Last weekend, while visiting the Union Square Green Market, I purchased a few acorn squash in hopes to prepare a stuffed squash dish this week.  After browsing through the endless pages of my cookbooks, there was not one stuffed squash recipe that stood out to me…Story of my life, and we all know what happens next…Yep, you guessed it… Amie digging through the pantry and refrigerator for ingredients to toss into a yummy acorn squash.

I stumbled upon a container of dried cranberries, a bag of macadamia nuts (from my nut splurge last week at Whole Foods) and a fresh orange.  Hmmm, I thought…with a quick trip to the corner market I purchased some fresh mushrooms and before I knew it I was in my kitchen chopping away and creating a healthy squash masterpiece.  I didn’t have any rice in my pantry, however, I did have a nice firm block of tofu in my fridge, which I thought would be a perfect way to bulk up my stuffing and add a nice protein kick, as well.

After a few minutes of mixing and experimenting…I was ready to stuff my squash and pop it back into the oven for a hearty, warm dinner.  The end result: Perfecto.  A ’10’ in my book for sure…and if you happen to purchase a few acorn squash this fall, be sure to stuff ’em with my tasty Tofu n’ Cranberry Stuffing.

Acorn squash is a good source of dietary fiber and potassium along with smaller doses of vitamins C and B, manganese and magnesium.  It’s an easy squash to pick out at the market due to it’s cute ‘acorn’ shape and harvest green skin, which is speckled with orange patches and pale yellow-orange flesh.  Acorn is one of my favorite varieties of winter squash because of its sweet and nutty flavor combination.  Do you enjoy acorn squash?  If so, what’s your favorite way to prepare it? I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

Ingredients

• 4 small acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1 block Nasoya Firm Tofu, pressed and cubed
• 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar
• 4 cups whole grain/ gluten-free bread cubes
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp. dried cilantro
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 Tbsp. spicy mustard
• 2 cups yellow onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped
• 3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice (from a small orange)
• 1/2 tsp. orange peel zest
• Dash of sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• On a baking pan, drizzled with olive oil, place squash halves cut side down.  Add 3/4’’ of water and bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
• Marinate tofu in balsamic vinegar, spicy mustard, agave nectar and orange juice.
• In a large pot, sauté onions and mushrooms in the olive oil; cook for 2-3 minutes.  Slowly add spices and vegetable stock.
• Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
• Slowly add tofu, orange juice, balsamic vinegar and bread cubes; sauté for another 4-6 minutes; remove from heat.
• Add in macadamia nuts, dried cranberries, basil, cilantro, orange zest , sea salt and pepper; mix well.
• Transfer the filling into the baked squash halves and return to the oven to bake for another 20 minutes.
• Enjoy!