Baked Stuffed Squash

• 1 medium/large acorn squash

• 2 chicken sausages (or pork, anything you like-apple, basil, chorizo, etc)

• 1 cup cubed cooked chicken (raw can work too)

• 1/2 cup chopped onion, leek or shallot

• 3 garlic cloves chopped

• 6 kale leaves, de-stemmed and chopped

• 2-3 stalks of celery coarsely chopped

• 1/2-1 cup shiitake or criminology mushrooms, chopped

• add additional chopped veggies you enjoy-zucchini, red pepper, etc. (optional)

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan (I prefer sheeps milk cheese)

Here’s How:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place whole acorn squash on parchment on cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

2. Remove from oven and carefully cut open in 2 pieces. Scoop out seeds and stringy pulp and place in a colander.

3. Drizzle a touch of olive oil on squash, place face down on cookie sheet and bake for another 25-30 minutes.

4. (Optional) Remove pulp, rinse seeds and roast on a cookie sheet sprinkled with sea salt for 10 minutes, mix and roast for another 5 minutes or until done. Munch while preparing stuffed squash.

5. In a large skillet, saute onion, then garlic until browned. Add celery and cook covered until almost tender. Remove and add other veggies to saute in order of whatever takes the longest to cook. (Peppers, then zucchini, then mushrooms, and kale)

6. Scoop most of the squash pulp from the skins, leaving enough to keep it firm.

7. Chop cooked squash pulp and set aside.

8. Saute sausages and remove and chop and recook with chicken. Add mashed squash pulp, and all veggies to meat, season with salt and pepper, oregano, thyme, chives, parsley, paprika and any seasonings you enjoy. You can sprinkle mixture with wheat free soy sauce, aardvark habanero sauce or a salsa for a little kick.

9. Scoop veggie mixture back into acorn shells, top with parmesan and bake another 15-20 minutes and Voila!

This is a healthy lovely dish as the cooler weather arrives.