Fall

Don't you love this weather?  It reminds me of home.

Last weekend, a couple of friends and I went apple picking.

We also picked eggplant, butternut squash, acorn squash, tomatoes, and other delicious veggies.

Apple picking, check.  Next up: pumpkin carving, cider drinking, and murder mystery party going.  Oh, fall.  Don't you just love it?

A Recipe for Fall: Stuffed Acorn Squash
The stuffing for this dish is really addicting.  The mushrooms add that umami deliciousness, which compliments the sweet squash just perfectly.  Cooking this will warm up your apartment and make it smell like Thanksgiving.  When it starts to get cold out, you just want something that will warm you up, something comforting and soft, light but hearty.  This is that dish.  One bite of it is, in a word, fall.

1 large acorn squash
1 large vidalia onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound white mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed, and diced
1 cup red quinoa, cooked
1 cup red lentils, cooked
a knob of butter, vegan or not
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut acorn squash in half (from top to bottom) and scoop out the innards.  Discard seeds and pulp.  Grease an oven proof baking dish large enough to hold the two halves of squash.  Season halves with salt and pepper and place face down in the baking dish.  Cook in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until tender enough to pierce with a fork.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat.  When hot, add a turn of olive oil to the pan.  Add the diced onion and cook until the onion is tender and translucent.  Add the garlic and mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are cooked through.  Add the cooked quinoa and lentils and mix well.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the acorn squash halves have cooled a bit, scoop out the squash flesh.  Be careful to leave the squash shells intact.  You can even leave some of the flesh intact, for scooping and eating with the rest of the filling.

Add the squash insides to the mushroom mixture and combine.  The squash should be tender enough that you can break it up as you add it to the mixture.  Test for seasoning again and add more salt and pepper as you see fit.  Stir in a knob of butter for good measure.  Scoop this filling back into the squash halves, stuffing them and then overflowing them.  (There will be extra.  There's a reason for that.)  You can then throw them back in the oven to heat them up a bit, or just eat straightaway.