Friday 12 September 2014

Stuffed squash with tex mex rice and beans

We are almost halfway through Vegan MoFo.  How are you finding it?  I confess that I have less energy for it than previous years.  Less energy to visit other Vegan MoFo blogs, to comment and engage.  Less time for my new Green Gourmet Giraffe Facebook page.  Less time for visiting the blogs I visit regularly.  And between you and me, I don't think I would even be getting up so many posts if I hadn't prepared ahead so much.

I had known it would be a busy month with three weekends out of town.  I just hadn't counted on the stolen car really turning it into a horror month.  We now find ourselves in the position of trying to find a new car so that we can go away on holiday at the end of the month.  (And I hope there are no thieves reading this and deciding to find out house and break in while we are away .  I couldn't bear it!)

But when you see these cute little squashes you will know that I shouldn't really complain.  After all I am lucky to be able to go to our local farmers market and buy such cuties.  I couldn't resist.  And while I probably should have been talking to the farmer about where they were grown and what variety of squash they are, instead I was asking how to make them sit up straight and  been told that maybe I would like square squashes like those square watermelons in Japan.

It was a shock to me when I started food blogging to discover just how narrow the definition of pumpkin is outside Australia.  What we call pumpkin is often called squash elsewhere.  Those funny orange halloween pumpkins from America are rarely seen here though the imports are now seen in the shops each October.  I have always thought that "pumpkins" (eg Butternut Pumpkin, Queensland Blue and Jap Pumpkins which are similar to kabocha) have lovely orange flavoursome flesh whereas squash has pale bland flavourless flesh.  These little squash definitely were quite bland and stringy.

Truth be told the squashes were all about style and elegance rather than taste.  I wasn't so keen on eating the stringy flesh but I loved the filling.  Fortunately I had so much filling that I baked the leftovers in a casserole dish.  It served as handy leftovers for E when I was out to dinner with a friend.  You might notice in the above photo that I used biocheese in it.  I love that stuff.  So yummy and melty.

In case you are wondering about how I made them sit nicely, I took out the stem and was able to sit them on their heads so the peaked bottoms were at the top like little pixie hats.  So cute. Perhaps this might explain why Sylvia felt the need to surround it with her little and tiny things while I took some photos the next morning.

I am sending this to Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary for her Shop Local blog event, that celebrates bloggers cooking with locally sourced food.  The squash and leek came from the farmers market and the lemon from our backyard.

More stuffed recipes from Green Gourmet Giraffe: 

Squash Stuffed with Tex Mex rice and beans
An original Green Gourmet Giraffe recipe
Serves 4-6

2-3 small squash
Slurp of olive oil
1 large leek, washed and chopped
2 cups brown basmati rice, cooked
2 tbsp chipotle sauce
100g vegan cheese, grated
400g tin corn kernels, rinsed and drained
400g tin black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp lemon juice

Bake squash for about 1-2 hours at 180 C until they feel soft.  Chop off the top and scrape out seeds.

Fry the leek for about 10-15 minutes until soft.  Mix with the remaining ingredients and taste to check seasoning.

Stuff as much stuffing as possible into the squash and bake for about 1 hour at 180 C.  If you have remaining filling, bake in a greased oven dish until top is crispy - possibly a bit less time then stuffed squash.

On the Stereo:
Together Through Life: Bob Dylan

This post is part of Vegan Month of Food September 2014.  This year for Vegan MoFo my theme is The Letter S.  Today is S for Smoky Fridays.  Go to my Vegan MoFo list for more of my 2014 Vegan MoFo posts. 

24 comments:

  1. Oooh, those are cute. Stuffed things are SO pretty. LOVELY dish. Good luck getting through your busy month!

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  2. They do look adorable :) I've only really ever liked butternut pumpkin. Whenever I've bought something sold as a squash, it's been pretty bland!

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  3. This is devastating, because one of my favourite things about North America is the incredibly mind-bogglingly delicious squash I eat almost daily in fall. Today was possibly my favourite: delicata squash. Small kabochas are always winners, though acorn and "sweet dumpling" squash, which this looks a bit like I think, can be a bit hit or miss...

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    1. @ Hannah - I wish I knew what it was. I always think kabocha looks like our Jap pumpkin - I have tried delicata squash but not been that impressed. It makes sense that it is good in America seeing that is where these squashes originated (I think). It was the stringiness that I really didn't like - it was tougher than the spaghetti squash strands

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  4. Oh what a gorgeous dish and beautifully presented too. Like you I have less energy for blogging full stop, and visiting and commenting on fellow bloggers and new bloggers Mofo posts, not that I don't want to, just energy. I even missed out on writing a blog post yesterday due to work commitment and being too tired when I got home. Hopefully tonights post will make up for it.

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    1. @ shaheen - I think it is just a matter of what we can do - I meant to do a post on Saturday and just didn't have the energy. I still have good blogging energy but just not for as many posts as during Vegan MoFo - and have lots of things to write up if only I had time

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  5. Ugh, how awful about your car! Hope you find a new one and come home to your house exactly the way you left it! The stuffing for this squash sounds delicious. I'm definitely ready for squash consumption to begin!

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  6. My my, this is a lovely stuffed squash! These little squashes are super gorgeous….actually the squashes and pumpkins in the U.S. come across a bit bland as long as you add something else to them.

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    1. Thanks Rika - I think I wasn't so bothered by the blandness because the rice was tasty but the stringy texture didn't work for me

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  7. it's funny how some winter squash are absolutely rich with flavor, and others seem completely bland and flavorless. And then there's the creamy/stringy issue too. Sorry to hear it's sort of a crap MoFo for you - I applaud your determination to stick with it! I try to remember to make time at night to cruise around on Randomofo.com and check out a few blogs... to be a part of the mofo spirit. Good luck with the car.

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    1. @ Amey - indeed not all squashes are created equal - September is just one of those months! I think random mofo is great and have been trying to spend some time on it

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  8. I keep hearing of people having their cars stolen. Happened to my BIL and his wife in Canberra a few months ago. Good luck with buying a new car. I love the look of your stuffed squash and Sylvia's little things are very cute and what a pretty plate xx

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    1. @ charlie I have heard a few terrible stories lately about cars - hopefully we might get lucky with looking for cars - have done so in the past but haven't been in the situation where we need a car for holidays!

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  9. Yum Johanna! I love me some Tex Mex, and this combination of beans and rice sounds marvellous.

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  10. Such a beautiful and festive dish! I think you're doing an amazing job with mofo, and I'm impressed by all your preparation!

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  11. What a beautiful dish! How could one not want to show case those beautiful little squashes! Thank you for linking up with Shop Local :)

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  12. I am so glad I prepared ahead of time too. Although, I'm a little worried because most of my preparing was for the last 2 weeks and the next 2 weeks less so! I also completely forgot about blogging yesterday, which doesn't bother me, but does speak to time and energy being in short supply some days. Anyway, I hope you are holding up ok and these are absolutely gorgeous squashes - so pretty! Perfect for our increasing autumn weather too.

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    1. @ kari - I am relieved I prepared as the next two weeks will be even more crazy than the ones just gone and I will need to schedule posts to keep up.

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  13. The whole pumpkin and squash thing is so funny isn't it? And I love how dinky and single serve these are :D

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  14. They might be bland and stringy, but the filling looks really tasty. Just think of them as stylish little bowls! I hope the lovely weather today made it a bit easier for you to get around, and you were able to get around and look for a car.

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    1. @ Linda - we have had some nice sunny days but the last couple of days it seems to have rained right about the time school gets out but at least these showers are passing quickly. I like very much to think of them as stylish bowls :-)

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  15. As someone from North America, I'm definitely into the mindset that pumpkins are orange, halloween things ;p
    Although I am not a fan of pumpkin, I love squash and this recipe sounds utterly delicious =)

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  16. Very cute! Love stuffing different vegetables!
    I'm finding heaps more pumpkin available these last few weeks - prob because of halloween soon!

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  17. Sorry to hear the squash were stringy but oh my they do look fantastic! How lovely to be able to grow lemons in your back yard too :) Thank you for linking up with Shop Local, and apologies for taking so long to pop by and comment!

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