I picked up two new spices at a local shop in NJ.

 

 

It was small business Saturday…so I HAD to get something to do my part and support the economy!

 

 

Plus, these spices were amazing!

 

I had this beautiful sweet dumpling squash and no idea what to do with it.  I looked around a little on the internet, but didn’t find anything exciting, so I came up with my own recipe for stuffed squash.  BTW, did you know you can eat the skin of this squash?

 

I started by making red quinoa following the instructions on the box.

 

 

And combining it with these premade stirfry veggies from Whole Foods.

 

I added in olive oil, mushrooms, and Chinese Five Spice.

 

 

This combo looked and smelled so good that even the BOY asked about it.  Although he was disappointed to find out there was no meat involved.

 

Look how fabulous my first vegetarian dinner turned out!  The Chinese five spice makes for a fabulous flavor combination.  I was super impressed with how good it was.

 

Spiced Quinoa Stuffed Squash

2 servings  (actually makes really good leftovers)

 

Ingredients

1 squash

1 cup cooked red quinoa

2 cups stirfry veggies (mushrooms, carrots, peppers, onions, etc.)

1 tbsp Chinese five spice (more as needed)

1 tbsp Olive oil

 

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Wash squash and slice it in half.  Scoop out the seeds (you can bake them like pumpkin seeds).  Bake flat side down in baking dish sprayed with cooking spray for ~40 minutes, until squash is fork tender.

-Meanwhile, stir fry veggies in olive oil over medium heat until soft and fragrant.  Add in Chinese five spice and stir.  Add in cooked quinoa.  Stir to coat and heat until warm.

-Place quinoa into squash halves and bake for another 10 minutes.

-Eat and enjoy this delicious vegetarian dish!