Crispy Kale & Cabbage Stuffed Acorn Squash

Acorn squash is beautifully festive and very versatile. This version is stuffed with fiber and protein rich whole foods, but slice or chop the little gourds and you can steam, boil, and roast for a delicious side dish or soup. Remember - the skin on almost all squash is edible and full of nutrients! However, I will mention that the skin is pretty hard and tough in texture, so you may choose to just eat the "meat" of the squash with all the yummy filling instead.

Enjoy your holiday and if you decide to bring this dish to your feast, let me know how it turns out :)

Servings: 5 - 6 (makes 12-14 acorn bowls)

Total Time: 1 hour 

• 6-7 Acorn Squash (cut in half width wise) 
• 1 bunch of Red Kale - chopped
• 1 cup Red Cabbage - chopped
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 can Garbanzo beans (if canned - low sodium)
• 1/3 cup yellow onion - chopped
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• 1 sprig Parsley
• 1 sprig Rosemary
• 1/4 cup pistachios - chopped
• 1 cup purified water
• 1 cup low sodium veggie broth or stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• paprika (seasoning)
• sea salt (seasoning)

Lemon Tahini Dressing:

• 1/2 Lemon
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt (to taste)
• cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 1 garlic clove (minced)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut each squash in half, width-wise
3. Drizzle each squash with olive oil & sea salt and bake for on a large cookie sheet for 45-50 minutes
4. Next, rinse & drain garbanzo beans, drizzle with oil, salt, and paprika and put in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until crispy and crunchy
5. In a medium saucepan, add water, broth and quinoa, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until quinoa is fluffy
6. Chop kale, cabbage, garlic, onions, pistachios
7. Sauté garlic & onions until brown, add kale and cabbage and cook until wilted and tender. Season with salt & pepper
8. Finally, with 10-15 minutes left on the oven timer, add chopped pistachios to a cookie sheet and place in the oven & toast until lightly browned
9. DRESSING: blend tahini, lemon juice, sea salt, water, cayenne, garlic and pepper in a food processor or blender until creamy
10. In a large bowl, mix quinoa, cooked veggies, garbanzo beans, and pistachios
11. Let squash cool for 5-10 minutes, then scoop out the seeds (and discard), creating a bowl shape in the center
12. Spoon filling into the center of the squash, top with dressing, parsley and rosemary

Note: you may not fit all of the stuffing into the squash bowls - you can serve this as an added side dish... maybe call it... stuffing ?! ;)