Recipe: Stuffed Summer Squash

Recently, my husband and I decided to throw a dinner party.  It was kind of spontaneous, which is my polite way of saying that we never sent out a formal invite and forgot how many people we verbally invited.  Since we had no idea how many people we were going to get, who those people were, or how long anyone was going to stay, I was kind of stuck for what to cook.  I wanted vegetables, because I've become positively insane about vegetables.  I wanted it to be something that could be eaten with the hands, in case there wasn't enough seating room.  And finally, I wanted it to be interesting.  This is the recipe I finally came up with.  While I served it as a side dish/ appetizer, it could easily become a vegetarian main dish for a smaller number of people. 

It worked out decently, if I do say so myself.  Even my husband liked it, despite his avowed distaste for "squish."  Our smallest guest, or at least the smallest guest eating solid food, pronounced it to be very tasty.   Since he's three years old, I guess that this qualifies as a kid-friendly dish.  There were a couple of items that might have seemed a little odd to include, but there was a good reason for both of them.  I included the anise seed because it's supposed to help the digestion and our menu for that evening included a lot of meat.  I included the wine because I wanted to give the rice a bit more depth of flavor.  After I decided to make this, I realized that it would be a good entry into the Cookthink Root Source Challenge # 21: Yellow Squash.

Stuffed Summer Squash (serves 10; approx. $1.16/serving)

1 cup basmati rice

1 cup lentils

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1/2 tablespoon anise seed

1 bay leaf

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons minced jarred garlic

1 cup water (plus extra for soaking)

1/2 cup Daphne wine (or other white)

5 zucchini

5 yellow summer squash

3/4 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Equipment:

• Two bowls
• Strainer
• Saucepan with a lid
• Roasting pans - I used the disposable/reusable aluminum kind

1. Place the rice and the lentils into separate bowls.  Cover both with water and allow to soak 30 minutes.
2. Drain the rice and lentils. 
3. In your saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. 
4. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and anise seed.  Sweat over medium heat until the onion is soft but not brown.
5. Add the rice, lentils, water and wine.  Increase heat and bring to a boil.
6. Boil for one minute, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 - 25 minutes.  (Note: the above steps can be performed ahead of time; I did these things the night before I planned to serve them.)
7. Prep the squash.  Halve each squash lengthwise, then cut each half widthwise.
8. Hollow out a space in the middle of each squash quarter with a spoon.  Be sure to leave a bit of a wall on the end of each piece; otherwise your guests will have trouble keeping the squash from falling down their shirts while they eat.  You can add some of the flesh from the squash to the stufffing if you wish; I did, but it's not strictly necessary.   
9. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  You could also get away with doing this over indirect heat on a grill, if your grill allows for indirect cooking. 
10. Arrange your squash boats in the roasting pans. 
11. Spoon a bit of the squash into each boat.  Don't skimp, but don't overstuff either - you want people to be able to eat these without getting covered in rice and lentils. 
12. If you wish, sprinkle a bit over the cheese over the boats.  When it melts, it will help to keep the stuffing together and will brown up nicely.  If you are serving vegans or if you just don't feel like using cheese, you can skip this step. 
13. Roast for 10 - 15 minutes, until the squash is soft enough to be edible but is still strong. 
14. Serve!  You can also set this aside and serve at room temperature. 

Technorati Tags: Recipes,original recipes,vegetarian recipes,rice,lentils,Daphne wine,thyme,anise seed,side dishes,appetizers,finger foods