Middle Eastern Twice-Baked Acorn Squash
with ground beef / cauliflower rice
Tender baked acorn squash is stuffed with fragrant spiced ground beef and cauliflower rice in this fun, flavorful meal.
Smarts #1: You can eat the peel of the acorn squash if you'd like - it gets very soft when baked.
Smarts #2: To prepare this meal ahead, assemble the squash with filling up to 3 days before baking.
Smarts #1: You can eat the peel of the acorn squash if you'd like - it gets very soft when baked.
Smarts #2: To prepare this meal ahead, assemble the squash with filling up to 3 days before baking.
Tags
Proteins
Cuisines
Ingredients
Cauliflower Rice:
- Cauliflower florets - 12 oz
- Ghee - 1 Tbsp
Middle Eastern Twice-Baked Acorn Squash:
- Onions, medium - 1/2 , diced
- Acorn squash - 2 , halved and seeds removed (if using large squash estimate half a squash / serving; if using smaller squash, use one whole squash / serving)
- Mint leaves - 6 , chopped
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Beef, ground and lean - 1 lb
- Baby kale - 4 oz (sub baby spinach or regular kale with stems discarded, leaves chopped)
- Cauliflower rice (ingredients listed separately) - 1 1/2 cups
- Oil, olive - 4 Tbsp
- Pomegranate seeds - 1/4 cup (look for these removed from the pomegranate shells in the produce section; sub chopped nuts or skip)
Middle Eastern Spice Blend:
- Paprika, smoked - 1 tsp (sub regular paprika)
- Cumin, ground - 1/2 tsp
- Coriander, ground - 1/2 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Cinnamon, ground - 1/4 tsp
- Turmeric, ground (opt) - 1/4 tsp
Prep
- Cauliflower rice - (Skip if made ahead for Tuesday; if prepping right before cooking, get oven heating first.) Pulse florets in a food processor until broken up into ‘rice’-sized bits. Cook rice in one of two ways: 1) Microwave for 4 to 5 minutes and then fold in ghee. Season with some salt and pepper; or 2) Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add ghee. Saute cauliflower in heated ghee for ~5 minutes, until tender but still crunchy. Season to taste with some salt and pepper. Watch this video for the full how-to on cauliflower rice. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make spice blend - Combine paprika, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Onions / Acorn squash - Prep as directed. To help the acorn squash sit upright as it bakes, slice a small sliver off the top and bottom before slicing in half horizontally. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Mint - Chop mint.
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Make
- Heat oven to 400F / 204C.
- Brush a sheet pan with some oil. Place squash halves cut-side down on sheet pan and roast until tender enough to pierce with a fork, 20 to 25 minutes.
- While squash roasts, heat a skillet or saute pan with oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
- To onions, add ground beef and spice mix. Saute, breaking beef apart, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
- When beef is nearly finished cooking, stir in baby kale.
- Combine beef with cauliflower rice (you can do this in the skillet if there is room, or transfer to a mixing bowl). Taste filling and season with some salt and pepper, if needed.
- When squash is tender, remove it from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. Flip squash halves and drizzle generously with olive oil and some salt. (Note: the amount of olive oil listed in the recipe is quite high to fit with a Whole 30 diet. If not doing Whole 30, you can reduce the amount to just a thin layer.)
- Spoon filling into squash halves, mounding it over top and pressing it down gently if needed.
- Return squash to oven and bake for 10 minutes more to let the flavors come together.
- Top squash with mint and pomegranate seeds. Enjoy!
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