Stuffed Squash with Sage Cashew Cream
It is that wonderful time of year again when our palates start to crave root veggies, squash and heartier food. It is my favorite time of year! I love the crisp snap in the air and especially pulling out sweaters and socks!
It’s at this time of year, our bodies start yearning for more calories, denser calories. It’s also when we can start wanting more cooked food. I love the combination of eating raw and cooked food. If you keep it healthy, you can get the best of both worlds. This stuffed squash is a part of our cooked collection. It is a delicious, healthy meal that incorporates quinoa, pumpkin seeds and a savory sage cashew cream sauce. If we add in some dried cranberries and chard, we get a filling, tasty meal that is great to put on a fall table.
This stuffed squash is packed with nutrients. Sautéed chard, pumpkin seeds, quinoa and cranberries all provide extraordinary amounts of antioxidants and nutrients. Pumpkin seeds are full of zinc and other minerals. They even have forms of vitamin e that are more bio-available than other forms. They are anti-microbial, anti-fungal and anti-viral and there are recent studies that are showing that pumpkin seeds can help improve insulin regulation. Chard is a wonderful green that is an excellent provider of minerals. You will find magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, and potassium, calcium and phosphorus and zinc. We hit the jackpot with that one. Quinoa actually has inflammatory phytonutrients like omega 3’s. Quinoa is higher in the heart-healthy fat, oleic acid. Quinoa has more protein than most grains. Because the protein comes from lysine and isoleucine, it is considered to be a complete protein.
We love this recipe at our house and it appears frequently. If you want to cut back on the fat a bit (although this is a no oil recipe) you omit the sage cashew cream sauce but boy, I wouldn’t. It really makes the filling. Did you know that cashews are actually heart healthy and actually lower in fat than many other nuts? We love our cashews.
Everything in this recipe can be pre-made and put together and heated up just before dinner.
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Stuffed Acorn Squash with Sage Cashew Cream
Serves 4-6
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Squash
- 2 acorn squash
- 1 yellow onion, quartered and sliced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 bunch (5 stalks and leaves) swiss chard, leaves cut into ribbons and stems diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup shelled, raw pumpkin seeds
- Himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- 3 cups cooked red quinoa
- Sage Cream Sauce (recipe below)
- Cut acorn squash in half. Scoop out seeds and place cut side down on baking tray lined with parchment. You can also grease with a tiny bit of avocado oil.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Set aside.
- Place onions, celery and carrots in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent. You can add a little water if things start to stick.
- Add chard and continue cooking until chard is wilted.
- Stir in garlic, cranberries and pumpkin. Cook for an additional minute or two.
- Stir in cooked quinoa remove from heat.
- Stir in sage cream sauce.
- Fill baked squash with quinoa mixture.
- Place back in oven for 1/2 hour.
Sage Cream Sauce
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked until soft (at least 6 hours)
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon dried sage or 2 tablespoons fresh sage
- pinch Himalayan salt and pinch fresh ground pepper
- Place all ingredients in blender except sage, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
- Add sage, salt and pepper. Pulse to combine. Do not over blend, you just want the sage lightly blended in.
kate wrote on November 4, 2017
This sounds very good. I think i would saute it all as you said, and then when the stuffed squashes came out of the over, i would then pour the cashew cream sauce on top…..So it would still be fresh, but lightly warmed.
Thanks.
Carole wrote on November 3, 2017
Made this tonight, and I will make it again and again and again…The sage cashew cream takes it completely over the top!