A Healthy Harvest/Wild Rice and Havarti-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Fall is truly one of my favorite seasons, the spectacular colors, the cooler temps(although we're having a heat wave here in Chicago at the moment), and the abundance of fresh produce. My heart begins to sing when I walk into my market and see all the beautiful squash piled high like a mountain of abundance.

I'm one of those crazy people that will actually sit down and read a recipe book. I may never make a dish from the book, but I enjoy exploring new possibilities. 

A friend of mine shared a magazine with me that is published by the Colorado Mountain Parks Electric Company. A skinny little magazine, but it's packed with lots of great information, and best of all, fabulous recipes. Since I love squash, the featured recipe in the September issue caught my eye,

Wild Rice and Havarti Stuffed Acorn Squash

Halves of acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, spinach, pistachios, cranberries, and chipotle. 

The squash is brushed with melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, 

And baked for 45 minutes. They already look great!

While the squash bakes, the rice mixture is made, a combination of wild rice, spinach, cranberries, pistachios, and chipotle in adobo sauce. Sounds strange, but the peppers are the perfect compliment. 

The rice mixture is then topped with shredded havarti cheese. 

  
The squash are returned to the oven for another 15 minutes or so. 

The next step is a bread crumb topping that includes chopped pistachios. 

The final step...take a bit and say YUMMMM!!!

You can find the recipe HERE. If this looks good to you, check out the creator's website, Half Baked Harvest. Teighan is a celebrated chef who has been featured on The Food Channel, HGTV, O Magazine. Her first cookbook was just published earlier this year. You can find it HERE. Her book is all about living a simple life, eating seasonally, and using non-processed whole foods. I think you'll enjoy her site. 

I'm off to enjoy my squash :)