Stuff Vegan Acorn Squash

If you are hosting a large fall gathering, like Thanksgiving, here is a great vegetarian and vegan friendly entree that is sure to please a crowd.  Not only are acorn squash (well all squash) in season during the fall they are a belly warming way to introduce some extra vegetables into your life, even if you aren't a meat abstainer.  

When a lot of us think about making a large family or friend gathering meal during the fall or holiday season most of our minds go to roasted turkey or ham, well that doesn't need to be the case.  These stuffed acorn squashes are totally vegan and probably best part they are really easy on the wallet. 

When buying fresh produce a pro-tip is to purchase things while they are in season.  Not only does purchasing seasonal vegetables and fruit help reduce your grocery costs, they also help in lowering your environmental impact as the produce don't need to travel as far to get to you. 

For those of us up in Canada that means that as things start to chill over our options for seasonal produce becomes more limited.  So I figured I would develop a recipe relying mostly on local and seasonal produce from the Farmer's Market (although you can obviously buy all of your ingredients from the grocery store and some of my stuff definitely did come from the store too). 

Stuffed Acorn Squash (serves 2 as main or 4 as a side)
Ingredients:
1 small to medium acorn squash
2 tbsp avocado oil
2 cups cauliflower, finely chopped
227g cremini mushroom, finely diced
1 red apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2-3 tbsp maple
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Cut acorn squash in half  and place cut side down into a baking dish.   Once oven is preheated place in oven for 30-40 minutes, until a fork can easily poke through the skin of the squash.   Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 
   
2. Reduce oven heat to 375F. 
3. Preheat avocado oil in a large skillet to medium high heat.   
4. Once skillet reaches temperature add in cauliflower and mushrooms and allow to cook until mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes. 
5. Add in onions and apple and continue cooking, stirring frequently so the mix doesn't burn.  Once onion and apple begin to soften and become fragrant, about 3-5 minutes add in thyme, turmeric, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Give it a big stir and reduce heat to medium then cover to give the mixture time to meld flavours. 
6. Squash should be cool enough to handle now, using a spoon gently scoop out the inner flesh of the squash and add it into the mushroom cauliflower mixture and mash it together.   Be sure not to break the skin of the squash because you will be stuffing it later. 
7. Right before you are ready to stuff the squash add maple syrup to the mixture and give it one last stir.  
8. Using two spoon load up your acorn squash with the stuffing.   Place stuffing side up into a baking dish and place in preheated oven.   Cook for 15-20 minutes until it looks like the stuffing is beginning to caramelize.  Remove from oven and allow squash to cool for 5 minutes. 
9. Enjoy!