Stuffed Acorn Squash + Wild Rice Medley

If you've never had a stuffed acorn squash, you really should give it a try. They are just so good and surprisingly filling. I love them unstuffed too with simple seasonings, but this is a tasty and satisfying meal with a good nutritional profile. I'm a big eater and one of these filled me up. Not too hard to put together either. It does take three separate cooking sections but it comes together pretty smoothly, unless your like me...the burner on the rice went out without me knowing so I had to add an additional 45 min onto my cooking time. But no harm done...there were dishes to do and cleaning around the house to keep my mind busy and off the mishap. All in all it's fairly easy, the rice and squash cook themselves, so the vegetables are the only real work which isn't much. This is also one of those recipes that can be tailored to your preference of veggies or beans. To top it all off, you just gotta love eating out of an acorn squash...it's pretty fun!

Start by slicing your acorn squash and scraping out the seeds. The seeds scrape out very easily with a sharper edged spoon. Here you can either brush your acorn squash with a little olive oil or leave it out. I go either way as I don't find it makes too much of a difference, so it just depends on how I'm feeling if I want to add extra oil to the meal. Sprinkle with fresh or dried thyme leaves and mineral salt. You can even add a few fresh thyme sprigs inside each squash, just remove before eating. Cook until fork tender.

Cook your rice and set aside. Prepare your vegetables and add in the rice once done. 

Fill your acorn squashes and serve! 

Stuffed Acorn Squash + Wild Rice Medley

Ingredients

Acorn Squash

• 3 acorn squashes, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, divided
• sea salt

Wild Rice Medley

• 1 cup rice, dry (I used half black wild rice and half long grain brown rice)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1 large shallot or small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large handfuls greens (I used a 5 oz. combo package of baby kale, baby chard and baby spinach)
• 1 can cannellini beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

sriracha or hot sauce, to taste as garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In an oven proof sauce pan, fill half way with water and place on the bottom rack (this will give a little steam to your squash). Cut and seed your squash, place on baking sheet with cut side up. Season each squash with about 1/4 teaspoon thyme along with a few twists of the mineral salt grinder. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until tender...knife should easily pierce the flesh.

Cook your rice according to package. Wild rice will take about the same time as the squash to cook, about 40-45 min. (Quinoa or quinoa/rice combo would be great too and add even more protein per serving.)

Once the squash and rice are cooked, set aside to cool and begin with the vegetables.

In large wok or saute pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add shallots, garlic and bell peppers, saute for about three minutes. Add mushrooms, beans, one tablespoon thyme, red pepper flakes, a few twists of salt and pepper, cook for another three minutes. Add leafy greens, stir frequently until they are wilted (you may also want to use a cover in between stirring to help soften the greens). Combine rice and sauteed vegetables in the larger of the two pots. Taste for seasoning adding additional salt and pepper as needed.

Scoop mixture into each acorn squash half and serve with any additional seasonings. I like to top mine with some sriracha for that extra heat and flavor I love so much. So very good with this meal. Serves six, or three for the hearty eaters.

Store leftovers in an air tight container in fridge for up to a week.

Enjoy!

Saffron Potato Leek Soup with Fried Garlic & Almonds

This will have you smelling the finest aromas right from the get go. Its hearty and rustic with a side of something unusual. Fried garlic and almonds add a nice touch along with the hint of saffron. For the saffron, I buy mine from Trader Joe's for $5 or so, it contains a good amount. I hope you will have access to this price since it can be fairly pricey in the general stores, upwards of $15 to $20. It really pairs well with all the other ingredients leaving your house smelling wonderful. I also imagine it will taste just as good without it, so feel free to be flexible and attempt this without the saffron if need be. Either way, open the windows and let the neighbors get a wiff of this aromatic soup you have going. Potato soup never tasted so good! Recipe adapted from Food 52 Anya von Bremzen's Potato Soup with Fried Almonds. I changed up the recipe a little, mainly adding rice and leeks. I also increased the almonds for extra protein, they'll soften up a bit in the soup adding a nice light crunch too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Saffron Potato Leek Soup with Fried Garlic & Almonds

Ingredients

• 2 pounds organic yukon gold potatoes
• 2 small leeks, sliced and any dirt removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup blanched almonds (almond with skin is ok too)
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 5 cups vegetable broth, + more as needed
• 1/2 cup basmati or jasmine rice
• 1 pinch saffron, partially crushed
• mineral salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar or red/white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, minced

Cut potatoes into irregular chunks by inserting the tip of a small, sharp knife into a potato and twisting until a 1 1/2 chunk comes out. Repeat until the entire potato is cut up, than continue with the remaining potatoes, set aside. You can also just roughly chop the potatoes into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Peeling is optional.

Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium heat, add almonds and garlic, cooking, stirring frequently until golden, 3 - 4 minutes. Transfer the almonds and garlic to a bowl to cool slightly. Add leeks and a 2 tablespoons of water to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add potatoes, vegetable broth and rice, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 40 to 45 minutes.

In a food processor, place the garlic and almonds, pulse until desired texture. I left mine fairly course. Add all but 2 tablespoons to the soup. Season soup with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove a few tablespoons of soup from the pot and place in a small bowl, add saffron and let steep for 2 minutes, add to the soup. Add a little more water or broth if the soup seems to thick and continue to cook.

Once soup is ready, if you'd like it creamier, break up or mash some of the potatoes using a sturdy spoon. Add the vinegar to the reserved ground almond mixture and stir in the soup. Add the parsley and cook for a minute. Taste for seasonings, adding a little more salt and vinegar if necessary.

Serve with dense whole grain or artisan bread.

Notes: 

If using almonds with the skin, just know that the skins will fall off in the soup. For me this is not an issue (I like the added fiber) but if you're serving for company you may consider using blanched almonds.