Red Quinoa-Brown Rice-Lentil Stuffed Squash (Gluten-Free)

Red Quinoa Brown Rice Lentil Stuffed Squash

The one pot vegan basics:

1/2 cup red quinoa
1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 cup brown or green lentils, any variety
heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel powder
heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups water

Put everything in a medium sized pot and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it sit covered for another 10 minutes.

To transform this lovely one pot meal into stuffing, toss it with a big fistful of dried cranberries and a bit fistful of chopped Italian parsley. Other add-ins that would pop the flavors out are  grated garlic or garlic granules, a dash of lime juice, a a pinch of lime zest, marjoram, or any of the traditional “stuffing” herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage. A quick way to add that taste is with unsalted poultry seasoning powder. For a more Southwest flair, add chile peppers or substitute cilantro for the parsley.  To be more decadent, add some diced avocado, or a few pistachios or pumpkin seeds or chopped walnuts. Up to you and your culinary imagination. If by some miracle you are feeding a throng of whole food low-fat vegans, you can double the recipe.

You can stuff this into any winter squash you can get cut into halves to bake. I used delicata squash, which are my favorites for something like this because they are easy to slice in half and gut and they taste great. The skin is so soft you can eat that too, if you like.

To bake delicata or other smaller squash this way, I preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I sprinkle garlic granules on the cut and seeded squash halves. I place the halves cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with baking parchment. I bake them for about 45 minutes, until the outsides are soft to the touch.

Once the squash are cool enough to flip over, fill them with the stuffing. If necessary or desired, reheat in the oven for a few minutes. Dig in. Or top with your favorite low fat vegan gravy.

Notes: I get my red quinoa in bulk at the Moscow Food Co-op. I have never rinsed it, and it’s never bitter. But some quinoa does not come pre-washed. If you are uncertain, rinse it first.