Follow my adventures in finding out how my local CSA produce was grown, growing my own produce, and embracing my inner “homemaker goddess” in the Good Eats series.
Can you feel it?
Fall is coming.
Take a look at this bounty from the CSA and tell me you don’t think of Fall.
This week at the CSA we receive Good Natured Family Farms Skim Milk, 2 Good Natured Family Farms All-Beef Hot Dogs, Acorn Squash, Jonagold Apples and Tomatoes.
I love Fall. I love the local apples (including Honey Crisp) and the fall produce.
And I love squash – Acorn, Butternut, and Spaghetti.
And I love that it is CHEAP right now – at most stores you’ll find squash around the $.35 to $.50 a pound price.
Don’t they look so pretty in the store. Their pretty orange, green, and yellow colors all placed together in barrels.
And if you were like me, you used to dream of what kind of centerpiece you would make out of them and some corn husks. (Go on, admit it.)
It wasn’t until I became “frugal” that I really started exploring recipe possibilities with squash outside of baking acorn squash with brown sugar. So, I though I would share with you a “frugal” recipes that spins squash in a different way.
Moroccan-Style Stuffed Squash (Originally from Martha Stewart Living)
Ingredients
2 medium acorn squashes, halved and seeded
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound ground chuck or sweet Italian sausage (or 50/50% mix)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons kosher salt (you are using kosher salt, right?)
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup bulgur wheat (it’s in the weird food aisle)
2 cups of water
1 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons nuts (pine nuts, almonds, pecans)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash, cut sides down, in a 9×13 dish and bake until tender. About 35 minutes. Also, at this time presoak your bulgur according to package instructions.
2. Heat oil in 4-quart pot with a tight fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add meat, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook until browned. Transfer meat to a bowl with a slotted spoon, reserving juices in the pot.
3. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pre-soaked bulgur and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and then add meat, raisins, parsley, and nuts.
4. Scrape out baked squash, forming 1/4 inch thick bowls, and fold flesh into bulgur mixture. Divide mixture among the squash halves and return to the oven. Bake until warmed and browned, about 15 minutes.
WARNING – there will be a “kid-gack” factor. At least at my table. 🙂
What about you? What do you like to do with squash? Let me know in the comments.