Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash

brokenburner's Note:

From the October 2009 issue of More magazine. I used sugar-free pancake syrup in place of the honey, and dried parsley flakes... I didn't have any mint, so I skipped that, and I left out the almonds due to personal preference. I also very stupidly didn't see the "salt and pepper to taste" part, but anyway, the cumin flavor is very pronounced. I also thought that the amount of filling was a bit too much for such small squashes, but it's good eaten plain too.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• cooking spray
• 2 lbs acorn squash (2 @ 1 lb each)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ½ cup quinoa (uncooked)
• 1⁄3; cup natural almonds (raw)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion , diced
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄8; teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄3; cup dried apricot , chopped
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• salt & freshly ground black pepper , to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Brush the cut side of each squash with 1/2 teaspoon honey; place squash, cut side down, onto the baking sheet, and bake for 40 minutes, or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, put the quinoa and 1 c water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover; cook until all the water is absorbed, about 10 to 15 minutes.
3. In a dry medium-size skillet, toast the nuts over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, three to five minutes. Allow them to cool, then chop them.
4. Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and cook until is softened and beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds more. Stir in the cumin, cinnamon and ginger. Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the lemon juice.
5. Add the onion mixture to the cooked quinoa, stirring until well combined. Stir in the almonds, apricots, parsley and mint; season with salt and pepper. To serve, place a squash half on a serving plate then fill each piece of squash with one quarter of the quinoa mixture. Drizzle each with 1 teaspoon of honey, and serve.

Reviews

[Chef #963186]

OMG this might be the best thing I've ever made, and I'm definitely active in the kitchen. This is so satisfying and such a beautiful fall dish. I made the recipe as directed, with just a couple additions:

- Cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth instead of water
- Added dried cranberries along with the apricots
- Poured a splash of orange juice in the quinoa when adding the fruit and herbs

Also, don't skip the mint--it made me kind of nervous to use it, and I didn't add the entire 2T, but it made for such a unique and scrumptious flavor combo. My husband LOVED it, and he claimed to have never even heard of acorn squash before I bought it at the market to use in this recipe. I served it as a side with roasted Brussels sprouts and a pork loin, but it could also be a wonderful main dish. I plan to serve this again at Thanksgiving for the fam!

[vegascooker]

Definitely a weird flavor combination. It looked good for layering the flavors including toasting the nuts, etc. After reading the reviews I decided to go with the recipe exactly as listed & included the mint, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, apricots...but the flavors didn't seem to develop as a whole dish. Disappointed since I got excited after reading the other reviews. Needs some tweaking...maybe try omitting the above and replace with cranberries & chopped spinach...or olives and sun-dried tomatoes with some thyme and rosemary.

[H. Unger]

Delicious! My friend and I made this over the weekend, I am vegan so we subbed out agave nectar for the honey and added some mushrooms that we had sitting about and it was simply amazing.

This has to be my favorite quinoa recipe ever. A fab main dish as quinoa is a complete protein!