SS&GF: Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Welcome to Slightly Indulgent Mondays – fabulous food made healthier!  Please link your healthier recipe below & check out this week’s give-away.   Instead of doing a full feature on a blogger each week, I’ve decided to share a favorite or two from the week before.  Last week there was a beautiful Cushaw Pie recipe that’s perfect for the fall weather.  (Cushaw is a type of squash.)  Which leads to this…

Squash in all forms makes me happy.  We’ve been getting locally grown, farm fresh, organic squash from our CSA lately and it’s amazing how much better it tastes than store-bought squash.  It’s one of those foods that just feels good to eat – even the skin.  Quite honestly, I like it roasted with nothing on it – not even salt or pepper.  But sometimes it’s fun to dress it up a little.  That’s what I did here.

I like to include squash in my meals as a carb – it has so many great health benefits, including beta carotene, vitamins A & C, dietary fiber…read all about it here.  I steer clear of certain carbs – white pototoes and white rice to name a couple.  They tend to spike my blood sugar and then I feel tired.  Choosing healthier carbs has been an important part of my long-term weight loss, and this is one of them I love.  It’s also naturally gluten-free, which is always a plus in my book.

Instead of stuffing this beautiful squash with a greasy sausage, I went for apples, dates, and walnuts with a little cinnamon and agave. It’s a simple stuffing that you could easily use with any other winter squash.

If you don’t know how to roast a squash, read my tutorial.  You can throw it in your CrockPot, too, which creates a really flavorful, moist flesh.

What’s your favorite way to eat squash?

Reminders:

Holiday Food Fest happens this Thursday at Phoebe’s place, Cents to Get Debt Free.  This week’s theme is Edible Gifts.  And, she’s giving away a fabulous EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Scale.  I have one and I love it!

Help kids with cancer! Kid Friendly Recipes – The Blogosphere’s Best is ready for download!  You can donate any amount, and every cent you donate will go directly to St. Jude.

Printer-friendly recipe

Apple & Walnut Roasted Acorn Squash
serves 2 – 4 as a side

1 medium acorn squash
kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
1 medium apple, peeled and cubed into ¼ inch
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
2 Medjool  dates, pitted and chopped
¼ teaspoon good quality cinnamon
2 tablespoons agave, divided
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wash and dry the outside of the squash, cut it in half, and remove the seeds.  Season the squash flesh lightly with salt and pepper.  Place the squash flesh side down in a baking dish and add about ¼ – ½ inch of water to the pan.  Place the pan uncovered into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

While squash is baking, prepare the stuffing.  Combine apple walnuts, dates, cinnamon, 1 tablespoon agave, and melted butter in a bowl.  After 30 minutes, remove the squash from the oven and divide the stuffing between the two halved, placing the stuffing in the cavity of the squash.
Cover with aluminum foil and return to the oven for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes , heat remaining one tablespoon of agave slightly in the microwave.  Uncover the squash, baste with agave and bake for another 10 – 20 minutes, or until squash flesh and apples are tender.  Serve as desired, either as halves or cut into smaller pieces.

This week’s give-away:

I learned from everyone’s comments that decent vegetable peelers are missing in your kitchens.  So, this week I’m giving away my favorite peeler – the one I use here to peel a butternut squash. 

To enter:

• Link a recipe/post that fits the Slightly Induglent theme (healthier in some way) and include a link back to this post.
• Leave a comment below.
• Tweet about this give-away and leave a separate comment telling me you did.
• Share about this give-away on your blog and link back here, then leave a separate comment telling me you did.

When you link, please tell us who you are and what you’re cooking . For example, I would enter:

Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten Free – Triple Berry Coconut Cake. Please link to your individual post, not your homepage. Proper blog carnival etiquette dictates that you link back to this site so your readers can find the recipes here. Thanks for your help on this.