Butternut Squash with Brown Butter, Crispy Sage, Pecan & Quinoa Pilaf...

...It's a mouth full- Literally!

'tis the season to eat SQUASH

breakfast, lunch, side dish or dinner...

bake, roast, steam, stuff or mash...

The possibilities are endless

Since August I have eaten squash at least 3 times a week... I know, 5 months later I am just now deciding to write about it.

My favorites are Acorn, Butternut and Spaghetti Squash.

Mindee's beautiful blue and white China, classy.

This Sunday my cousin and I took a stroll to our lovely neighborhood Farmer's Market at Fort Mason- and it was here that I came across these adorable little baby size butternut squash.

To help understand the petit-ness of the squash, I served them on 6 inch plates.

Because butternut squash does not have a very large opening in the middle with seeds (see photo below) you will have to scoop out extra to make a larger space, big enough to fill with your yummy pilaf. Leaving about 1 inch of the "meat" around all sides.

Ingredients:

Butternut Squash (or acorn squash)

1/4 cup quinoa

1 T butter

A few fresh sage leaves chopped

A handful of pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375

Cut the Squash lengthwise

Scoop out the seeds and using a knife, make an even larger opening.

Place cut side down on a baking sheet and prick many times with a fork (this allows steam to escape when baking)

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the quinoa.

Rinse the quinoa well before adding to a sauce pan. Add double the amount of water as quinoa, and a pinch of salt to the sauce pan of quinoa, cover and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer, partially covered, cook for 15 minutes- viola!

For the good stuff:

Add the butter to a small skillet, melt and let burn a little, add a pinch of salt sage and pecans.

Cook for a minute until sage and nuts become fragrant.

Add the Quinoa to the pan, coat and mix well with the butter.

Stuff the baked squash with the warm quinoa pilaf and top with a pecan half for a little extra touch.

Notes:

If I were making these for a crowd (or men) I'd probably serve skirt steak and sauteed dark leafy greens too. But for my cousin and me, this was plenty for dinner.

These last a few days in the fridge. Today after the gym I reheated my last half in the oven for about 30 minutes at 300 while I was in the shower- and viola- lunch is served :o)

Not to mention, this is a good source of full protein after a workout.