Who is ready for fall? I can honestly say I’m! Though I do really enjoy fall as a season, to me, summer is where it’s at! I hate to see the beautiful warm weather leave. One thing I absolutely love about fall though is the food! There are so many delicious foods in season and that does make me happy. In this post I am going to share with you 3 vegetables you may not buy that often but you totally should!
I never really bought them either until I started my CSA. If you are not familiar, a CSA is community supported agriculture. I pay for a share in a local organic farm and each week they send me delicious organic vegetables! It’s a total win because I get to support a local farm and I get these amazing veggies!
Acorn Squash
No joke, the first year I saw these pop up into my box I panicked. I always saw these in the supermarket but would always walk on by. Never had it even crossed my mind to pick one up and give it a try. Well, once it showed up I had no excuses! The first year I made soup. I think it was an apple and acorn squash soup and it was great but no one else in my family ate it but me.
The next year I was a little more confident in my cooking abilities and decided to try stuffing it with other delicious ingredients. And that is how my Sausage and Apple Acorn Squash was born! Now, my family still won’t eat it but I do and it is incredible! I can’t wait to make it again this year!
Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 lb mild ground pork sausagew
- 1 granny smith apple
- 1 tsp avocado oil
- 4 tbsp parmesan cheese
- salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 ̊.
- Half both acorn squashes and remove seeds.
- Spray all the halves with avocado oil and sprinkle salt.
- Place on a baking sheet and put in over for about 45 minutes.
- While they are cooking make the filling. Cook the quinoa according to the package.
- Brown the sausage and drain all the fat.
- Dice the apple into small pieces.
- Mix together quinoa, sausage, apple, and 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese.
- Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts.
- At the 45 minute mark check to see how tender the squash is. You want it to be almost fully tender with a little longer left to go. Fill each half with the stuffing and put back in the oven for about 10 minutes.
- Remove and top each with 1/2 tbsp of parmesan cheese.
Notes
Brussel Sprouts
To me brussel sprouts were those green vegetables you never ate as a child but never actually tried either. I remember my husband asking me to buy them and I thought he had lost his mind. Well we all know the importance of always trying things so I did and I fell in love! I always say if you aren’t a fan then you probably haven’t made them the right way!
For this recipe I added bacon. I mean how can you really go wrong! You can add bacon to just about anything and it will be a success!
Bacon Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
- 1 pound brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 2 slices bacon
- salt
- 1 tsp avocado oil
Instructions
- Cook bacon in large saute pan. When done remove from pan and set aside. When cooled chop.
- Remove all bacon drippings from pan. Add a splash of avocado oil to the pan and heat.
- Then add brussel sprouts. Season them with salt.
- Saute them until tender. Then add bacon back in and continue cooking a little longer.
- Taste them. If more salt is needed then season. Make sure you taste before adding more salt since the bacon will add salt!
Notes
Eggplant
Eggplant was another one of those vegetables I for sure never ate as a child. As an adult I loved eggplant rollatini but that was about it. I can remember my mom loving eggplant when I was younger but I would never try it.
Even now eggplant isn’t a favorite of mine. The texture is just a bit strange for me but again they showed up in my weekly CSA. My first thought was to give them away but I decided to try and be a little creative.
My kids were going through this chicken meatball phase. I was making meatballs once a week to put into their lunch and decided to try and hide some eggplant in beef meatballs. Now, they totally caught me but I ended up using them as my weekly meal prep for work. I sauteed some spaghetti squash, added some red sauce, and the meatballs and I had one delicious meal! I looked forward to lunch each day that week!
Eggplant Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 cups diced eggplant
- 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp avocado oil
- salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 ̊. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the avocado oil.
- When hot season the eggplant with salt and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- When tender remove from pan and add to a food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped.
- In a large bowl add ground beef, eggplant and remaining Ingredients. Mix together. Make about 15 meatballs.
- Heat the pan again and brown the meatballs. Once they are browned move the pan Into the oven. Cook the meatballs until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.
Notes
I wanted to share these with you because sometimes we just need that little push to go outside our comfort zone. I know I did and hopefully these three recipes can help push you outside of yours!
If you make any of them please post a pic and tag me on Instagram @coffee.donuts.fitness I would love to see it!
