When I walk into the grocery store and see colorful piles of butternut squash, acorn squash, and pumpkins, I know that autumn has arrived. I like to grab one of each and line them up along a windowsill in my kitchen and enjoy the bright, fall colors of orange, green and brown. Then the question all comes up…what to do with them now?

I’m not a vegetarian, definitely not a vegan, although I always buy organic, antibiotic-free, grass-fed, free-roaming, held by a loving individual for up to 8 hours per day (kidding!) vegetables, dairy and meat. When I planned on trying this recipe it was perfect for our low-carb, high veggie and protein meal-plan we are trying to stick to. The recipe was easy to follow and I actually had too much stuffing and had to scatter some along the bottom of the pan to use it all up and not waste any delectable morsels.

I added dried blueberries for a sweet addition, and dried cranberries would work just as well. We found our meal satisfying to the eye and the stomach. The flavors melded perfectly of salty savory meat and onions, earthy squash and sweet dried fruit. Yum!

Beef-Stuffed Butternut Squash

Serves: 2

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, cut in half
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 2 slices of bacon
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cut squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Place face down in a greased or non-stick baking dish with 1/2 inch of hot water and bake for 30 minutes.

2. While it’s in the oven, cook the bacon in a pan until crispy, set aside and leave the bacon fat in the pan. Add 3/4 of the sliced onions and the all of the celery to the pan and then add the beef. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the cinnamon. Continue stirring until the beef is finished, remove from heat and place in a bowl.

3. Remove the squash from the oven. When you can handle it, scrape out some of the guts, leaving  about 1/4 inch of squash all the way around. Add the scraped out squash to the bowl with meat. Crumble your bacon and add that to the bowl as well. Mix well and then stuff your squashes with the beef mixture and place back in the 350ºF oven for 20 minutes.

4. While your squash are baking, dice the remaining 1/4 onion. Add the onion and balsamic vinegar to a sauté pan and cook over low heat to caramelize them. Remove squash from oven, top with caramelized onions.