We’re entering mid-winter, and if you’re like us, the cold weather and extended time inside might be starting to get you down. To counter those wintertime blues, we like to cozy up at home and make healthy comfort food – like today’s recipe: Herbed Turkey Stuffed Squash!
This is a recipe that I (Jo) and my husband, Adam developed together for our family. Cooking is one of our favorite things to do together – we’ve developed several recipes from our new cookbook, Conscious Cleanse Cookbook together, including the Squashie Pancakes and Curry Chicken Salad.
Cooking nourishing, healthy, delicious meals for ourselves and for our 6 year old and 8 month old kiddos brings us connection as a family and a lot of joy, and we want to share some of that joy with you today with this recipe. This is one of our go-to healthy comfort meals – it’s warming and filling, perfect for a cozy meal by the fire.
You can easily make it totally plant-based by swapping out the turkey filling for one made with chopped mushrooms, quinoa, or chickpeas.
This recipe falls into our 80:20 Lifestyle category because of the food combination – during our cleanse we eat proteins (like turkey) and starches (like winter squash) separately to help ease digestion and encourage detox. To learn more about our online program, including our cleanse and 80:20 Lifestyle, click here.
We hope you enjoy this recipe, and let us know if you try this recipe in the comments below. We love hearing from you!
With love and cozy comfort food,
Jo & Jules
Herbed Turkey Stuffed Squash
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 small acorn squash
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1 apple, finely chopped
- 2 TB. olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 3 TB. parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp Himalaya sea salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Using a long serrated knife, cut squash in half. Scoop out the seeds. Place squash facing up in a large baking pan. Brush with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes.
While squash is cooking, warm 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally. Add in ground turkey, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring and breaking meat into pieces.
Add in carrots and celery, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add in remaining ingredients, and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
Divide the turkey stuffing between the squash. Place squash back in the oven for 20 minutes, or until meat is golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve warm.
