Acorn Squash Bowls

Growing up, my parents always maintained an enormous garden for our family of four,two of those whom wouldn’t eat a thing of it. Funny how your tastes change as you get older and everything that your parents ate when you were young seemed disgusting, and now they’re just dandy.

Confession: I got the idea for this, they had a screaming sale on squash at the store this week, and I had a flashback of my mother making acorn squash for herself when I was little. She used just brown sugar and butter, and looked and smelled horribly unappetizing for someone under three feet tall. Funny how things change when you get older and your taste-buds become more refined! Now some of my favorite things are foods I refused as a child.

Besides…who uses a microwave anyways, the sole purpose mine provides in my house is to boil water… bam!

Tip: On a time crunch you can cook a swash in the microwave in about 7 minutes. Just cut them in half and place them on a safe plate and follow the directions the same. This is obviously a fraction of the oven baked time, but you will get a much different consistency of the flesh with how you cook it. If you want it very soft use the microwave. I prefer the oven because it still has a more solid consistency but soft enough you can cut it with a spoon.

Acorn Squash Bowls

1 Squash (will feed 2)

2 Tb of brown sugar

2Tb of butter (split)

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup diced onion

1/2 cup of cooked rice

handful of mozzarella

s/p

1 tsp crushed red pepper

parlsey to top

1. In a saute pan, add your sliced mushrooms and diced onions with a tbsp of butter and add s/p to taste. Let this cook on med-low for about 15 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3. Slice the squash in half and scoop out ‘the guts’ and arrange in a pan.

4. Split the butter and put it in the bowls of the squash along with a tbsp of brown sugar in each bowl.

5. Take your rice (I used whole-grain) and mix it with your sauted onion/mushroom mix along with the s/p and crushed red pepper.

6. Use some freedom here! Anything else you need to get rid of…throw it in (ground meats, more veggies, ! I added sliced cherry tomatoes.

7.Fill the pan with 1/2 inch of water. This will prevent the rind from burning and the flesh from overcooking.

8. Cook for about an hour, if you notice if getting too dark just pull down the temperature a bit. Add your mozzarella about 1 minute before you pull them out of the oven to cool.

9. I found it easier to serve these in bowl so they don’t slide around too much, kind of like a grapefruit.