Stuffed Mystery Squash

The vegetable situation in my house is getting sad. Heartbreaking, really. I need to get to the grocery store and get some green things. This evening was the last hurrah of my crisper drawer, which contained some Russian red kale and nothing else.

My basket of onions, etc. contained a squash of some sort. I had tempeh in my freezer and wanted to riff on Lolo’s tamarind glaze after picking up a container of concentrate at the international foods market in Davis. What started as marinated tempeh with some roasted chunks of mystery squash changed form when I cut the mystery squash in half and scooped out the seeds.

They’re like the most perfect little bowls!!

I made a marinade for the tempeh with a bit of olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, smoked paprika, black pepper, a knob of tamarind concentrate, a splash of sesame oil and a bit of sugar.

I crumbled the tempeh into that and let it sit. The stuffing was made from whole wheat bread crumbs, kale, a diced white onion, and some “No Chicken” broth.

After marinating for a while, I mixed in the tempeh with the stuffing and packed it in the squash.

Here they are, ready to go in the oven:

I baked the halves for a while and took them out when the meat of the squash was fork-tender. Aren't they gorgeous?

I took some photographs, and then got ready to eat! Alas, the onions weren’t cooked. I emptied the stuffing out of the squash and cooked it in a pan for a bit.

Hey, they can’t all be grand slams on the first try.

The tamarind gives the marinade an interesting kick, and I didn’t add very much sugar… I can definitely see how this would be better as a truly sweet glaze over the grill.

It tasted very earthy with the kale and all, but in the future I’ll probably do something more maple-y, or closer to traditional stuffing with nuts and mushrooms and celery and such.

I'll also caramelize the onions in advance.

All in all, a pretty tasty learning experience, and Miss Bunny got to enjoy some treats as well. Miss Bunny is my special lady that someone found on the street and asked me to take in. She's pretty sweet to me, but a little excitable when it comes to food. These were taken just after she forcibly jerked the kale stem from my hand!! She likes to run around the living room and check out my roommate's cat. My roommate's cat is terrified by the whole thing, which delights me.