Butternut Squash Stuffed with Cauliflower & Cranberry Couscous – another new idea to get rid of the casual boring dinners. Fresh, healthy cauliflower, and sweet cranberries stuffed in a little, cute butternut squash “bowl” will bring you a different taste yet flavorful and tasty!
Recipe Description
I have one more post to share with all of you regarding the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival, as well as a very cool review on Grange Restaurant in Sacramento, but I’ve been kinda antsy to share a recipe for my new favorite dinner this week (and my new dessert shots, and some more soup, and…). As I mentioned last month, I’m über-excited that there all sorts of squashes cropping up all over the place and I’m definitely making use of the few I have been able to afford. I had been craving some stuffed acorn squash from the Co-op, but since I’m still on these evil crutches (okay, only semi-evil because my triceps are getting really toned), I haven’t been able to go shopping anywhere except the mini-mart around the corner. As much as I love them though, they don’t sell squash, so this has presented quite the conundrum. Then I thought to myself, “Self: does it really need to be a stuffed acorn squash when you have lovely butternut squash that’s just sitting there, alone and forlorn?” Of course not!
When it comes to stuffed squashes, acorn squash is the most popular choice because of its round shape. Using butternut squash requires a bit more effort but it’s worth it, especially when you consider all that extra squash that you get to play around with. I had thought about roasting the flesh from the neck of the squash so I could have my favorite fall snack, but decided to use the flesh in the stuffing I would make for the final dish instead. The possibilities for stuffing any squash are endless and after mulling it over for a while, I decided to work with a savory couscous version that could incorporate the extra butternut squash flesh. Things just came together after that, and soon I had a wonderful bowl of lightly curried couscous, cauliflower, butternut squash, and cranberries to stuff in my little “bowls”.
Now, I must point out that you will have more stuffing than your squash can hold (unless you’re using Charlie Brown’s Great Butternut Squash). Couscous definitely yields a lot more than it appears to, especially once you’ve fluffed it with a fork. Once you add the other ingredients, you’re left with a very hearty bowl of goodness that you can use as a nice side dish with chicken or pork. You could also serve it with some fresh baby spinach for a light, meatless lunch. Though it’s a bit more labor-intensive than most of my recipes, it’s well worth the effort and it’s fun to watch it all come together. The beauty of all of this is that the entire recipe comes out to about $7.50, which not only gives you 2 lovely entrée servings or stuffed squash, but about 2-3 servings of curried cauliflower couscous, too. That’s quite a lot of food for such a tiny price!
Details Recipe Information
- Prepare: 10 Mins
- Cook: 40 Mins
- Difficult: Easy
- Serving: 2 servings of squash & 2-3 separate servings of couscous
- Cost per serving: ~$1.88
- Nutrition: for each serving
- Calories: 302.8
- Fat: 11g
- Cholesterol: 14.3mg
- Sodium: 419.1mg
- Potassium: 463.7mg
- Carbohydrates: 33.7g
- Protein: 11.1g
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash, halved & seeded, with the neck flesh reserved
- 1/2 cup dry couscous
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup cauliflower florets
- 1/2 medium yellow onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1/4 tbsp salt
- 1/3 tbsp curry powder
- 1/4 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tbsp ground ginger (optional)
- 1/4 tbsp smoked paprika (optional)
Method
Feel free to share PGEW‘s post with your social networks.
