An Acorn Squash Tale

So...

I came to work one day in the past couple of weeks and saw something interesting sitting on my desk.

An acorn squash.

I immediately knew who left it there: my supervisor Ray.

I saw one on his desk the week before, and I lamented over the fact that I bought one and left it out on the counter. As a result, it spoiled. (Heck, I didn't know. Thought it was sturdy like an apple or a pumpkin. Apparently not).

He told me how he liked to cook his. I had more of an idea of trying to stuff it.

Alas, I walked in and there was an acorn squash on my desk.

How thoughtful.

So I walked around the cubicle area, taunting people with it.

"Bet your boss ain't never bought  you no acorn squash," I said while holding the squash an inch from their faces.

My ebonics was on program, and the responses to my rhetoric were wide ranging.

"Go away, LadyLee!"
"What the heck is that, LadyLee?!"
"No! My boss never did that before."
"I don't want anything from my boss. It might be poisoned!"

LOL

Anyway, I learned from my last experience with the acorn squash... Take it home, and place it in the refrigerator. Pronto.

So when I was ready to bake it, about a week later, I pulled it out of the fridge.

I cut it in half and removed the seeds.

I went to throw away the seeds in the trash. When I turned around, I noticed Sister Callie Jo creeping.

That doggone Sister Callie. She's so nosy.,

She's actually sitting on a stool located next to the kitchen island. Here's a better pic. 

She always liked to sit on the stool and watch my sister cook. That was their "thing" I suppose. I don't care for it, but I let her have her moment. As long as she don't try to snatch anything, especially my acorn squash.

I think she knew better. She just sat there and watched.

Back to the acorn squash!

I researched a few stuffed squash recipes on Pinterest, and I got a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do.

I oiled my squash with olive oil in order to get them ready for roasting.

I roasted them for an hour at 400 degrees.

I think I went overboard. But that's what I read on Pinterest. Next time, I will roast them for only 45 minutes.

Then I made my stuffing. This consisted of me throwing open the french doors of the fridge and picking whatever I wanted.  So my stuffing consisted of green onions, broccoli, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, dried cranberries, green apples, shredded carrots and pecans.

I chopped all of that up and sauteed it in a couple of teaspoons of olive oil.

Then  I added a half cup of cooked quinoa.

I stirred that for a couple of minutes, then I stuffed my squash.

Then I baked it for another 10 minutes. I sprinkled a few pecans on top and that was it.

The verdict? GOOD STUFF!

I'd never had acorn squash before. I thought it tasted like yellow squash or zuchinni, but with the consistency of sweet potato. It was good, and very satisfying. It was easy to slice, even when stuffed like that. I really liked the flavor brought on by the green apple. So good!

I think I will buy 2 or 3 of them and just make more of it. This was an experiment just to see what happens.

I try a new vegetable every once in awhile. This acorn squash was well worth it!