Golden-Glow Stuffed Squash

For this recipe, I used an acorn squash that we grew in the garden last summer. The filling was simple, but tasty. Instead of white of brown rice, I used a red rice that has a bit more flavor. The squash got so soft that it fell apart as I tried to get it out of the pot. My crockpot goes to stay warm after the timer goes off, which is nice so that things stay warm, but when I don't get home for a few hours, the dish definitely gets overcooked. Yet another reason to get that timer that will delay the start of cooking. I forgot to take photos again, but here's the recipe.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded & chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
2.5 cups cooked rice
1 tbsp fres parsley, minced
1 tsp dried thyme or sage
Salt & pepper
1 large winter squash, halved & seeded
1 cup hot water

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot & pepper, cover & cook until soft. Stir in garlic & turmeric, then stir in rice, parsley & thyme/sage and salt & pepper to taste. Mx well & spoon mixture into squash cavities.

2. Pour water into slow cooker & add squash halves, stuffing side up. Cover & cook on low until squash is tender, about 6 hours. Serve hot.

Winter Squash & Sweet Potato Soup

Yum, winter squash. Over the summer, I grew acorn & butternut squash in the garden. Then I put them in the cupboard for winter. It got cold towards the end of December, so it was the perfect time for hot soup from the slow cooker. This recipe was super easy & delicious.

Basically you slow cook onions, sweet potatoes & butternut squash in veggie stock with thyme & sage. Then blend. Full recipe can be found in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.

Winter Squash Stuffed with Couscous, Apricots and Pistachios

I made this the week before Christmas when David & I were both busy with holiday parties & after-work shopping. It was super easy, but did require a bit of work to prepare before throwing everything in the crock pot. Next time I would make the couscous stuffing the night before so I wouldn't have to cook in the morning when still half asleep. I used the bottom part of a giant butternut squash from the garden (!) which took up the whole crock pot, but only used about half of the couscous stuffing. It was nice to have extra for leftovers, but I think you could also just cut the recipe in half. I might have put too much water in to steam the squash as it got really, really soft. But it was also cooking for way more than the recommended 6 hours or rather it was on stay warm for 3-4 hours after it was done. I also just noticed that the book recommends putting the squash in the microwave for a few minutes to make it easier to cut in half. I would do that if you have a microwave because it was really hard to cut into equal halves good for stuffing.

Leftovers!

Ingredients:
2 cups apple juice
1 cup couscous
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 c chopped dried apricots
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lg yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 c pistachio nuts, chopped
1 lg winter squash, kabocha or buttercup, halved & seeded
1 c hot water

1. Bring juice to boil in medium pot. Add couscous & spices. Reduce heat to low, cover & simmer 10 min. Remove from heat, stir in apricots, cover & set aside.

2. Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion & garlic, cover & cook until soft, ~5 min.

3. Fluff couscous with fork, add onion mixture & pistachios. Season w/ salt & pepper. Mix well.

4. Put squash in slow cooker. Pack stuffing in squash. Pour water into cooker around squash. Cover & cook on low until tender, ~6 hours. Serve hot.