Stuffed Delicata Squash
This vegan Stuffed Delicata Squash recipe is one of our favorites and great for the holidays. We prepared it, taste tested it, and tweaked it over and over to get it just right.
Chickpea felt inspired to make this recipe from one of her favorite dishes, Nona’s Chickpeas, which you can find in Lindsay Nixon’s cookbook Happy Herbivore Abroad. Bean received this book as a gift from his sister and brother-in-law, Kelly and Dave, and we use it often. (You can always tell which cookbooks are the best because they have bent pages, splashes of food, and fall open to amazing recipes). Lindsay specializes in creating fat-free and low-fat vegan recipes with everyday ingredients. You can purchase Lindsay’s cookbooks from Amazon.
Getting back to our Stuffed Delicata Squash….
The stuffing for this recipe includes quinoa, chickpeas, veggies, sliced green olives, and dried cranberries. Chickpea loves Lindsay’s recipe for Nona’s Chickpeas because of the blend of flavors with the salty olives and sweet raisins. The stuffing for this squash reflects this delicious blend with salty olives, savory onions and garlic, and sweet dried fruit. The addition of sage and squash make it perfect for autumn and holiday dinners.
We often roast delicata squash because the rind is tender and you can enjoy the whole thing (no need to peel!). We tried roasting delicate squash several different ways- coated with olive oil, maple syrup, coconut nectar, and plain. They turned out best- carmelized, brown, and tender- with no coating at all. So make it easy on yourself, and healthier too, by not coating them. And please try to choose two delicatas that are similar in size so they cook evenly. For this recipe we used 2 delicatas, to serve 4 people. Now you may be wondering, why does the picture Chickpea and Bean are using only show 3 halves and not 4? What happened to one of the halves? Chickpea couldn’t help it… she ate part of our display before we finished taking pictures.
- 4 delicata squash
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 2cups water, divided
- 1tablespoon worcestershire sauceAnnie's brand is vegan
- 1tablespoon Bragg's liquid aminosor soy sauce (optional)
- 1/2cup chopped onion
- 1tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/4cup diced red bell pepperorange or yellow will work too
- 2tablespoons sliced green olives
- 2tablespoons chopped dried cranberries
- 1/2cup canned chickpeasdrained and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4teaspoon ground sage
- black pepperto taste
- saltto taste
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Trim both ends off of each delicata squash.
- Cut each squash lengthwise.
- Scrape out pulp and seeds. We like to use a grapefruit spoon for this, but a regular spoon works fine too.
- Place each half face down on parchment paper and bake for 30-40 minutes. Squash is done when it is tender (a fork slides into it easily) and it is also thoroughly browned on the sides that are face down on the pan.
- While the squash is in the oven, prepare the stuffing.
- Let's cook the quinoa- Place 1 cup of water in a small or medium sauce pan.
- Add 1/2 cup quinoa, 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce, and 1 tablespoon Bragg's liquid aminos.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once it boils, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.
- While the quinoa cooks, let's cook the veggie mixture in another pan. Line a large, nonstick pan with water.
- Add onion and saute with water until onion just starts to turn translucent, adding water as necessary to prevent sticking.
- Add garlic and diced bell pepper and saute about 3 more minutes, adding water as necessary to prevent sticking.
- Add sliced olives and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add chopped cranberries, chickpeas, paprika, and sage. Saute for 1-2 minutes, adding water as necessary to prevent sticking.
- Now you need to add the cooked quinoa. If it is ready simply transfer it to the veggie pan. If it is not ready, turn off the heat on the veggie pan and cover it with a lid. When the quinoa is cooked and ready, add it to the veggie pan. Stir well to combine.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover the stuffing and let sit until squash is finished roasting.
- When squash is ready, fill each half with stuffing and serve.
If you're not into quinoa or want something more traditional, you can substitute cooked rice for the quinoa.
Recipe from ChickpeaandBean.com
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