On a very cold and windy day in late November two people sought refuge in the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago. The warm and humid climate was a welcome escape from the bitter winds that whirled beyond the greenhouse windows. A tropical paradise indeed...
Turning on the oven after being outside on a day like to day is very welcome. The heat still lingers hours after the oven is turned off and the smell of roasting onions and garlic permeates into the fabric of my sweater; there are worse smells that can cling to you. Tonight I roasted pineapples and cauliflower together with a puree of green chilies, garlic, onions, carrots and celery. The twice baked potatoes served along side it made for a warm and hearty meal. The pineapple lost its tartness in the oven and the subtle sweetness went along great with the savory cauliflower.
However, that's not the recipe I'm sharing tonight. I finally found a use for the carnival squash I've been using for part of my Halloween decorations. With the pumpkin carved and finally discarded it's time to cook them up. Carnival squash come in a variety of sizes, I used two smaller sized squash and they cooked up nicely after about a half hour in the oven. I stuffed them with some quinoa, vegetables, and Gruyere cheese for a simple but elegant evening meal.
My focus on this blog has certainly been vegetable based mainly because I'm not going to cook anything my own husband won't eat, so that means a lot of creativity and ingenuity is required in the kitchen. I love it. So it was not too terribly hard to read Eating Animals because I don't do a lot of it. And with Thanksgiving right around the corner and millions of turkeys on the chopping block it seems like appropriate reading material.
My love of books has often had me thinking that I should add a section to this blog of book recommendations; sometimes you read something that's too good not to share. Like my style of cooking has changed over the years, so has my taste in reading material. Where I once devoured most any genre of fiction, I now find myself seeking out more non-fiction material and the current book in my backpack, Eating Animals by Jonathon Safran Foer has me thinking seriously about the state of the current animal industry and rethinking things I already thought I knew. For anyone looking for a matter of fact way of looking at factory farms and the near extinction of traditional animal husbandry, I encourage you to read this and come to your own conclusions. No lie, it's hard to read. We, as Americans, have a huge appetite for animals and its only fair to see how the industry can keep up with the demand.
Try out this recipe next time you're looking for a hearty vegetable based meal that would satisfy most animal eaters.
My favorite part about this recipe is the quinoa stuffing. I'm in the minority for not being in love with winter squashes, but I like cooking with what's in season, and I LIKE them, I just don't LOVE them. It's fun to eat stuffed foods and this is great served alongside roasted potatoes (cook them right along with the squash!) and a nice green salad. Now you've got yourself a fantastic dinner!
Quinoa Stuffed Carnival Squash
Serves 2
1 large or 2 medium carnival squash, cut in half with seeds scooped out
1 cup quinoa, cooked
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups Gruyere cheese, shredded
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Lightly oil the insides and season with salt and pepper. Place the squash cut side down in a baking dish filled with 1/4 inch of water. Bake for 25-30 minutes until flesh is tender.
Meanwhile, cook quinoa in a broth of your choosing (I love the vegetable bouillon paste by Better Than Bouillon). While your quinoa is cooking saute the mushrooms for 3 minutes before adding the carrots. Cook another 3-4 minutes then add onions, celery, and garlic and cook until onions are translucent and tender, about 4-5 minutes more. De-glaze the pan with white wine and add the vegetables to the cooked quinoa along with 1 cup of the shredded Gruyere cheese. Add the lemon zest, juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stuff squash with the quinoa mixture and top with the remaining cheese and bake for another 5 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve warm.
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