STUFFED ACORN SQUASH

I try really hard to eat local and seasonal foods. Seasonal food usually tastes better than out of season produce and you're also helping the environment by not eating foods that have traveled halfway across the country or world. 

For me, the hardest time to eat seasonally is during the Winter months. I mean how many root vegetables can you eat? Tonight, I tried to be a little creative and experimented with Acorn Squash. Acorn Squash is high in vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. It also makes a hearty and healthy winter meal.

Below are the ingredients for my wild rice and sage stuffed acorn squash.

Ingredients (2 servings)

1 cup of wild rice

1 butternut squash
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
8-10 sprigs of fresh sage
salt/pepper
olive oil

Directions

Start by slicing the acorn squash in half. To make this easier slice a small piece off the bottom of the squash so it sits evenly. Scoop out the seeds of the squash and place the two halves on a baking sheet. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the squash halves with salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil. Bake for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes based on the size of the squash.

For the rice mixture begin by boiling 1 cup of wild rice with a little olive oil so it doesn't stick together. While the rice is boiling lightly toast a 1/4 cup of pine nuts in a dry pan. Pine nuts burn very easily so watch them closely and flip often. It will only take 1 or 2 minutes to toast.

Set the nuts aside and add two teaspoons of olive oil to the pan. Heat the oil then add the fresh sage. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes until the sage is crisp. Save the leftover oil.

When the rice is tender (30/35 minutes) mix the leftover sage oil with the rice, toasted pine nuts and fried sage. I chopped my fried sage into little pieces but you could leave them whole if you prefer.

Stuff the acorn squash with the sage rice mixture.