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Acorn Squash Stuffed with Chili

January 9, 2013 by Zucchini Runner in Food, Main Dish | Comments Off on Acorn Squash Stuffed with Chili

I whipped up this recipe tonight when I realized I didn’t have a can of great northern beans in the pantry like I thought! My dinner plans took a swift turn into chili-land when I decided dark red kidney beans went best with acorn squash. (I mean really, my other choices were black beans and garbanzo. No. Brainer. Although now that I think of it… the black beans could have worked too! Hmmmm… another day.) Anyway, this was quick to put together and the chili is a smaller, similar take on my “famous” Vegetarian/Vegan Chili.

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This dish can serve 2-4 depending if you serve it with sides or not.

2 small acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed

1 – 15 oz. can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 c. onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1/4 c. red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c. yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 fresh tomato on the vine, chopped and seeds removed
1 – 6 oz. can tomato paste
12 oz. water (use the tomato paste can to measure to get out the extra!)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F

Fill a 12″x9″ baking pan with water until it’s a 1/4″ deep. Place the prepared acorn squash face down in the water and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes; or until a fork easily pokes through the outer skin.

While the squash is cooking you can prepare the chili. I did mine all in one medium saucepan, on medium heat. Heat the olive oil in the saucepan until it gets that awesome olive oil smell. Add the onions and garlic and stir well, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Once it comes to a boil (you may have to turn up the heat, depending on your pan to get it to boil), reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

By this time your squash should be ready. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for about 5-10 minutes before handling, or use a spatula to transfer to a plate or bowl. Fill the center of the acorn squash with chili, serve and enjoy! I’m actually eating it right now as I type up this post! It turned out well! I like that the acorn squash balances out the spice of the chili. I’m not a spicy food lover, but I can take a little kick. 😉

Hummus

August 7, 2012 by Zucchini Runner in Food, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snacks | 1 Comment

Every time we make hummus lately, we just fly by the seat of our pants. Dan will throw in something new here and there and most of the time we will land on a delicious hummus, but can’t recreate it the next time around. I finally decided to write it down and this time we added a new, unique ingredient – silken tofu. All the credit needs to go to my hubby on this one. The one thing we felt was always lacking in our hummus, was the creaminess – especially after it was refrigerated. After having a vegan pastry that contained a cheese-like filling that was actually silken tofu, the idea was sparked! So this attempt used the tofu, and we both think it worked out great – NO OIL either!

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Ingredients
3 c. cooked garbanzo beans (1 c. dry soaked overnight, then cooked for 30-40 minutes; you can also use canned)
3.75 oz. silken, sprouted, organic tofu* (1/4 of a 15 oz. container – use the rest for smoothies or other dips)
1 clove pressed garlic
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3/4 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tea. cumin
1 tea. onion powder
1/2 tea. paprika
1/2 tea. sea salt
1/8 tea. black pepper

Instructions
In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas until coarsely chopped. Add the tofu and pulse until the mixture is almost creamy. Add the remaining ingredients all at once and process until smooth and creamy, and all the ingredients are well combined. Refrigerate and use for dips, pizzas, sandwiches, burritos – whatever!

Since we’ve cut out dairy from our diets, we have found that hummus is a great, creamy substitute!

*NOTE: You can also make a creamy hummus without soy/tofu by removing all the skins from the beans before processing. It is very time consuming but we have discovered it produces a creamy texture as well, without the soy!

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