Acorn Stuffed Squash with Black Rice, Cranberries & Gardein

To me, fall is about enjoying pumpkins, all kinds of squash, hot tea and various other warm comfort foods throughout the season. In the grocery store each year around this time, you start to see abundant amounts of squash appear- butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash- the list goes on! These are all very fun to cook with, which is why I decided to try out a new recipe.

On a recent trip to Costco in Tallahassee, we sampled some black rice & loved it so much we bought a large bag of it. That is the main ingredient you "stuff" the acorn squash with in this recipe.

I had also recently purchased a bag of dried cranberries, because at work this month, we are promoting Cranberries in our cafe as the "Superfood of the Month"- Cranberries are a great addition to several different fall recipes, and are very healthy, too- they contain the flavonoid proanthocyanidin (PAC) and other polyphenols that have potential health benefits. It has been found that the unique polyphenols found in cranberries make it difficult for bacteria to "stick", helping to prevent some illnesses.

One cup of fresh, chopped cranberries has 5.1 grams of fiber, 94 mg of potassium and over 20% of the daily value for vitamin C.

I also felt that I needed some extra protein in this dish, so I incorporated some gardein, which is a veggie protein (meat analogue).

Here's my recipe:


Acorn Stuffed Squash w/ Black Rice, Cranberries & Gardein

Serves 2
 
Ingredients:

• 1 acorn squash
• 1/2 cup black rice
• 1/4 cup cranberries
• 3 Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders
• Herbs/spices of choice

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F
• Cook 1/2 cup black rice, following package directions
• Cut acorn squash in half, and place face down on pan (I recommend spraying the pan first with cooking spray, and maybe adding a little water)
• Bake acorn squash for 45 minutes
• Prepare Gardein per directions- I baked mine in a toaster oven at 360 degrees F for 15 minutes
• Once acorn squash is cooked, spoon out the seeds and some of the squash inside to make a nice bowl shape
• Mix black rice, cranberries, gardein and spices together, and spoon into each squash half
  
  

 





Nutrition Information for 1 serving:

 

Calories: 226

Fat: 5 g

Carbohydrate: 39g

Fiber: 4 g

Protein: 11 g