Curried Quinoa Stuffed Pumpkins

Add to Recipe Box

I found some adorable little Gold Nugget squash this week at the market. They were about the size of a softball and I immediately thought how cute they would be served stuffed with all kinds of yummy things. I finally settled on curried quinoa because if you know me you know that spice trumps sweet every time. One of my favorite curry dishes is made with cauliflower, potato, onion and peas. That sounded like it would be great with some pumpkin mixed in and to make it easy I roasted the vegetables along with the squash. So easy – So good!

Kristy

Ingredients:

• 4 softball sized gold nugget squash, or 2 sweet dumpling or equivalent size pie pumpkin (not a carving pumpkin as they are rather stringy)
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
• 1 potato, cut into chunks
• 1 onion, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus a little extra to coat the outside of the pumpkin
• 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 cup unsweetened low fat coconut milk (almond or soy work too), warmed for a few seconds in the microwave.
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (I used Bolivian black quinoa but any variety will work)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With your hand or a basting brush lightly coat the pumpkins with olive oil, pierce with a knife and place on a baking sheet.
2. In a bowl or resealable plastic bag place the cauliflower, onion, potato, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir or shake to evenly coat all the vegetables in the oil.
3. Spread the vegetables out in a single layer on another baking sheet.
4.  The pumpkins take about 45 minutes to an hour to bake depending on the size so I like to give them a 25 minute head start before putting the rest of the vegetables in the oven. Pace the pan with vegetables in the oven and bake along with the pumpkins 20-25 minutes or until you can pierce the skin of the pumpkin easily with a knife and the vegetables are tender.
5. Remove from the oven, cut the tops off of the pumpkins and scoop out and discard the seeds. Scoop out the pumpkin being careful not to cut into the skin if you plan on serving in the shell.
6. Place the pumpkin in a large bowl and mash with a fork adding the milk a little at a time. Stir in the curry powder, turmeric and garam masala.
7. Warm the peas in the microwave and add to the pumpkin along with the roasted vegetables and quinoa.
8. Spoon evenly back into the pumpkin shells and serve.

Nutritional Info:

Makes 4 small stuffed pumpkins/ squash or about 4 cups.

Serving size 1 pumpkin or 1 cup.

Nutrients per serving:  Calories: 359, Cal. from Fat: 71, Total Fat: 8g, Sat. Fat: 2g, Carbs: 64g, Fiber: 9g, Sugars: 8g, Protein: 12g, Sodium: 277mg, Chol: 0mg

Notes:

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.