The deep orange and green colors of the acorn squash remind us of the autumn leaves. This is a great dish to serve at a Thanksgiving dinner, either as a beautiful first course, or as a side-dish during the main course. If acorn squash is not available in your area, use a butternut squash instead.
The recipe below calls for both pine nuts and chestnuts. Seeds and nuts are nature’s spark of life. A tiny nut has the potential of producing an enormous tree, when eaten these seeds and nuts provide us with a huge amount of condensed energy. Eaten in large quantities, oil rich nuts tax the liver. Eaten in small quantities, nuts and seeds are beneficial to the immune system. Nuts are fatty foods that serve as a great source of vitamin E. Vitamin E serves as a nerve protector and as an immune-enhancing oxidant. When eaten in small amounts, seeds and nuts can strengthen the immune system and prevent the need for taking vitamin E supplements. If you find that you crave nuts and seeds you might want to cut back on your consumption of refined vegetable oils. Refined vegetable oils play a significant role in our need for vitamin E. The more refined vegetable oils that you use, the greater the need for vitamin E.
Nuts and seeds have a tendency to become rancid very quickly. It is healthier to buy nuts in their shell and to crack them at home. This does not have to be an overwhelming proposition, give your older children a hammer and let them have the time of their lives!
The recipe below has a few steps but it isn’t complicated
Ingredients:
4 acorn squash.
Slice the squash in half and discard the seeds. Bake in a preheated oven at 180c (350f), for 30 minutes. The squash should be slightly soft but not fully cooked. Remove from the oven, fill, and bake for twenty minutes more.
Stuffing:
sesame oil1 tbsp ground flax
2 tbsp hot water
1 box button mushrooms
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 onion, chopped
1/2 package of organic tofu, cut into small cubes
1 bag peeled and roasted chestnuts (100 gr)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp all spice
1 tbsp cranberries, for garnish
Mix together the flax seed and the hot water and allow to sit for five minutes.
Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan. Lightly saute the remaining ingredients for five minutes, until they have slightly softened. Remove from the flame and puree in a blender or food processor until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the flax seed and spoon the mixture into the hollow at the center of the squash. Garnish with the cranberries and bake for twenty minutes more.
Serve warm. Serves 8.
Enjoy!