I Stuffed a Squash!

Fall in Nova Scotia is such a great time.  It seems to go by a little too quickly, but if you can stop yourself for a second to look around and see the colors...it's truly something wonderful.  Obviously, my favorite part of fall is the color of the trees - but really, it's the fall colors in general.  It's when the farmer's markets and road-side truck stands truly come to life!  Pumpkins, gourds, apples, corn, squash, broccoli.... all fresh, all in season, all affordable and delicious.

Eating what is in season is good for us on so many levels, that I'm making a point to tackle a few new recipes this year.  Fist on the menu:  Squash.

Squash has got to be one of the coolest vegetables.  Having said this, it also seemed like the scariest vegetable to cook (to me anyway).  It's so big.  What do I do with it?  To start, I worked with what I hear is the easiest of all...Spaghetti Squash (which until recently, I didn't know it was actually called that).  This was so good and so easy - I can't wait to try it again only switching up the ingredients a bit.  Or maybe even simplifying it by just mixing margarine and some spices with the squash filling.

My two silly "flops" during this cooking challenge - the seeds.  I did not remove all of the seeds (stupid, I know) so that became a bit of a pain in the butt when eating it.  In the future, I will probably cook a squash when I am not feeling so hungry and anxious...to give it the proper amount of attention.  My other flop - I didn't really appreciate how soft the squash would actually get.  When I was ready to cut it open, I rammed the knife in and basically hacked it in two...Really, I could have nicely sliced it in two so that we both had the same sized half of a squash - and pieces that didn't look mangled!

Interested in Trying it?

To Start...
Pierce the Spaghetti Squash all over (I got Jon to do this) and put it in the microwave on high for 10 minutes.  Make sure to pierce it well!

Preheat oven to 350.
 
While the Squash be a Microwavin'...
- Saute:  1/2 diced onion, 1/2 cup of a diced red pepper, 2 garlic cloves and olive oil.
- Add 5 oz of ground pork (or chicken or turkey).  Saute until cooked.

Once Squash is cooked...
- Cut it in half and scoop out the middle (I left some squash in to make the eating process fun).
- REMOVE seeds :)
- Add the squash pulp in the pan with the rest of the ingredients.  Add 1/4 tsp of oregano, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper.

- Spoon this mixture evenly into the squash shells.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

*If a person could have cheese, this would be a fabulous time to use it but alas, this meal is cheese-less.  Rice Cheese still doesn't cut it for me...

Serve!  Before this lovely season of ours is finished, I will tackle another squash, maybe acorn?  I heart fall.