Birthday Season.
Does anyone else have one of those in your family? You know, that month or two during the year where the birthdays are just stacked on top of each other? Or were my parents, grandparents, parents-in-law, and grandparents-in-law the only ones who seemed to all get together and decide when the best time of the year was to have a baby? Surely some of you can relate.
Our birthday season is October and November, essentially the fall. Literally, we have Oct. 14, 15, 19, 25, 28, and 29th. Then Nov 9, 13, 17, and 24th. Now, that list is a compilation of both sides of our families, but still, that’s a lot of birthdays!
HOWEVER, while this does make for an eventful fall, I love seeing so much of my/our family in such a short period of time. These few months are a time of frequent dinners and get-togethers, loaded with good food and desserts (my favorite).
I have several yummy (and healthy) dessert recipes that I’ve been looking for an excuse to try, with all of these birthdays I’m getting the chance! I’ll let you know which ones I land on and hopefully will share them on here in the next few weeks!
Now that I’ve rambled about birthdays and desserts, I guess I should talk about this delightful and colorful Roasted and Stuffed Butternut Squash.
The taste and texture turned out great, but the color? I love it. If you’ve had the chance to read my About page, then you know that my first passion and “real” job is Interior Design.
So color matter.
I think I love this dish so much because I love the way the colors compliment each other, not to mention the way they scream fall.
The soft, sweet, and garlic flavored flesh of the butternut squash makes the perfect base for these roasted veggies.
The pumpkin seeds add a great crunch, while the seasoned almond meal creates the flavor of bread crumbs without the added carbs.
As far as cheese, all I had on hand was feta and while the flavor was great, I think next time I’ll make a point to pick up some goat cheese. I love goat cheese, it adds a flavor that nothing else can replicate and would pair so well with the other flavors in this dish.
BENEFITS OF BUTTERNUT SQUASH:
- Rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants.
- Low in fat, yet packed with dietary fiber, making it a heart-friendly choice.
- Provides significant amounts of potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C.
- Contains an abundance of carotenoids (protect against heart disease) and beta-carotene (protect against breast cancer).
- It also an anti-inflammatory, which helps reduce risk of rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.
This recipe takes just a bit longer to prepare some of the others, but definitely worth the time! Perfect for a fall Saturday or Sunday evening.
Roasted and Stuffed Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 2 butternut squash about 2.5 lbs each, halved and seeds removed
- 3 garlic clove minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- a pinch or two dried chilli flakes
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 medium zucchini cut into small chunks
- 1 red pepper cut into small chunks
- 1 medium red onion cut into thin wedges
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 1 tbsp almond meal
- 1 tbsp flaxseed
- 1 tbsp parmesan cheese grated
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- salt and pepper as desired
- fresh chopped herbs as desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut criss-cross patterns over each butternut squash half, careful not to cut the skin.
- Mix together the garlic, tbsp olive oil, chilli flakes and rosemary, brush half this mixture over the flesh of each butternut squash (leaving remaining oil for veggie filling).
- Place onto a baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes.
- For the filling, put the zucchini, pepper and onion in a roasting tin and drizzle with the remaining seasoned olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in the oven after about 20 minutes of roasting the squash.
- Bake vegetables for approximately 15 minutes, remove tray, add cherry tomatoes and pumpkin seeds, cook additional 10 minutes.
- While squash and vegetables are roasting, combine the almond meal, flaxseed, parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, Italian seasoning and basil in small bowl.
- Arrange the roasted vegetables in the squash halves (if the holes are quite small arrange the vegetables on the flesh), sprinkle with the almond/cheese/flax mix, top with feta cheese and fresh herbs and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve!
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food Blog’s Roasted Butternut Swash with Goat’s Cheese recipe.
Healthy Benefits taken from wholeliving.com.
