Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

• 1 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 2 ½ cups water
• ¾ cup brown rice
• 1/8 cup onion diced
• 1 tblspn butter
• ¼ cup of shredded carrots
• ¼ cup fresh basil (whole leaves)
• 1 apple, cored, peeled and diced
• ¼ cup of cranberries
• 1 link of Italian chicken sausage cooked and diced

Instructions:

Place squash open side down in a baking dish with 1 cup of the water. Bake for 40 minutes at 350°F. Let cool about 5 minutes.

 

While waiting for the squash to cook. Bring remaining 1 ½ cups of water to boil. Stir in rice, onion, butter, and carrots; reduce heat, simmer covered until water is absorbed and rice is tender (about 40 minutes). In separate bowl, combine rice mixture with apple, basil, cranberries and sausage. When the squash is cool enough to handle, spoon rice mixture into cavities. Place squash halves, stuffed side up, back in baking dish,and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes.

 

To serve: Cut each half in half and sprinkle with cinnamon to taste if you so choose

Note:

• If you are not counting calories: Before placing stuffed halves back into oven to bake, line the exposed squash with butter and cinnamon for added flavor.
• This can easily be made vegitarian by leaving out the chicken sausage or replacing it with tofu.

Spinach & Brie Quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 Tart Pastry (see Davis's Tart Pastry post)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ¼ cup sliced onion
• 1/8 tspn black pepper
• ¼ tspn salt
• dash ground ginger
• dash ground cloves
• 6-7 slices cooked turkey bacon (optional)
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach
• 6 oz Brie (thinly wedged and roughly de-rind)
• 1 roma tomato sliced

Instructions:
Prepare and roll out Pastry for Single Crust pie. Line a 9" pastry plate with pastry, and trim or crimp edge as desired. Bake in a 450° F oven for 8 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

In a medium bowl stir together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, ginger, and cloves. Place spinach evenly in bottom of prepared pie crust and sprinkle the onion over it. Cover spinach and onion mixture with whole sliced bacon creating a "layer" effect. Pour in all but 1/3 cup of the egg mixture. Place Brie wedges in circular pattern on top. Cover the edge of crust with foil (best if you cut a circle out of a square of foil) to prevent over browning the edges. Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes.

Carefully spoon remaining egg mixture over top of the melting Brie, being careful not to overflow the crust. Then place tomato slices in a circle along the outer edge of the quiche. Continue Baking at 325°F for an additional 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

• This layering method prevents the lighter ingredients (spinach and onion) from floating to the top and becoming crispy and burnt.
• Waiting to add the tomatoes keeps them from over cooking while adding a decorative touch to the quiche.
• You can substitute real bacon, or remove the bacon all together.

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces vegetable or chicken broth
• ½ cup shredded carrot
• ¼ cup chopped red onion
• 1 teaspn olive oil
• ¾ cup bulgar
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 2 large sweet green bell peppers, halved and seeded
• ¾ cup shredded mozzarella
• ½ cup water
• 1/8 cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

Sautee carrot and onion in a hot saucepan with olive oil until onions are lightly browned. Add broth and bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer covered for 5 minutes. Stir in the bulgar and cranberries, and remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes, drain off excess liquid. Stir cheese into bulgar mixture and spoon evenly into pepper halves. Place pepper halves in skillet (stuffed side up!). Add the ½ cup water to bottom of skillet and bring to boiling. Once boiling, reduce heat, simmer covered for 5 to 10 minutes or until peppers are tender but still crisp.

To serve: Sprinkle with an additional bit of mozzarella and then the pecans

Notes:

• Green bell peppers can be substituted for color of choice.
• You can tell a bell pepper is sweet if it has 4 lobes, the 3 lobed ones are spicier.
• Cranberries can also be substituted for dried cherries or raisins.
• Pecans can be substituted for sliced almonds.

Suggestions:
With Stuffed Peppers as a main dish, the Mediterranean Quinoa Salad makes an excellent complement as a side dish. To make a complete meal, serve fresh pita and hummus as an appetizer!