Moroccan-Style Stuffed Acorn Squash

Vegetables, garbanzos, raisins and couscous in a lovely Moroccan broth taste delicious inside butter and brown sugar-brushed acorn squash. You can experiment with different vegetables, or add diced chicken. Feel free to be creative with your amounts - I usually freestyle and end up with leftover stuffing mixture, which tastes great on its own the next day. For vegetarians, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 60 mins
• Calories: 502 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 carrot, (7-1/2")s carrots, chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• 2 large acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1 cup garbanzo beans, drained

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Step 2

Arrange squash halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, or until tender. Dissolve the sugar in the melted butter. Brush squash with the butter mixture, and keep squash warm while preparing the stuffing.

Step 3

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, celery, and carrots, and cook 5 minutes. Mix in the garbanzo beans and raisins. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper, and continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.

Step 4

Pour the chicken broth into the skillet, and mix in the couscous. Cover skillet, and turn off heat. Allow couscous to absorb liquid for 5 minutes. Stuff squash halves with the skillet mixture to serve.