Stuffed Acorn Squash

This evenings meal is a compilation of some random things found in the fridge, on the counter, my moms garden and the pantry.

I had a lovely acorn squash sitting on the counter that I knew I wanted to use somehow. Not much for vegetables in the fridge but I knew I wanted to use up some kale from my moms garden this evening. There was also about a cup of cooked rice from last night hanging around. A peek in the pantry produced a can of tomato bisque and chick peas. Since Jason has been eating mostly gluten free and vegetarian as of late, I scrounged around in the freezer and found some ground turkey to add to my concoction. So let's recap....

1 acorn squash, cut in half (insides scooped out), baked for approx 30 minutes at 450F
ground turkey
1 can tomato bisque soup
half a can of chickpeas
1 cup cooked rice
kale, ripped into small pieces

While the squash is roasting in the oven, brown the turkey on the stove top. Add soup, chickpeas, rice and kale. Cover and let simmer until your squash is ready - the flesh should be nice and soft. Scoop some of the turkey mixture into the squash and voila! Be sure to nibble away at the sides of your squash bowl as you eat the turkey-tomato filling.

MY REVIEW: It doesn't look like much but eating half of an acorn squash is FILLING. Not to mention the insides. This is my comfort food. Warm and simple and the house still smells like there's a good cook in the kitchen! I am very happy with this recipe - especially being gluten-free and lactose free. You don't need to dirty a whole bunch of dishes for this one and there's not any chopping involved... well except for the squash I guess but that's easy. 

JASON'S REVIEW: Jason is shaving his legs right now (it's a cycling thing) but he really enjoyed this! Once he finished round 1, including the acorn-squash-bowl, he went back for seconds. This is how I know he enjoyed it. He said he's lucky to have someone that cares about his antioxidants.

Happy Thanksgiving

What a busy long weekend! A wedding on Saturday night, last night a wonderful gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner prepared by my mom and this evening Jason and I cooked a huge chicken for his family. Jason sharpened his carving knife in preparation:

 I decorated my red table kitchen:

I lucked out in the beautiful flower department! Jason brought me the orange plant on the left yesterday and the bouquet on the right came from his mom today:

 My mom made these colorful little chocolate autumn leaves to put on my table:

This picture is for everyone who doesn't understand what Jason and I do without cable television. Note the 2 chairs:

Check out the huge bird! Jason made his special rub... you'll have to ask him for the recipe. All I know is there's lots of oregano and garlic and it's delicious:

Now as for new recipes, I tried two and both were a success! First off, I found a great recipe for vegetarian gravy that I could easily adapt into a gluten-free/vegetarian gravy. Sadly, I cannot find the original source so don't give me credit for it! Here it is:

Easy Vegetarian Gravy
3 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons of finely chopped onions (I left this out for this batch, but will toss it in next time)
2 minced garlic cloves
3 tablespoons flour (gluten-free blend from planet organic)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (gluten-free)
1 cup water
salt and pepper

1 Put margarine in a pot and saute the onions and garlic over med-high heat.
2 Reduce heat back to medium after onions and garlic have become golden brown.
3 Make a roux by gradually adding the flour, while continuously stirring to avoid lumps.
4 Still stirring, add soy sauce and water to the mixture.
5 Add salt and pepper to taste.
6 Once the gravy has reached desired thickness, turn off the stove and you are done!

MY REVIEW: I loved this gravy! The one change I would absolutely make next time would be omitting the salt. Soy sauce has enough salt on its own. Other than that, this was fantastic. I served it to 2 vegetarians this weekend and both seemed to enjoy it. 

This next recipe was suggested to me by a friend and her raving reviews gave me the confidence to try it on this special occasion. Usually I'll try something on Jason first but I just went for it with this one and it turned out wonderfully. It's from the Best of Bridge cookbook but I found it on this blog. I forgot to take a picture of it when I served it with the sour cream and nutmeg so here's a picture of the leftovers!:

 Champagne Squash Soup
4lbs squash acorn or butternut (I used 2 acorn)
2 medium onions diced (I used 3 small white onions)
2 TBSP butter
1/4 cup of Champagne (I subbed white wine in here)
4-5 cups chicken broth
2 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup sour cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 350, line a cookie sheet with foil.
Quarter squash, cut out seeds, place skin side up & bake 1- 1 1/2 hours until squash is tender.
Cool. Scoop out pulp & puree.
Saute onions in 2 TBSP butter. Add champagne. Cook until liquid is absorbed, and onions are golden brown stirring often.
Puree onions in food processor with a little of the squash puree.
In large pot, combine onions, squash & broth. Cover & simmer stirring occasionally.
Whisk in 2 TBSP butter.
Season with nutmeg, salt & pepper.
Garnish with sour cream, using knife to swirl through soup.

MY REVIEW: Acorn squash has such a great flavor and it really shines in this soup. Since our blender is no longer functioning, we purchased a hand blender and it made this soup so easy. It was silky smooth!

JASON'S REVIEW: The soup was delicious. It tasted like golden acorn squashes bouncing off my taste-buds with just the right amount of spice.