Eating my way to back to health.
Quinoa stuffed acorn squash
After a week of drowning in kleenex and misery a girl re-emerges with a strong desire to get back to her old self. I figured that if I couldn't fight that cold with muscles and moxy then perhaps the only thing I could do to defend myself was to eat healthy.
Ok there was that one night where we polished off a bag of Doritos. But people, we were sick, and we needed comfort of the kind that covers your fingers with orange cheesy powder.
In my defense, I started the following day with a fruit smoothie, which left me feeling fully redeemed for my previous night's indulgence.
A girl has to live.
But the point I'm trying to make here is an important one. And it goes something like this:
Mmm mm! That squash was good.
I felt like I just threw Autumn on a plate and ate it all up.
And Autumn? You sure are one tasty treat.
I'm not sure I even want to tell you that I've had a bag of red quinoa in my cupboard for over a year gathering dust. I even dutifully packed it up when we moved here from Paris. You'd think that what with a new city and a new cupboard that perhaps the quinoa would get noticed. Well it took 8 months, but it finally did.
If there is any thing that might knock this cold on its ass it's got to be this stuffed squash. Even if it hadn't tasted good, which it did, it just looked so darn pretty I started feeling healthy before I even sat down to eat it.
Now that is some kind of moxy.
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Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash
The squash
I cut the acorn squash in half and scooped out the seeds. I brushed lightly with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper, then roasted for about 40 minutes at 200c (that's 392F, but I guess just round up to 400F)
The quinoa
I cooked the red quinoa as per the package directions. In a frying pan I sauteed some onion and finely sliced carrots in olive oil. I added some chopped garlic, a bit of ground allspice and pimenton de la vera, (a spice combo used in the Moro cookbook). Then I added the quinoa to the pan and tossed it all together and topped with fresh coriander and some crumbled feta. Finally, I put this into the roasted squash and served it.
Note:
Goat cheese would also be good instead of the feta.
Labels: grains, london, main dish, vegetables, vegetarian
posted by Michèle at 9:15 AM
11 Comments:
looks yummy, glad you're feeling better :)
This looks great!
There is a mostly vegetarian restaurant in Topanga, Calif. that I love, called The Inn of the Seventh Ray, that has the best food, and they make something very similar sounding and looking to this. It was always one of my favorites there.
Perhaps that was a bit too much information?!
Anyway...
Love this babe!
Yay on feeling a bit better; if anything would make one feel better to face the world it would have be something this hearty and satisfying.
Glad you're feeling better! (and yes, Doritos are necessary sometimes).
It may have taken a while, but I think you did that quinoa proud. It's gorgeous.
K&S, well it's taken awhile, but we are definitely on the road to recovery.
Alisa, no such thing as TMI unless it involves intimate moments of course. Even then, sometimes if it's interesting enough, the TMI doesn't matter, right? ;)
Tara, exactly! I think the squash might have done the trick. I have since gone out and bought a few more--got to get my fix all in the name of good health.
Tea, well I'm glad we agree that Doritos might not help the body but they can help the spirit.
And you know you were that little voice in my head these last few weeks that kept telling me to eat that quinoa--so I thank you for that!
Hope you feel better! Sounds delicious, did you reheat it after you filled it at all?
Christine, I feel a million times better, thank you! I didn't have to reheat any of it--I made the quinoa when the squash had about 10 or 15 minutes left to cook.. If the squash were done first you could just keep it in the warm oven while you make the quinoa.
Cooking, baking, and blogging while sick is admirable.
Kevin, thank you! But I have to admit, I wasn't so admirable in the first few days of the cold but when it lasts as long as this one did you start to get pretty restless!
again you have inspired me michele. i have a dusty box of quinoa i had completely forgotten about till now. my neighbor has squash aplenty in her garden. i love to stuff the blossoms. we have a great arrangement. she loves to garden and i love to cook! so glad we've survived that dreadful bug! rene'
mmm. looks delish! with fall coming i'll need all the squash recipes i can get. I can never get enough acorn squash especially. last night i had ginger sesame squash. yum!
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