Happy veterans day from Hawaii! We are just starting our vacation here, and we can’t wait to explore the island of Oahu. Follow along on Instagram @living.in.sugar for what where doing and eating day to day! But! Lets chat real quick about this recipe I posted last week about a lonely stuffed acorn squash filled with all sorts of goodies. Black Currant and Saffron rice goodies to be exact.

This is such a comforting fall/winter dish and it’s super easy to put together — also, you can easily scale for a crowd if you need to make more than just 4 squash halves worth. I’ve been obsessed with black currants lately and they are just the perfect dash of sweetness to add to this dish. Yasss.

Also, lets not forget the saffron. Saffron is more of a muted flavor in this dish {as the recipe’s written} but you could bump it up and go all in with some legit saffron rice verses just flavoring the dish with a few saffron stamens. Completely up to you. Regardless, you’ll get a lovely earthly flavor as well as a subtle yellow hue, which hello, goes perfectly with the flesh of the squash.

So aside from the two rather *exotic* flavors of the black currant and saffron, this Stuffed Acorn Squash comes together like peanut butter and jelly, like sonny and cher…like — ok I’ll stop.

Anyway! You can also make both components of this dish ahead of time and then put them together when you are ready to serve. best. meal prep. ever.  So I hope you enjoy and also don’t forget to thank a veteran for their service today!

Happy Cooking!

XO,

Danielle

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Black Currant & Saffron Rice Stuffed Squash

Who needs a bowl when you’ve got acorn squash??? This sweet and savory combo is perfect for those chilly evenings curled next to the fire.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 4 People

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2 Acorn squash halved, seeded and roasted
• 4 cups cooked rice white or saffron rice
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 Cup Black Currants dried
• 1/2 Onion chopped
• 1/2 cup Chicken Stock low sodium
• 1 tbsp. oil like canola oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp saffron stamens
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425F. Halve and seed the acorn squash, lightly oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until just soft. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat oil over med-high heat. Add chopped onion and cook until soft. Follow with ground beef and good through.
3. Add rice and spices and toss to coat. Follow with chicken stock. Cook until heated through.
4. “stuff” your acorn squash halves with heaping mounds of filling. Place acorn squash in heated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until squash is done and filling is heated through. (note: you can prepare both the squash and the filling ahead and then combine them & bake 20 minutes before you want to eat).
5. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.