Always the romantic, The Chickpea surprised me with an extravagant gift.
He had stuffed an acorn squash (winter squash being one of my most favorite things about fall and winter) with a mixture of golden beets, pearls of quinoa, emerald kale, and the most dazzling of jewels, pomegranate seeds! I felt truly spoiled!
The best part about the gift was the light, tangy sauce the stuffing was cooked with. It was orange juice based and had just enough miso and dijon mustard to brighten up the mix without overpowering it. The chickpeas, though a great part of the mixture, stood down to let the other ingredients really shine. The roasted golden beets were welcome caramelized nuggets throughout and harmonized well with the roasted acorn squash. The pomegranate seeds (from the lovely pomegranate, courtesy of my CSA) provided each bite with a pop of tart berry flavor.
The next time you need to treat yourself, or maybe you just need a great autumn meal, make this dish. That Garbanzo, he sure knows how to treat a lady (or guy) right!
POMEGRANATE & CHICKPEA QUINOA STUFFED SQUASH
note: this recipe could easily fill two acorn squash (four halves), but I only did one. Should you decide to cook 2 squash just double the squash ingredients. The quinoa mixture can stay the same.
Ingredients:
for the squash:
- 1 large acorn squash, halved lengthwise and seeds removed
- 1/2 T vegan butter
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- a couple dashes of cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste
for the quinoa mixture:
- ½ cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2-3 small/medium golden beets, peeled and diced
- 1 tsp + 1 tsp olive oil, separated
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas or 1 15oz can, rinsed and drained
- 1 small bunch of kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
- 1 pomegranate, seeds removed and set aside (Here’s a pretty good tutorial on how to do that, if you’ve never done it before)
for the sauce:
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
- 1 tsp white miso
- ½ Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 ½ tsp dried dill
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the two squash halves on the baking sheet, cut side up. Divide the butter between the two halves, spreading around the top flesh, and in the cavern where the seeds had been. Sprinkle them with the sugar, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 40-45 minutes, until the flesh is easily pierced by a fork.
- Mix all the ingredients for your sauce in a cup or small bowl and set aside.
- Cook your quinoa, according to these directions, but using the 1 cup of vegetable broth instead of the mixture of water and vegetable broth, and only cook for 10 minutes, rather than 15, before removing from heat.
- Place your beet chunks on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle 1 tsp olive oil on the beets and add salt and pepper to taste. Toss the beets to fully coat each piece, fold the aluminum foil over the beets, forming a little packet. Place the packet in the oven, on the shelf below the squash, and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, but keep the aluminum foil closed until you are ready to use the beets.
- Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a large shallow saucepan over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the onion and sauté until almost translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and chickpeas and toss to combine. Let the beans cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the roasted beets and half the sauce and turn the heat down to medium-low. Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until most of the liquid has dissolved. Add the quinoa, kale, and the rest of the sauce, mix thoroughly, and cook until kale has just began to wilt and the sauce has pretty much absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in the pomegranate seeds.
- Scoop about 1 ½ -2 cups of quinoa mixture into each of the squash halves. Serve immediately. If you are not serving immediately, wait to add in the pomegranate seeds until right before you scoop it into the halves, otherwise their color will fade. The leftover quinoa mixture can be kept for about 4-5 days, and makes a great lunch. Enjoy!
First time here? Check out the rest of my Chickpea Love Affair Vegan MoFo Entries!
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All photos taken by Chris Miller
© Kristy Turner and Keepin’ It Kind, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material (content and images) without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kristy Turner and Keepin’ It Kind with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Ooooh that looks like the most delicious mixture! I love that your beau thought to include pomegranate seeds – they add so much charm and tangy interest.
We don’t get acorn squash down here either so I’m adding it to my list for the trip!!
Thank you! You should be able to find squash in abundance around the time that you visit. I love that you have a list of American foods to try while you’re here- it makes me realize how much I take certain foods for granted.
Love, love, love this! I just made a delicious stuffed carnival squash with cranberries, quinoa and white beans and this looks a great idea for my other squashes! Thanks for sharing!
There is just nothing better than stuffed squash this time of year, right?!?!
this is beautiful! i want to make this for thanksgiving!
Thank you, Caitlin! I might make this for thanksgiving too!
I just bought an acorn squash and you’ve made me incredibly excited to cook it up
The Chickpea is being so good to you Kristy! Another amazing gift!
He’s quite a find, that Chickpea, isn’t he?
Enjoy the squash!
It’s amazing how creative that little guy is! The splash of red among the orange and green – brilliant!
The pomegranate seeds really just made it too.
That romancing chickpea is winning me over! Pomegranate jewels! He’s welcome at my house any day. Oh the colors and flavors! Thanks for the tutorial on pomegranate seeds, I grew up with a pomegranate tree in my back yard and I still don’t know how to peel them!
He’s a keeper, isn’t he? This was definitely one of my favorite gifts from him so far.
The chickpea wins again! This sounds so flavorful and warming. I love the way it looks and the combination of ingredients — a real keeper.
Thank you, Andrea- it really was a great combo of ingredients and the leftovers made for a great lunch the next day.
Oh my gosh, I am so drooling over this – I wish I could eat it right now! Love the colors and the flavors. It’s very impressive looking too, so I think it’d fit right in on a holiday table. This is going on my must-try list!
Thank you- I think I’m going to make it for Thanksgiving as well.
you and mr chickpea have been having interesting conversations these days.. i love the addition of pomegranates too. they just look so pretty and add that tang/sweet to the dish!
Thank you, Richa! The Chickpea is a rather good conversationalist. And gift-giver.
This recipe is loaded with power foods; kale, quinoa, pomegranate, all stuffed into the perfect vessel!
Thanks, Reia! That’s one of the things I love most about this dish- it’s pretty and good for you!
What a tasty combination! I haven’t embraced the winter squash yet. (I don’t want to let summer go!) But if the chickpea says it’s time, it’s time…
Thanks, Cadry! It’s time to embrace the squash. It’s time.
So beautiful Kristy! I made something similair last week we are so on the same page – i love the sauce for the quinoa – it literally has my mouth watering for just a bite!
I just saw you stuffed squash in my inbox- holy moly yours looks good! I’ll be over to comment on it soon (man, this whole “work” thing really eats up my blogging time.
).
Wow! Such a pretty meal
Love the pomegranate seeds. Looks delicious too. I love all of the flavours! Have a wonderful weekend! xo
Thanks, Courtney! I’ve been keeping an eye on all of your lovely eats recently too- you’ve been doing some amazing things with squash too! I need to get over and comment on some of them, but this whole “work” thing is really eating into my blogging time.
I hope you’re having a great weekend! xo
I am loving all of your vegan mofo posts! This is especially drool worthy and creative! : )
Thank you so much- I’m having a blast doing it, though I wish I had more time to go and check out all of the other blogs. Work takes precedence sometimes, I guess.