and flour and it was so easy to slide it onto the pizza stone. Plus, I didn't have to clean the peel!  Anyways, I was skeptical of this pizza at first, but after one bite it is definitely a keeper. I tweaked the original recipe a bit and spread roasted and smashed garlic onto the dough first, and also carmelized my onions in balsamic vinegar instead of roasting. But feel free to make your own revisions if you like. There are endless possibilties when it comes to homemade pizza.

Ingredients
1/2 white or yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 medium to large butternut squash-peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 head of garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Asiago or Parmesan cheese
homemade pizza dough-click here for recipe (you can use premade/storebought if you want, but trust me-homemade is so much better)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Combine squash with the rosemary, about 2 Tbsp of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper in a baking or roasting dish
3.Chop the top off the garlic head, place in a small square of aluminum foil, drizzle with a little olive oil, and close up tightly. Place on a seperate baking sheet or right on your oven rack.
3.Bake squash and garlic for about 20 mins or both the squash and the garlic are tender.

4. While squash and garlic are cooking, heat a pan with a little olive oil and add the onions.  Cook for about 5 mins and then add about a tbsp or so of balsamic vinegar. Continue cooking until the onions are nice and soft.
5. Once garlic is cool enough to touch, squeeze out all the cloves and smash up with a fork.
6.Roll out your pizza dough on your pizza peel (unfortunately, my pizza stuck to my peel since I didn't know to use parchment paper when I made this. Cornmeal is supposed to work, but it didn't do the trick for me.)
7. Spread the garlic onto the dough

8. Top with the sliced squash and onions and sprinkle with however much cheese you want.
9.Bake for about 30 mins or until crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted.



Recipe source: adapted from: Allrecipes.com

Squash Casserole

With about a month to go until the official start of Fall (Sept, 22nd) and the nice weather we have been having, I am already craving all kinds of fall foods.... soups, pies, chili,casseroles, pumpkin spice lattes, just to name a few. Although I am not a fan of cold weather, I do like the Fall. I'm ready for some Football parties so I can make lots of yummy appetizers and desserts!

I rarely buy or eat bacon, but I bought some on sale last week at the Fresh Market because I was craving some squash casserole. This recipe is my Grandma's (dad's side) and reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner. It's so good!  And I think you should definitely try it.

* The recipe below made a 9 inch pan. You can double it and bake in a larger pan for more people.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs of yellow squash (approx 4-5 small to medium squash), sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
3-4 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
cracker crumbs for topping

Directions
1.Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Add the sliced squash and the onion to a large pot and cover with water. Boil until squash is tender and then drain.
3. Once drained, put the squash in a medium to large bowl and add in the cheese, butter, sour cream and cracker crumbs.
4. Add mixture to a greased 9 inch square pan and top with a few small handfuls of cracker crumbs.
5. Bake for about 30 mins or until crackers start to brown.

*This also makes tasty leftovers :)



Recipe source: My awesome Grandma

Baked Pesto Squash

My husband won an iPad from his work a few weeks ago and I've been checking out all kinds of apps. I actually don't even own a smartphone so this has been kinda fun for me! Anyways, I downloaded the Wholefoods app for some good recipe ideas and I love it. You can customize it really easily and it has all kinds of healthy dishes. I did a search for squash since we had some we needed to use and found my inspiration for this. The original recipe used Parmesan cheese and had a tomato sauce with it, but I tweaked it a little and used Mozarella cheese and just did without the sauce since I didn't have any sundried tomatoes. I am a huge pesto lover so I really liked these! I can't wait to start growing our own squash in a few weeks!

Ingredients

1-2 medium yellow squash (can use zucchini as well)

1/2 cup of panko
1/2 cup of homemade or storebought basil pesto
handful of Mozarella cheese for topping
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1.Pre-heat oven to 425
2.Prepare a bowl with the pesto and a bowl with the panko (add salt and pepper if desired)
3.Cut squash into 1/2 inch slices
4.Dip squash slices into pesto then into panko

5.Place on baking sheet and top with shredded Mozarella
6.Bake for 20-30 mins or until cheese is melted

These can be served hot or at room temperature. 



Recipe source: adapted from Wholefoods