Quinoa Stuffed Springtime Squash

Holidays are all about tradition.  And tradition in our family means: turkey. (We have another tradition too where my mother forgets the rolls in the oven or the mushrooms on the stove till we get up to do the dishes, but that’s another story.  I’m just saying, we are the only family that has a checklist when we sit down to dinner: turkey-check, potatoes-check, mushrooms–check the stove, cause they are not on the table!)

But holidays since I went plant based have another tradition:  everyone feeling sorry for me.  “What will you eat instead of turkey?”  Um, everything else. “Can’t you just eat a  little bit of turkey? After all, it’s a holiday.” Well, I can eat it, I mean I won’t burst into flames or grow a third eye, but I choose not to eat it.

So over the years, I have come up with some recipes that all the turkey lovers actually make room for on their plate( and I have even seen some of them skip the turkey and just go right for the good stuff. You know who you are)

This butternut squash roast is the centerpiece of our Easter dinner and can definitely hold its own against any old turkey.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 cup cleaned and sliced leeks
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped sage
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 Tablespoons dried cranberries, chopped
• I cup water
• 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Wash the squash, prick it several times with a fork and place it on a lined baking pan.
2. Bake it for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1  1/2 hours, or till tender.  I recommend turning it over after the first half hour and then turning it every 15 minutes till done to prevent the side that is one the bottom browning a lot more than the rest of the squash.
3. Remove the squash from the oven and let it sit until it is cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, make the stuffing:

***Important note: It is really important that there is NO water left when the quinoa is done cooking.  I found that when I used a smaller saucepan, I had to drain the quinoa (and some of the goodness) before I could use it for the stuffing.  By using a little bit of a larger pot, the water will all cook off.

1. Saute the leeks in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat  till they begin to soften.  Add the garlic, sage, orange and lemon zest and stir till just fragrant (about 30 seconds – 1 minute).
2. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pot and cook till it evaporates.
3. Add the quinoa (don’t forget to rinse it and give it a little scrub first), cranberries and water and bring to a boil.  Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes (when I used the larger pot, mine was cooked in a little less than 15 minutes, so keep an eye on it).  Remove it from the heat and let it sit while you work on the squash.

1. Cut both ends off the squash, and scrape out and discard the seeds.
2. Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the insides of the squash, leaving a good 1/4 inch or a bit more around the sides. (Danger: if you scrape too close to the skin, the tube of squash will collapse, so don’t go scrape happy here!)
3. Mash up the squash a bit (it doesn’t need much as it should be pretty mushy all by itself) and add it to the quinoa, stirring to combine.
4. Add the walnuts if you are using them and salt and pepper to taste.
5. A this point, the quinoa/squash mixture should hold together pretty well if you take a bit in your hand and squeeze it, sort of like you are making a (vegan) meatball. If it is too dry for some reason, you can always add a bit of water, but do it a teaspoon at a time.
6. Stuff the quinoa mixture into the squash, packing it firmly. (I fill the larger end first, then stand it upright to fill the narrow end), but again, don’t jam it in there so firmly that you tear the skin (this is not the place to work out your aggression issues 😉 )

Put the two ends back on and wrap that sucker back up nice and tight in foil to hold the ends on.

At this point, you have 2 choices:

A. Put it back in a 350 oven for about 20-30 minutes or so to rewarm it before slicing and serving. Or…

B.  Refrigerate overnight and reheat it the next day.

If you choose option B, I would try to let it come to room temperature before heating it.  It is pretty thick and when I reheated it, I put it into the cold oven and let it come up to temperature as the oven preheated and it still took at least 45 minutes to heat it all the way through.  Our oven tends to run hot, so you might actually need an hour to reheat it, depending on your oven.

Once it is hot, unwrap it, discard the ends, cut it into slices and use a spatula to transfer it to the plate.

Enjoy!