Acorn Squash Stuffed with Sausage Apple Pilaf

Squash stuffed.

I made this recipe up on the fly for dinner a few nights ago. It turned out even better than I had hoped.

2 medium-sized acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
1 cup of brown rice
2 cups water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 lb sausage, removed from casing (LN: Italian or herb will do. I used Sage Sausage I picked up at the Farmer's Market)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the faces of the acorn squash with some olive oil and place face down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes or until a fork inserted into the squash comes out easily.

While the squash is cooking, place 1 cup of brown rice and 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes or until rice is tender. (LN: Note, you can also do this in a pressure cooker and it will take half the time)

When there's about 15 to 20 minutes remaining on the rice, cook the sausage in sautee pan until browned. Add in the onion and apples and cook until soft. Remove from heat. Once the rice is cooked, mix the sausage/vegetable mixture into the rice. Once squash is done, remove the cookie sheet from the oven and carefully transfer a half squash to a place. Fill the center of the squash with the pilaf mixture.

Serve immediately.

Italian Meatballs

Tiny balls of buffalo meat.

The farmer's markets have returned! Which means I should probably use up the ground buffalo I bought last fall in order to buy fresh. Having exhausted CCO on my favorite recipe for ground meat, we decided to make meatballs instead.

Eat Rating: Good. The buffalo makes them nice and savory.
Difficulty: Easy. No fancy instruments, just get your hands dirty

Adapted from Christie's Corner, "Italian Meatballs"

1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup skim milk
1 lb ground buffalo
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup fresh oregano, finely chopped (LN: I subbed 1 tbsp dried oregano)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the buffalo, onion, garlic and egg with your hands until well mixed. Add the oregano and milk/bread, and mix again until combined through-out. Add the parmesan and nutmeg. Break off small clumps of meat and roll into balls. You can get up to 48 bite-sized meatballs. (I got more like 25)

Set out the meatballs on a cookie sheet and cook for 20 minutes.

Add the meatballs to the sauce and mix with pasta, or cool and then freeze to use later.

My hands.