Happy Thanksgiving eve! I’m down in DC this year with my husband, his family and our dog, Bond. It’s my first Thanksgiving away from my whole family in Colorado, and while I’m missing them this year, I’m excited about making new traditions with my new family. Plus, I have Christmas in Colorado to look forward to!
Our Thanksgiving menu is just about set for tomorrow: turkey (duh), my mom’s stuffing, my mother-in-law’s oyster stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts with pancetta, green beans with caramelized onion and toasted almonds, and lots of pies. And, I’m very seriously considering adding these stuffed acorn squash because there’s always another way to use cranberries and squash on Thanksgiving.
Aside from cooking the wild rice, these stuffed acorn squash require minimal time to prep and about 45 minutes to bake – enough time to make that pie or set the table. You can also buy a quick-cooking wild rice to shave off about 30 minutes of cook time. Not to mention, they look festive AF. Seriously, I challenge you to find a more photogenic dish to serve on Thanksgiving.
I’m off to dinner in an attempt to stretch my stomach before the big day tomorrow. Good luck to all those running a Turkey Trot tomorrow morning (especially if you spend tonight at the local bar seeing all your high school friends). Happy Thanksgiving, hope you enjoy all your favorite foods surrounding by all your favorite people!
- 2 acorn squash
- ½ cup wild rice, cooked per package instructions
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed and sorted
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 cup kale, rinsed and chopped roughly
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp maple syrup (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Wash acorn squash and cut evenly in half, lengthwise
- Scoop out the seeds and place acorn squash, open face down, in a baking dish or tray with ½ inch of water
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, until steaming and tender when poked with a fork
- While the squash bake, mix together the cooked wild rice, cranberries, kale, nuts, olive oil and maple syrup (optional)
- Remove acorn squash from oven and flip over, open side facing up
- Generously scoop stuffing into each acorn squash cavity
- Bake another 15 minutes, until cranberry skins crack and the kale turns crispy
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper, serve warm