Roasted Squash Stuffed with Cornbread Dressing

Whoops! It seems we here at FPP let Apple Week slip by unnoticed (or at least un-blogged!).  Sorry, folks!  We will try to make it up to apples (and apple-lovers), but in the mean time if you cooked up an awesome apple dish, please share it anyway!

This week's theme is Vegetarian-- something I think will be pretty easy for most of our FPP followers.  Many of the delicious recipes you've posted for other themes have been vegetarian, vegan, or veg-friendly.  Incorporating meatless dishes into your lifestyle is a great way to discover your inner veggie lover, cut back on calories and cholesterol, and sample new flavors.

For my vegetarian dish, I let the local produce guide me to a recipe.  Our local farmer's market is fantastic, and I really love hitting it up on Saturday morning.  We don't always get there, but we made it out this week, and I spotted some adorable acorn squash.  My husband and I both tend towards squash-a-phobia, but the farmer's market had me in such a good mood vegetable-wise that I decided to pick one up.  Now, to be clear, I had never eaten, let alone cooked with, acorn squash, but we're really trying to increase our veggie vocabulary, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.


After a little searching, I settled on one of the most inviting-looking autumnal dishes I could find: Cooking Light's Roasted Squash Stuffed with Cornbread Dressing.

The recipe was originally part of a vegetarian Thanksgiving menu, and it just looked comforting.  To (attempt to) make it a meal, I served it with a pear gorgonzola salad.

I was very pleased with the results! I failed to take photos, I'm sorry to say, but mine looked remarkably similar to the picture.  I used store-bought cornbread, and I couldn't find fresh sage, so I ended up subbing in dried marjoram (turns out I don't have any dried sage at home, either!).  I also drizzled just a little maple syrup on the tops before baking, so that it would still have the maple flavor that the cornbread is supposed to provide.   My only complaint is that this really is a side dish, not an entree.  In the photo, they seem to be serving it alongside some kind of mac and cheese or cheesy potatoes-- that would probably be a good idea.  If you weren't going for vegetarian, you could also serve it with a lightly seasoned (maybe maple-brushed?) grilled chicken breast, turkey breast, or pork chop.  On the other hand, I will definitely be keeping this in my side-dish repertoire.  It was tasty, easy to do, and made the whole house smell like Thanksgiving.