Moroccan Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is essentially how I judged this recipe and deemed it worthy of sharing with you:

• easy? Yes.
• yummy? Most definitely.
• ingredients easily found at supermarket? You got it. (I had most everything in my pantry, actually. Win!)

And here we are.

You'll need:

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

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

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.

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.

Pour the vegetable 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.

Beans & Cous-Cous

I'd like to introduce you to an old college favorite: beans and quinoa. Actually, this is beans and couscous, as I was out of quinoa. Either grain works well. It's yummy, nutritious, cheap. The frequency with which I ate this is alarming to consider, but I was the poster child for Broke College Kid.

You can adjust this to make as much or as little as you want. You can also use the leftovers to fill burrito shells. This particular recipe made about three servings.

1 can beans
1 small can corn
1/2 red onion
1/2 green pepper
1/2 jar of salsa (Trader Joe's has the BEST sweet but spicy salsa... Salsa Autentica!)
Couscous prepared according to package

Dice and saute onion and pepper 5 - 7 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and heat through.
Serve over grain.