I’d been looking for a creative way to eat my first acorn squash, and boy, did I hit the jackpot. I made this around the holidays so I stuck to the festive theme.
The flavors played off each other so nicely; the cranberries gave it a bitter kick, while the almonds sweetened it up a little. The quinoa and acorn squash worked together to make a wonderful base for these flavors. But there’s only so much flavor you can get from reading this, so go make it yourself! You won’t regret it 😉
Per usual, I didn’t measure out my ingredients. I much prefer to wing it and flavor it as I go. So get creative with measurements and work towards your favorite taste.
Original Recipe
Gluten Free/Dairy Free/Vegetarian
Servings: 2 (large)
Ingredients:
- Acorn squash
- Red quinoa
- Red onion
- Red pepper
- Garlic
- Cranberries
- Almonds
- Honey
- Salt & Pepper
- Olive oil
- Ground thyme
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Trim the acorn squash in half, length-ways, and scoop out the seeds.
- Cover each side in olive oil, salt and pepper; then place on a baking sheet.
- Roast squash until tender, about 30-45 minutes.
- If you’re a little more impatient, you can kick the oven up to 450 and it should take 25-35 minutes
- While waiting for the squash to roast, cook the quinoa as directed on the package.
- Just boil some water, cover it, simmer, and wait for that goodness!
- Once the quinoa is on, grab a large saucepan and saute the red onion, red pepper, and garlic in olive oil and salt. When they’re almost done, add the cranberries in; this softens them up without cooking them long enough to pop.
- Coat the almonds in honey and place on a baking sheet. Pop in the oven with your acorn squash for the last 10ish minutes, until they start to caramelize and brown.
- Flip the almonds halfway through and remove from baking sheet immediately upon taking it out. I didn’t do this and my almonds hardened and got stuck.
- When quinoa, veggies, and almonds are done, combine them all into the large saucepan. Add salt, pepper, and ground thyme to taste.
- Take the acorn squash out the oven and scrape the insides with a fork, loosening it up.
- Put your stuffing into the squash, drizzle with a little extra honey, and ENJOY!
