Acorn Squash has quickly skyrocketed to our favorite crop list, and will be grown in abundance next season. You heard it here first. The texture is somewhere between butternut squash and yucca, and it’s perfectly suited to become either a tasty savory meal, or sweet. Not many crops can boast such a wide range of options. It’s also pretty straightforward to grow, so if you’re inclined to try that out... read on!
We start acorn squash in the greenhouse in trays in May, moving them outdoors just a week or two later since they grow so incredibly fast! We plant them in one row per bed, about two feet apart and try to keep them weeded until the leaves start to die back and acorn squash are ripe. Ideally, it would be nice to mulch these for weed control, so that’s the plan for next season.
Well, it’s time to get to the recipe. With baked acorn squash, onion, carmen pepper, tomato, rice, beans and cilantro & lime sour cream, it’s a feast for your tastebuds. Dive in, and enjoy!
Yield: about ten tacos worth, plus a little extra!
Ingredients
2 acorn squash (about 1lb each), medium size cut into half moons with seeds scraped out
1 onion, halved and then thinly sliced
1 carmen pepper (or two, if you want!) diced
1 cup of rice
1 can of beans
1 tomato, diced
Corn tortillas (we used at least ten, so plan accordingly!)
1 cup almond milk plain yogurt (I used Silk’s)
Salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tablespoons lime juice (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons cilantro (or again, more to taste)
Instructions
Make rice. Add two cups of salted water to 1 cup of rice (rinse your rice a few times if you’re feeling fancy) and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low to allow rice to simmer and cover the pot with a tightly fitting lid. Let simmer for about twenty minutes. While the rice is cooking...
Bake acorn squash. Preheat oven to 375 and cut your acorn squash in half with a really sharp knife. Cut off the stem, or any blemishes and scoop out the seeds. Line up on a baking pan and shake oil (I used about 2 tbsp of sunflower) lightly over the top & season with a little salt. Put in the oven and set your timer for about twenty minutes. Remove from the oven when squash starts to brown. While this is baking...
Cook the onion and carmen pepper. Add a tablespoon of sunflower oil to a pan at medium high heat. Once the oil heats up, add your sliced onion and diced carmen pepper. Add paprika and salt, and saute for about ten minutes, stirring frequently.
Heat your beans & dice your tomato. This is about as easy as it gets. Put beans in a small shallow pan on medium low heat and stir. Add salt and cumin to taste and stir from time to time, reducing heat to low if needed. Also, dice your tomato if you haven’t already.
Make cilantro lime yogurt. My favorite yogurt to use for savory dishes is Silk’s almond milk plain yogurt, and used the full cup of it. Add two teaspoons of lime juice and two teaspoons of cilantro and stir. Remember to just add more if you want it!
Guess what? Now you can finally assemble those tacos and enjoy! Mark ate six in one sitting... so let us know if you beat that record!