Acorn Squash Stuffed with a Wild Rice Vegetable Pilaf - Recipe

Fall is the best! I love the whole harvest vibe and the golden colors. I've been dragging my camera to work every day so I can snap photos of the autumn brilliance. Then I left my camera at work and then somehow I downloaded all my photos on to my work computer instead of just the plant pictures. All my food photos were stuck at work. I finally remembered to put my food photos on a jump drive and now I have them my laptop and I can finally share this recipe.

Check out these beautiful stuffed acorn squash. They were so tasty I made them twice! I created the recipe as I went along and I wrote down exactly what I did so I could put it up on the blog. I hope you try them. They are perfect for a vegetarian Thanksgiving or really any Thanksgiving. Who am I kidding? This is the perfect meal for any fall evening.
 

What are the acorn squash stuffed with you ask? Wild rice, mushrooms, raisins, leeks and carrots. The combination is rich and nutty with some hints of sweetness from the raisins.



Zeus, the cat we brought back with us from Panama, loves squash.  It's one of his many quirks.  I cut these babies open and he was immediately up on the table checking them out.  He loves the seeds and the stringy bits.  I scooped some into his food bowl so he wasn't licking our dinner, but not before I snapped a photo. 

Acorn Squash Stuffed with a Wild Rice Vegetable Pilaf

2 acorn squash
1 1/3 cups wild rice
5 cups broth chicken or vegetable
1 teaspoon salt
1 lbs of leaks
3 carrots
1 cup raisins (I used half golden and half purple raisins)
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 tablespoon butter or fat (I used bacon grease the second time and it was excellent)

 Step 1:  Over medium heat in a sauce pan combine the broth, salt and wild rice and bring to a simmer.  Cover and allow to simmer for twenty minutes.  Meanwhile cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy part.  In a 9x13 pan add 1 inch of water and place the squash cut side up in the water.  Bake the squash covered at 400 degrees for twenty minutes.  Baking the squash in water will steam it and, added bonus, if the squash releases any juices they won't stick and burn to your pan. 

Step 2:  Clean and cut the mushrooms, leeks and carrots into half inch slices.  In a sauce pan over medium heat saute the sliced veggies in the fat until they start to soften.  The mushrooms will darken and the leeks will become translucent.  It should take about 10 minutes. 

Step 3:  Take the wild rice off the heat and mix it into the sauteed veggies. The wild rice will finish cooking n the oven, so there should still be some liquid left.  Stir in the raisins.  When the squash finishes its 20 minutes in the oven take it out and drain the water (don't turn off the oven).  Fill each acorn squash half with wild rice mixture and put the remaining wild rice around the acorn squash. 

Step 4:  Cover the pan and bake at 400 for an additional 30 minutes.  Then remove your squash from the oven and let it set five minutes before serving. 

This dish goes great with green beans or broccoli. 

Yields: Four dinner sized servings

Nutrition: 370 calories, 5 grams of fat, 9 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein.  If you are a following Weight Watchers that's just 7 points.