Stuffed Acorn Squash

Autumn is a wonderful time to eat in season. Your local farmers' market might be winding down, but if it's still in swing, there are sure to be piles of cute little acorn squash. You'll also start to see them piled high in your local grocery store around this time of year. Great, but what do you do with them? Well, now you know. Easy to prepare, wonderfully aromatic, and fun to serve and devour, this healthy recipe will warm your house and delight your tummy. Ingredients: 1 medium acorn squash 1 cup vegetable broth or water ½ cup uncooked quinoa 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped ½ medium onion, chopped 2 carrots, chopped ½ large bell pepper (preferably red), chopped 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans 1 cup fresh spinach ¼ cup raisins 2 ¼ teaspoons cumin ½ teaspoon salt

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. 2. Cut squash in half, remove pulp, place squash face down on a large baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes or until done. Squash should be tender all the way through. 3. In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, add the broth and quinoa, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cover. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes. 4. In a large skillet over medium heat, add garlic, onions, carrot and bell peppers. Water sauté for about 5 minutes until the carrots are tender, stirring occasionally. 5. Add garbanzo beans, raisins, spinach, cumin and salt to the mix and continue cooking for a few minutes. 6. Add the quinoa to the skillet, stir well and remove from heat. 7. Stuff each half of the squash with half of the quinoa stuffing mixture and serve. This recipe is adapted from Meat Out Mondays for October 15, 2012.

http://www.meatoutmondays.org/index.php