A Very Autumn Meal: Apple Acorn Squash

Acorn squash!

After purchasing this lil’ guy at the grocery store at the beginning of October, he was relegated to the “produce basket” for several weeks.

I didn’t want to disturb him because he added such a nice touch of fall flare to the mix. (Looks like it’s time to use those bananers, huh?)

Alas, D-Day for the squash arrived last night.

I’ve never prepared an acorn squash and I didn’t even realize they were used for anything other than autumn decoration until this year! I turned to my favorite resource (Google) to figure out how to prepare the squash.

First, as instructed by the MayoClinic’s Web site, I pierced the squash all over with a knife to allow steam to escape when I microwaved it on high for five minutes (turning at three minutes).

This made it suuuuper easy to cut into the acorn squash, unlike any experience I’ve had cutting into it’s spaghetti or butternut brothers.

Once the acorn squash was halved, I removed the seeds.

Because I didn’t just want to eat plain squash for dinner, I turned to autumn’s  favorite fruit to fill the squash – the apple.

I sliced the apple with my handy-dandy apple slicer before cutting it into chunks and topping it with brown sugar.

I distributed the apple mixture between the two halves of acorn squash.

I placed the apple-stuffed squash back in the microwave for another three minutes until the apples were warm, but still slightly crisp.

When the squash was done, I plated one half and smooshed it out, topping the squash with lots of cinnamon.

It was delicious!

About halfway through my squash, Ryan casually mentioned he thought it would taste good with syrup, so I added light syrup to the mix and WOW. My fiance is an acorn squash genius.

For lunch today, you can bet I smothered my leftovers with syrup!

This dinner and lunch was yummy and I’m excited to make it again, adding even more fun additions.

Possible recipe additions:

• Pecans
• Honey
• Walnuts
• Sunflower Seeds
• Peach Slices
• Pear Slices
• Craisins or Raisins

All in all, this was a tasty (and festive) meal!