vegetable & beef stuffed acorn squash

I love walking into the market and seeing the loads of squash right now. Since the weather is so erratic lately, it’s one of the few markers of fall to me. I also love how squash pretty much lasts forever (or at least for many weeks), so I am not in a fury to cook it before it goes bad. As usual, in an attempt to clear out my fridge and make room for the current week’s CSA, I diced up tons of veggies and added it to this dish. It was such a great way to add a variety of veggies to our diets. This was the perfect squash to stuff with meat too, as it isn’t as sweet as many of its counterparts.

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 zucchini, diced
2 lbs. grass-fed ground beef
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2-3 acorn squash
1 tablespoon ghee

1. Preheat oven to 375. I then place the whole squash (because it is so freakin difficult to cut through raw) in a oven-safe casserole dish. I add 1 cup of water to the dish. I cook for 30 minutes. I let it cool, I then cut it in half lengthwise (from stem to end) & remove the seeds.
2. While the squash is baking & cooling, I make the filling.
   • Mix the ground beef with the tomato paste, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano.
   • Saute onions in 1 tablespoon of ghee until translucent.
   • Then add the rest of the veggies to the pan and saute for an additional 5 minutes or so., Then add the meat, and saute until the meat is browned and mixed with the veggies.
3. Now, fill the cavities of the squash with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed acorn squash back into the oven. Bake for another 30 minutes or until tender.