photo provided courtesy of glutenfreehope.blogspot.com

Squash tastes so much better than how it sounds. The word makes you feel or think that it is something that shouldn’t taste as good. O but it is a divine autumn food. If you have never baked a squash and found yummy ways to eat it then I dare you to try this simple and ‘fall in a bowl’ recipe. Cranberries, walnuts and squash mixed with the perfect blend of herbs and quinoa. It will keep you coming back to the bowl that I can guarantee.

Directions on how to bake a winter squash:
Cut open the squash and clean out the seeds. I usually cut the squash into 4-6 smaller pieces for a large squash, (or 2-3 pieces for an acorn squash) with the skin still left on it. I lay the pieces on a cookie baking sheet and bake on a high heat of 400 degrees for about 1 hour to 1 and a half hours. If you want to slow cook on a 250 degree heat then you will need to bake for at least 3 hours, or until it is soft enough to cut through without needed to use the blade. After it is baked enough to slice into I pull from the oven and let cool down to room temperature.

Depending on how much it makes, (the last squash I cooked made about 10 cups of cooked squash) so I put all of what I am not going to use in air tight containers in the fridge to use for squash pasta sauce or to add to a soup or another recipe. For the following recipe, after you peel off the skin you will need to dice the large pieces into bite-sized pieces. This will be the hardest part and it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes. It is that easy. Now time to mix it all together…

ingredients
1 medium yellow onion or 3 small shallots
1 TB of olive oil
1 cup of dried quinoa
2 cups of pure water
1 TB of wheat-free tamari sauce
2 cups of diced pre-baked buttercup squash (butternut or other winter squash works too)
1 cup of finely chopped fresh kale (spinach or another fresh greens if you don’t have any kale)
2-3 TB of balsamic vinegar
1-2 TB of olive oil
1 TB of pure maple syrup
1/2 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 cup of toasted walnuts
1/2 cup of freshly chopped parsley (I love the fresh herb so I usually add more than 1/2 cup)
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper

directions

1. Sauté the onions in a little bit of olive oil in a medium pot. Then add the 1 cup of dry quinoa and toast up for a few minutes before adding the water. After 2-3 minutes add 2 cups of pure water and 1 TB of the wheat-free tamari sauce.
2. Cook until a boil, and then turn heat to a simmer and let cook for about 15-20 minutes until there is no water left and there are air holes in the pot of cooked quinoa. Set aside and let cool down a bit.
3. In another frying pan, add 1 TB of olive oil to the bottom of the pan and place the cubed/diced pre-baked squash in the pan to warm up and fry. After a few minutes of toasting the squash add the kale and let it wilt just a bit.
4. After a few minutes of cooking, in a large mixing bowl add the cooled quinoa mix, and the butternut squash and kale mix. Toss in the vinegar, maple syrup and toasted walnuts and cranberries. Toss a few times and add in the chopped parsley and mix thru. Make sure all parts are equally stirred and then pour into a serving bowl. Can be served warm or cold.

recipe courtesy glutenfreehope.blogspot.com