Dinner: Stuffed Acorn Squash

Try this dish in place of stuffing or as a vegetable side dish this Thanksgiving. You can also enjoy it any other night for dinner. It's packed with flavor and nutritious ingredients.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Kale

Health benefits of Stuffed Acorn Squash

Kale is an excellent source of calcium, which has an important role in egg maturation and follicle development in the ovaries.

Ingredients

2 medium acorn squash (about 1 ¼ pounds each), halved widthwise and seeded
Cooking Spray
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
8 ounces Cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 3-ounce links apple chicken sausage, cooked and diced
8 ounces kale, stemmed and chopped
½ teaspoons salt (optional)
½ teaspoons ground black pepper
½ cup fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup dried cornbread stuffing

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Coat a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and place squash cut-side down in the pan. Add about an inch of water and bake for 30 minutes.
While the squash is baking, add olive oil to a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sauté mushrooms and chicken sausage until golden brown. Add kale, salt (optional) and pepper and sauté until kale is wilted, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and cornbread stuffing to the mushroom mixture and simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed.
Remove squash from the oven. Turn the squash over in the pan so the cut side is up. Fill each squash with ¼ of the mushroom mixture then return to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.
Cut each squash in half and serve. 
Chef Tip: If you can’t find kale, you can substitute spinach in this recipe.