I made this absolutely delicious Stuffed Butternut Squash With Quinoa for dinner.  After removing the butternut squash seeds, I stuffed each one with cooked quinoa and lentils.  This dish was hearty and tasty, the perfect comfort food.

I’ve found that Mom’s Organic Market also has an excellent selection of fruits and vegetables as well as Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and Sprouts Farmers Market.  You can discover many hard to find ingredients in their baking, fresh fruits and vegetables aisles.  For some great kitchen essentials, check out the ones I use on my Shop Page.

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Quinoa

Ingredients:
Filling:
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Medium red onion, diced
3/4 Cup of colored quinoa, (rinsed well)
1 Medium clove of garlic, (minced)
1-2 Teaspoons of curry powder, to taste
1 Teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 Teaspoon of Himalayan salt
Fresh ground black pepper
3-4 Cups of vegetable broth
1/3 Cup of green lentils, rinsed
1 Tablespoon of coconut sugar, (packed)
1/2 Cup of dried cranberries

The Squash:
3 Delicata squash, (stems cut off, halved vertically, seeds removed), add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, Himalayan salt and pepper.

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
-Cook quinoa according to directions on packaging.
-To make the quinoa pilaf. Use a large sauté pan with lid over low heat then add olive oil and onion. Sauté until translucent about 5 to 8 minutes.
-Add minced garlic, smoked paprika, curry powder, and cook stirring consistently for 1 minute.
-Add three cups of vegetable broth, coconut sugar and lentils. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer, mix and cover. Cook for 40 minutes and stir occasionally. You can add additional broth. If the mixture seems to wet after cooking a while, vent the pan to help the liquid evaporate. Make sure to monitor as it cooks. It will be done when it’s relatively dry and the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes, then mix in the cooked quinoa. Add more broth if needed to moisten, then simmer to evaporate some of the liquid.
Remove from the heat and stir in the dried cranberries and chopped almonds. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
-While the quinoa mixture cooks prepare the delicata squash. Cut the stems off the ends, half lengthwise, scrap the seeds out with a spoon and brush the inside of each half with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place cut side down on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes or according to your oven until fork-tender and golden around the edges. Remove from the oven spoon in quinoa and and add chopped basil. Enjoy!