Recipe: DINNER IN A SQUASH. A high-protien, good carb meal.
On a whim I bought an lovely green squash one day (I thought it was acorn. I was WAY off.) But it tasted like…well, like nothing. So I devised a recipe to spice it up. I took the idea of my mom’s “dinner in a pumpkin” recipe, nixed the rice, and then just threw stuff together. It turned out really really yummy. Now I make it all the time. And it’s what I’m making my brother & sister-in-law for dinner on my night to cook.
Dinner in a Squash
1 Medium Buttercup or Acorn Squash
1/2 - 1 med onion, chopped
1 1/2 cloves garlic, chopped, minced, spooned out of one of those jars…whatever
1 cup chopped vegetable of your choice.
- Red peppers, edamame, frozen corn, frz green beans, pea pods … something sweetish to counteract the salty of the squash.
1/2 lb ground turkey meat
2 tsp of dried sage
2 tsp of dried oregano
Leftover curry or tika masala (SECRET INGREDIENT)
- this is probably not necessary, I’m sure a tomato or 2 would work, but it certainly added a nice kick of sauciness and spices. I had made it with leftovers before, but as I hadn’t gone out for Indian for way too long I just bought a jar of Bombay Curry simmer sauce just so I could use a 1/2 cup to make this. Whatever, it’s always nice to have around anyway.
1. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then place in a baking dish, cut side down, with about 1” of water and bake at 350 for 30 mins until tender (those are the directions on the little grocery store sticker. I find it takes a bit longer than 30 mins. Usually around 45.) YOU MUST PREBAKE YOUR SQUASH. If after 30 mins you can’t stick a fork all the way through - cook it some more until you can. I promise you it’s necessary.
1. a. Once the squash is prebaked, pour out the liquid and flip it over cut side up. Cover with tinfoil if the stuffing isn’t ready.
2. On the stove top saute the onions in a bit of olive oil. Once they get going, add the garlic. For a stronger garlic flavor, wait longer to add it (or add more). For weaker, put it in right away with the onions. Once the onions are translucent (I like them practically mushy, so translucent just means they’re not cooked but adente) add the vegetable of your choice. Season with some salt and greek seasoning (if you don’t have greek seasoning, get it. I put it in EVERYTHING. But plain pepper works too)
2. Add the meat and stir. Once the meat is about 3/4ths of the way cooked, add the sage and oregano. Since this is ground turkey you can add a bit more salt too.
3. Once the meat is fully cooked add the tika masala, curry, or whatever Indian or Thai saucy leftovers you have. If it’s just a 1/4 cup, that’s fine. If it’s a full 2 cups, that’s fine too. This is for taste and a bit of moisture for the meat. Since I had a full jar to work with last time, I put in about 2 cups. It was pretty fantastic.
4. Scoop the meat mixture into the handy bowl-like reservoir in the squash.
—Acorns will hold a lot, but buttercups won’t. Buttercup tastes sweeter (better) but you end up with a lot higher squash-to-meat ratio. If you end up with extra stuffing, you might want to save it instead of eating it while the squash bowls bake again. But if you can actually keep from chowing it down while you wait—you are a far more disciplined cook than I.
Bake for 15 mins at 375.
5. If you didn’t listen to me about the prebaking and your squash still needs a bit of time to cook through, cover it all with tinfoil so your meat doesn’t dry out, and cook for 30-45 mins instead of 15. If that still doesn’t work, (I think I ended up with a slightly old/dried out squash one time) you can throw your portion in the microwave for 5-8 mins to cook the squash through. I don’t recommend prebaking in the microwave, however, as it tends to cook well in random places and leave other places hard as a rock. BEWARE.
6. EAT IT. But don’t eat the skin. You can, I suppose, but it’s kind of weird.
RECAP:
1. PreBake your squash
2. Saute up the meat and veg with some secret sauce.
3. Scoop the stuffing into the squash.
4. Bake again to solidify the whole thing.
5. Eat it. Yum.
