Amaranth, Quinoa, & Pinto Bean Stuffed Squash With a Tepin Chile and Agave Glaze

I grew this beautiful and quite large cushaw squash this past summer. This specific variety came from the Navajo Nation and is another plant I grow instead of your typical zucchini.

The wonderful thing about this squash is that it will last well into the winter months if stored properly. I picked this squash in September and cooked it at the end of December! It was perfectly delicious even after all that time. This particular squash was over 12 inches long!

I decided to roast this squash and stuff it with two different fillings. One side is an amaranth, quinoa, & pinto bean stuffing with a tepin chile & agave glaze. The other side is a pinto bean, tomato, pepper & onion salad with a tomatillo, cilantro & jalapeno dressing.

Amaranth is an amazing life giving seed. It has been celebrated for thousands of years by indigenous people and there are dozens of varieties that grow all over the world. It was used not only as food but also as dye. It has twice the protein of corn or rice and contains calcium, magnesium, lysine, and iron. It is a great source of fiber as well! It is so versatile and can be prepared in different ways offering different textures and tastes. It can be toasted, popped, turned into a flour, and more! When cooking whole it is best to add to another grain like quinoa because cooked alone it can get mushy and turn into more of a porridge. Adding it to another grain gives it something to stick to and makes the dish more of a solid texture.

Tepin chiles are small bright red chiles that are considered the ''mother of all chiles''. It is thought to be the chile that all our current chiles came from. These little chiles are bursting with flavor! They are usually ingested by birds and the seeds survive the digestion process to live another day. Because of this process, they can be a little finicky to grow yourself, but are well worth the effort! If you can get your hands on these, they can be dried and used all winter long. These little chiles have ruined my ability to enjoy your average commercial dried red pepper.

This dish is so healthy and filled with wonderful plant fiber. Because of all the fiber in this dish it may help control blood sugar levels. It contains folate, magnesium, zinc, lysine, and iron. Quinoa contains all nine essential amino acids and is a complete protein! If you are avoiding agave you can replace it with date syrup instead.

Roasted Squash

Directions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut your squash in half, remove the seeds and set aside. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet.

3. Cook squash about 30 minutes .You want it almost completely cooked but not all the way.

4. Flip the squash over , add a dash of salt and pepper to it ( and/or optional brush of oil) and put it back in the over until a fork can easily pierce the squash . This could be another 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your squash.

5. Pull the squash out when fully cooked and set aside while you prepare the filling.

Amaranth, quinoa, & Pinto Bean Filling With Tepin Chile Agave Glaze

Ingredients

1 Cup Rinsed Amaranth

1 Cup Rinsed Quinoa

1 1/2 Cups Pinto Beans or Other Bean Variety

Salt to taste

3 Cups of Water or Veggie Broth

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder

2 Teaspoons of Garlic Powder

1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

For the Glaze

Tepin Chiles to taste ( I added 14 crushed balls to 1/2 cup agave but I wanted more spice )

You can use any peppers in replacement.

1/4 - 1/2 cup Agave ( This depends on how much glaze you would like. Less glaze means less sugar)

Optional Sliced Green Onion For Garnish

Directions

1. Add amaranth and quinoa to a sauce pan and turn on Medium heat.

2. Add the water/veggie broth and seasonings to the sauce pan and stir well.

3. Simmer the mixture with the lid off until thoroughly cooked. You may need to lower the temperature of your stove. Quinoa should be clear instead of white. Moisture should be fully absorbed. This takes about 10 minutes. You can add more moisture if your quinoa is not fully cooked. Add 1/4 cup water at a time.

4. Once cooked, remove and let it sit for 5 minutes.

5. Add the pinto beans and stir. Set aside and prepare the tepin chile & agave glaze.

6. In a separate pan add agave and chiles together. If you are unsure the spicy level of your peppers you can add less and then add more after tasting.

7. Cook the agave and peppers down for about 8 minutes. this cooks out the extra moisture and as it cools it will be more sticky and glaze like.

8. Drizzle half of the glaze over the filling and stir it all together. If you are wanting less sugar you can skip this step.

9. Add the filling to your stuffed squash.

10. Drizzle the rest of the glaze over the squash and filling.

11. Garnish with sliced green onion.

WFPB option- If you are avoiding agave you can replace it with date syrup ( dates + water blended). This adds more fiber and nutrients to the dish.