There is nothing that exudes that feeling of Fall quite like a steaming hot, Stuffed Acorn Squash. This recipe was created with what I had on hand, in an attempt to use up the produce in my fridge. I couldn’t be happier with the final result. Mushrooms, lentils, rice, greens, onions, nuts, apple… are just a few of the goodies in this dish.

I have made a variation of this recipe numerous times over the years. I first started making it when our kids were babies, using butter and cheese. Bleck! Dairy has been replaced with a plethora of whole foods and spices that maximize flavour. It seems to have just the right amount of sweet and savoury combined. Are you new to this way of eating and aren’t sure what is so wrong with dairy? Click here to read my blog post on the topic. It includes a video of Dr. Neal Barnard’s presentation on the harms of cheese.

As I prepared to work on this stuffed squash recipe, I couldn’t, for the life of me, find the old recipe card I had written it out on some odd 20 years ago. (More proof that a blog is the way to go for keeping track of recipes rather than digging through an out of date recipe box!) So, I just went from memory and did some experimenting with new flavours.

Isn’t cooking a squash complicated?

I used to feel a bit overwhelmed by the daunting task of cooking a squash. They seem so hard and ‘uncookable’, but truly they aren’t. You just need to, very carefully, with a large, sharp knife, cut them in half and lay them in a large casserole dish. You can bake them either face up or face down in about a 1/4″ of water. For this Mushroom and Lentil Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe, I baked them face down to keep them very moist, as they finish cooking face up, once the stuffing is placed inside.

The great thing about this recipe, is that it can be prepared partially or fully in advance. You can precook the brown rice and squash when you have the time, then store them in the fridge until you are ready to make the stuffing. Either way, this fancy, fun to eat dish, is really super simple. Mushroom and Lentil Stuffed Acorn Squash is impressive enough to be served at a ‘dinner party’, (Wait, are we still doing that with Covid?) or as an entire weekday night meal. With its large variety of ingredients, and the satiating quality of this recipe, you may find that no other dish is needed! This recipe can also be a perfect side dish for a celebration like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Do you get tired of following recipes to a tee?

If you are missing an ingredient, you can substitute for what you do have. So, for instance, you don’t have spinach? Use kale or swiss chard. Someone ate your last pepper? Use broccoli or brussel sprouts. No rice? Use quinoa! If you need to leave something out, go for it. Just don’t leave out the rice (quinoa), mushrooms or lentils if you can help it. They kinda make the dish!

Use what you have in your fridge! Did you know that 40% of the food North Americans purchase goes to waste? Ugh. It’s an important issue and I am working to be better at being more mindful of produce waste…

Some easy ways to NOT waste food:

Eat more food! I’m not kidding. If it’s a whole food, go for it! Filling up on fiber filled plant foods keeps you from craving sweets and treats.
Freeze what is beginning look like it might go bad in your fridge.
Save vegetable pieces that you don’t want to eat, but still are good, to make soup stock with. (Celery stalks that are too old, vegetable stalks, peelings, herb stalks, etc.) Freeze them and when you have time, boil the veggies in water and spices for a couple of hours until you have your own free soup stock you can freeze and use later.
Use ‘second’ fruits and veggies in your smoothies. Who cares if they look kinda rough when they are all blended together!
Line your crisper with a tea towel to help keep produce fresh.
Clean up your produce crisper every few days to see what is starting to turn. Trim the outside layers or discard it before it’s roommate starts to go bad too. (I certainly need to work on this. Sometimes I wait too long and what I find in my crisper is most distasteful.)
Plan your meals around what you have, not what you need to go purchase.
Try not to get sucked into the ‘Costco’ size unless you have a large family or a specific plan for that food. I find when I buy in bulk without a plan, produce just goes to waste before we can eat it all.
Here’s another cool thing you can do with your food waste. Compost it! Either get a composter, (sometimes free through the city) or if you’re not set up for that, where we live we can actually pay Recycle Russ to come pick it up. Once a month, for $20 he picks up our compost bin and brings us a new clean bin! He shows up no matter what the weather, in his green convertible and bare feet. I kid you not.

Mushroom Lentil Stuffed Acorn Squash
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Serves: 6+ Prep Time: 30 minutes to chop and cook stuffing Cooking Time: 60 minutes to bake 60 minutes to bake

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

3 acorn squash

2 cups mushrooms, diced

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

1 can lentils, drained

1 small apple, diced

1 slice of whole grain bread, diced (omit if gluten free, or sub gluten free bread)

1 medium onion, diced

1 small pepper (any color), diced

1 cup spinach, finely chopped

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

3 cloves garlic, diced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped or 2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon of olive oil (optional), you can use water

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 1/2 tablespoon Braggs Aminos (or soy sauce)

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary chopped, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon onion powder (plus extra for seasoning squash)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (plus extra for seasoning squash)

1/4 teaspoon salt (plus extra for seasoning squash)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash squash and very carefully, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the insides of the squash and place clean seeds in a shallow baking dish. Massage in a splash of olive oil (if you like) and salt and pepper and bake alongside the squash, stirring halfway through. You can also discard the seeds if you prefer.

Score the inside of the squash with an X and rub on a bit of olive oil (if you like). Sprinkle with salt, pepper and onion powder. Place squash face down in a large glass casserole dish. Add about 1/4" of water to the bottom of the pan. Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until the squash is tender enough to eat.

While the squash is cooking prepare the rice.

Wash and chop the remaining vegetables and bread.

In a large frying pan, heat the onions until translucent using a tiny amount of water or oil to prevent them from sticking to the pan.

Add garlic, mushrooms, pepper, lentils, soy sauce, parsley and spices and stir-fry for about 7 minutes until vegetables are cooked.

Next, mix the remainder of the ingredients with the exception of the nutritional yeast, into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes.

Once the acorn squash has finished baking, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Next, flip the squash upright in the pan and fill with the stuffing. Sprinkle the nutritional yeast on top.

Reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and place the stuffed squash back into the oven for 10 minutes.

Serve piping hot, each person receiving a squash half. (Or cut in half if you are serving as a side.) To eat, scoop out the interior, leaving the peel.

Enjoy!

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