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As the days get shorter, and the temperature begins to drop, it is essential to adjust our cooking and eating habits. Butternut squash is one of our favourite and most versatile hearty vegetables! Join Lisa Manzo as she uses this hardshell squash in a delicious stuffed recipe!
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Hi everyone, Lisa Manzo, registered holistic nutritionist, fitness trainer, owner of Pure
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Energy Wellness Lofts and author of Healthy is Sexy. Welcome to my kitchen
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I am so excited to share my space with you. This is where all the creativity happens, all the action happens, all the eating happens
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Today I am making stuffed butternut squash for you. So I'm so excited to share this recipe with you
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And welcome to Real Food Live
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So here in Toronto we are having uncharacteristically high temperatures. Yes, it's fall but it still kind of feels like summer
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But we can't deny the fact that summer is over and fall is upon us
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And with fall comes all these beautiful fall vegetables. So I was actually at the farmer's market about a week ago and I was walking around the farmer's
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booth and I noticed all these great fall and autumn vegetables. Winter squash, onions, apples, root vegetables, all these great vegetables
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And I got super excited because that means that it's time for us to change up our eating habits
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So with the drop in temperature, hopefully soon here in Toronto, we really have to adjust
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our eating and our cooking habits to really reflect that. So mother nature gives us all these different vegetables at particular times of the year
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And that is something that's really, really important. It is so, so essential that we start nourishing our bodies with more warming foods that are
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heavier, that keep us fuller and that keep us well balanced and overall healthy
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So today, like I said, we're going to make stuffed butternut squash
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I have halved one medium sized butternut squash here. And what I'm going to do is remove the seeds out of this
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And so really simply just kind of carve it, just like you were carving a pumpkin
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Halloween's around the corner by the way, so hopefully you're getting all set up for that
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My daughter is super excited about Halloween and she's kind of at the age now where she
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understands a little bit more and she's telling me that she wants to carve the pumpkins
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I don't necessarily want to carve the pumpkins, I just want to draw on them so that I could
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take those pumpkins afterwards and make some really healthy recipes, some soups and muffins
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and stuff like that. So I'm trying to explain that to her as she wants to carve it
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So I'm just carving the butternut squash here, taking all the seeds out
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So this recipe is really, really simple, as you know most of my recipes are
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And we're going to be placing this butternut squash on a baking dish in the oven at 425
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And we're just going to drizzle the butternut squash with some olive oil and then sprinkle
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a bit of sea salt and pepper, black pepper on top. And then you're placing this in the oven for about 45 to 50 minutes
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And what's going to happen is the butternut squash is going to get nice and soft
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So you want to test it by just inserting a fork into the squash
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Once it's nice and soft you can actually remove it from the oven and let it cool
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So just drizzling some olive oil here on top. There we go
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And olive oil just gives it such a nice rich flavor as well. So this is about one teaspoon of salt here
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And I just like to eyeball it, but that's more or less what it is
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So when I'm making this for the family, I typically use two medium squashes and that
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will serve four people. And you could also cut it in half if you're having it as a side dish to a dinner and you're
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making some other great stuff. Just a little bit of black pepper on that squash
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And you're going to place this in the oven for 425. Okay. Alright
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So while that's cooking in the oven, you want to take the filling
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And what we're filling the butternut squash with is quinoa and kale
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So we're going to saute one head of kale and I've taken the kale off the stems
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I have washed it and chopped it roughly. And then you're going to take three quarter cup of quinoa
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And that's going to be your stuffing. And we're going to add some color and brightness by adding in a pomegranate
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So pomegranate really, really screams fall to me. And it's got that burst of sweetness and tangy that I really like
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Also pomegranates are absolutely filled with antioxidants. So we have the health benefits of that as well
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So I'm going to head over to the stove and saute this kale
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And what I'm going to do is I'm going to get about two or three cloves of garlic
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Now my little trick in taking the skin off the garlic is to place your knife flat on
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the garlic and gently hit it. And the skin actually just pops right off
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So just something very simple, something that was actually taught by my grandmother
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One day she saw me cooking and I was peeling the garlic and I was fighting it
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And she was laughing. And then once I was done peeling all the garlic, she decided to teach me this little trick
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and I've never gone back to fighting the garlic and peeling it. So something really simple
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I really encourage you to try it. So once you have peeled all the garlic, you're going to rough chop it
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Okay, like so. So let's talk a little bit about garlic
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So for those of you who don't know, my background is Italian-Canadian
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And we use a lot of garlic in our food. A lot
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And so most times my daughter's breath smells like garlic, so it's actually quite funny
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But with garlic, it's absolutely fantastic for the immune system. It really, really protects us from fighting off those colds
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And in these winter months and fall months, we really need to make sure that we're upping
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our immune system, which garlic helps. So just rough chopping this here
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I'm going to add a little bit of avocado oil to the pan right now
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So as we all know, avocado oil and coconut oil heat at high temperatures
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So we want to use these types of oils to cook versus your olive oil, which you like to drizzle
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on more raw or cooked foods. So I'm going to take my avocado oil and I'm going to place that here in the pan and I'm
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going to heat it up on high until that avocado oil gets nice and hot
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And then I'm going to add the garlic to it once it's ready
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So we'll just heat that on up. Good. So kale itself is also a nice hearty fall type of vegetable
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So I really want to talk to you a little bit about warming foods
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In the fall, it's like I mentioned, it's really important to kind of adjust and shift our
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eating habits. So where cool salads and smoothies and cold drinks would be something that we would crave
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in the summer, in the fall and winter, we're less likely to crave these types of foods
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because we want warming foods. And this whole philosophy of warming and cooling foods is actually derived from Ayurveda, which
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is an ancient Indian philosophy of whole body medicine. And really tuning in to understand what your body needs and wants at various times throughout
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the year is what I call whole body awareness. So these two really combine and reflect each other really well
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So with Ayurveda, it's suggested that, just watching my oil here, it's suggested that
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our metabolisms work faster in the fall and winter, in the colder months, which means
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that we need to actually fuel our digestive fire, which is what they say, our digestive
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systems with heavier foods, which will keep us comfort, which will keep us warm
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It's also said that if we do consume cooler foods in the fall and winter, that it is suggested
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that it zaps the body of energy and actually weakens the immune system
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So another philosophy to think about, and it kind of makes sense that we crave stews
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and soups in the winter. So really understanding what foods nature gives us at what particular times throughout
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the year, and maybe eating more seasonally for that main reason. So I'm going to place the garlic into the pan here with avocado oil, and we are going
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to smell these fantastic flavors here. So the garlic has such a great aroma when sauteing, and you want to make sure you saute
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the garlic until it's just golden. Be aware that when we do add the kale, especially if you just washed it and it still
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has some water because kale holds on to the water, that you want to lower the temperature
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because the oil could spark right back up, so just be careful and mindful of that
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Now remember, this looks like a lot of kale, but in fact, once it's wilted, it's not going
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to be that much. So one head of kale will be fantastic for this recipe here
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Oh, smells so good. So this is a really great vegetarian dish as well, and you can get creative with it
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if you don't have any pomegranates or you don't like pomegranates. You can also add fresh cranberries
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I say fresh because dried cranberries do contain a lot of sugar, so you want to make sure you're
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always having fresh. And you can also add a bean, so a legume or a chickpea or a lentil to this, and make it
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your main dish as well. It doesn't just have to be a side. So I'm going to place the kale into the frying pan, like so
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And like I said, you're going to wilt this, and this will take about three to four minutes
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to wilt. And you can just grab your tongs and turn it over here, but really, you want to place
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the kale in, place a lid over it, and just allow it to do its thing for three to four minutes
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Now, if a lot's going on in your house, like typically when I'm cooking dinner, either
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the TV's going, my daughter's calling for me or hanging off my leg, I typically set
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a timer for this, so three to four minutes on my timer so that I don't forget about it
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because it's so easily forgotten when you're doing 18 other things. So, place the lid on, like so
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Excellent, we just got a lot quieter there. So once that's done, I'm actually going to place the quinoa, the cooked quinoa, into
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the bowl, like so. So this recipe, I have to tell you, is so yummy the day after
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The flavors really marry with one another, so it's such an easy lunch that you could
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just heat up, bring to work, or if you really want to save it for a side dish to your dinner
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if you're not adding in your protein or your legumes or anything like that, it's very
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very tasty. So you can make a few in advance and have them in the fridge
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So tasty. So, right here I have my quinoa waiting for my kale, which is sautéing with the avocado
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oil and the garlic, and I'm going to take my half a pomegranate
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So I want to show you my little device here, I'm really excited about this
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This was actually purchased for me by a client. So I was complaining about how hard it is to fight these pomegranate seeds out of its
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shell, but I love, love, love them and they're so tasty. And so she found this little device, believe it or not, at a local grocery store just in
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one of the aisles in the side panels there when they sell little fun things, and it's
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for pomegranates. So you cut the pomegranate in half, I wish I could tell you what it's called, but I don't know
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But you cut the pomegranate in half and you place it down onto the ridges and then you
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grab something, I decided to grab this to hammer it down with, I don't know what other
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people use, but you just gently, or not gently, depends how you're feeling that day, bang
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on the pomegranates. And as you can see, the pomegranates are coming right out of the shell really easily and my
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hands are nice and clean, which I love, because I tend to stain my hands and my clothes when
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I'm peeling these things. I can't tell you, once I got this gifted to me, I've been buying pomegranates every fall
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and winter season. Two, three, four at a time. And I will bang them all out and leave them in the fridge
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I love to add them to yogurts, I love to just eat them as a snack on the couch when I'm
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watching TV, such a great snack. Just gonna make sure my kale is doing okay here
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It's all nicely sauteing, beautiful. So as you can see, the beautiful green color
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Gonna add a little bit of salt and pepper to this as well
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This is a great dish to serve at a dinner party as well, because the beautiful colors
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you have the green from the kale, the pop of red from the pomegranate, and the orange
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skin of the squash, stunning fall colors. So a little bit of sea salt, little bit of pepper
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And we'll mix that around. And like I said, this is all while the squash is in the oven on bake 425
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Now you have some time here, because the squash does take, like I said, 45 to 50, 55 minutes
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So you have plenty of time to cook this up. So this is almost done
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I'm gonna actually reduce the heat here to a simmer. Wonderful. So I'm gonna finish up my pomegranate
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So with this little device, you're still getting some of the white flesh that comes out
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So what I like to do is, if it's not too much, like actually this one's not too much, I will
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pick it out. If not, I will place it into a bowl and submerge that in water
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And the white flesh will actually float up to the top. So it's easier to pick up
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So the white flesh will float and it's easier to take them out
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This would be the only tedious part now of peeling a pomegranate, but after not having
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to fight it, I'm okay with that. Perfect. That was easy, easy
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So I'm gonna place that back here, strain it over. Beautiful
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Pomegranate just has such a beautiful color and smell. I love how tangy and sweet at the same time it is
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What's another thing you can also add to this dish is fresh lemon juice and even lemon zest
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which tastes really, really good. So we're gonna mix the pomegranates inside that kale and quinoa mixture
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In fact, I love pomegranates so much, I'm probably gonna hammer out the second one as
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well and add that into it. You absolutely have to find this pomegranate device somewhere
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One of those things that you pick up and you're like, oh, I have to put this somewhere
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in my cupboard just for pomegranates, but every time you take it out of the cupboard
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you're so happy that you picked it up and you purchased it
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And if it means eating more pomegranates, that's a great thing because antioxidants are always great to protect ourselves
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So the more antioxidants we can have in our bodies to fight off free radical damage, the better
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So if it means having this stored in your cupboard for once in a while when you eat pomegranates, it's worth it, right
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So when you do hit the pomegranates out, you will get some of the pomegranate juice
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Don't throw that away. I know I am today because we are on television and I only have a certain time, but usually
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we'll strain that on the side and take a nice shot of it. So pomegranate juice
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All right. The good kind of shots. Perfect. So taking those white pieces out and we're going to add the rest of these pomegranates
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into the mixture. So excited, everyone. I'm so happy you guys joined me in my home
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I really love, love, love to cook and to have you here to share this experience with me
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is so, so special. Thank you. Okay. So as you can tell, pomegranates are in
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Now time for the kale. We're so excited. So look at that
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Look at that beautiful green color. Green's my favorite color. I don't know if you can tell in my kitchen, but anything green makes me really, really happy
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It makes me feel like I'm connecting more with nature. All right
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So I want to make sure we get that garlic as well in there. That's where all the flavors are. Wonderful
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So now that that's all in, I'm going to mix it around
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As you can tell, the colors are really coming together. Beautiful fall colors
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So remember, I really, you know, I tend to talk a lot on the show about how important
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it is to eat colorful foods because everything is energy, right? Which means the more color you have in your food, in your diet, the more colorful you feel
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So these types of foods like kale and pomegranate and oranges and anything bright is what's
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going to brighten your energetic aura. So really making sure that you're eating colorful foods, especially if you're feeling down one
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day, and sometimes in the winter and fall can get gloomy. So the more colorful foods you eat, the happier you'll feel. Okay
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So mind, our butternut squash is in the oven. So for the sake of camera, fast forward 45 minutes and it's cooked
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So here's our butternut squash and this is what it looks like once it's, this one here
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once it's right out of the oven. So it's, as you can tell, it's nice and soft. Okay
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What you want to do is carve out the butternut squash. So you want to leave about an inch and a half rim all along the side and you want to go
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down about a quarter inch, okay? Or three quarter inches, sorry. Right down
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So you want to carve it right down so there's enough room for the stuffing to sit right in the center
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Now, the stuffing on the inside, if you like a lot of butternut squash, you can place the
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stuffing back into your quinoa kale pomegranate mixture. I personally like the taste of the little bit of squash with the mixture and I actually
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scoop out, like I'm doing right now, I scoop out the squash
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I put it in the fridge, I cover it and I actually use it for another recipe
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So I'll either put it into, I'll either make a butternut squash mash and use some beautiful
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grass fed butter and make it into almost like mashed potatoes or I'll even use it into a
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muffin recipe, some savory muffin recipe. So it will definitely not go wasted if you are going to carve it out like I am and not
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going to put it back into your mixture, okay? So just carving this out here, like so, and it doesn't have to be perfect
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Just carving it out. Alright. And this can be really therapeutic too
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Put on some music, carve out your butternut squash. We never have alone time so we gotta find ways to do it
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Kick everybody out of the house. It's your alone time. I actually always find that I cook better and my dishes come out better when I'm in
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my own headspace with my own time. So I do tend to kick my husband out for an hour while I make a nice dinner and then somehow
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it seems calmer and more relaxed and I enjoy the food much more
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Okay, so I've carved that out. As you can tell from half a butternut squash, you're actually getting quite a lot of flesh
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so you could really use this in a great recipe if you times it by two with the two halves here
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So here is your carved out butternut squash. Now you're gonna place your mixture, your kale, quinoa and pomegranate mixture inside
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the butternut squash here. Beautiful. Even with your kale, I rough chopped it but you could even chop it even into smaller pieces
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if you wanted to. Look how beautiful. Let me tell you, if you have any leftover kale, quinoa, pomegranate mixture, you can
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put that in the fridge and add, like I said, any legume or chickpeas to that and then it
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becomes a perfect lunch for the next day. Quinoa will keep in the fridge for at least three to four days, which is excellent
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Remember, we always wanna make extras when we're cooking so that it's easy, healthy lunch
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to grab. We need more easy in our lives. Here you go
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Are you getting all those beautiful colors? I know you can't smell the amazing flavors that I get to smell but at least I'm hopefully
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sharing that with you as much as possible. Perfect. I like to really pack mine in
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So you can also add in at the end here. You can add in a feta cheese or a goat cheese or a sheep cheese crumble on the top of it
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to give it even a different flavor. So there's a lot you can do
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Butternut squash is one of those fall vegetables that is so versatile
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It is so good as a hearty soup. It is so good as a pasta dish or a nutritious tart
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You can use it in nutritious tarts. So it's such a great vegetable to start incorporating into your diet if you haven't used it already
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And remember, you wanna change up how you use your vegetables. If you're used to using them in a particular way, like butternut squash, you could roast it
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So peel the butternut squash, cut it all up, put it on a baking sheet, toss it with olive
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oil, salt, pepper, oregano, all those wonderful spices. Throw it on roast for about 40 minutes and then you have roasted butternut squash
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So instead of always sticking to your sweet potato and you wanna switch it up or you wanna
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add some parsnips so they're butternut squash, so versatile. So really sometimes we get, and I'm like this as well, sometimes we get so stuck on our
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everyday recipes that we do that we even get bored eating them, let alone cooking them
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So kinda changing things up, changing the flavors, changing how you do it is important
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for you as well as your family. So I'm gonna pop this into the oven, I'm gonna lower the temperature to 375 and pop
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this in the oven for about 10 minutes because we wanna make sure we serve it nice and warm
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So once that goes into the oven for 10 minutes, this is your time for clean up
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So this is really important, I always make sure I maximize on every minute I have so
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that when I'm done dinner and I'm feeling nice and full and relaxed, I don't have to
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get up to clean any messes. So during the time that I have things in the oven and I have some spare time, that's when
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I clean all my stuff, place it all in the dishwasher, get the kitchen all nice and ready
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set the table and then at least while I'm eating, I have the peace of mind that I don't
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have all this mess around me and I can feel like after dinner I can retreat to the couch
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and end my day. So really utilizing your time to clean everything up and get everything out of your way
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So after 10 minutes, you can take out your butternut squash from the oven and simply
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serve this on a plate. Like I said, if it's a side dish, you can place it beside your protein or if you're
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making this as your main dish, you add your legumes on top or inside the mixture, chickpeas
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black beans, lentils, you can really use whatever legume your heart desires
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And then here you go, here you have it. So this is stuffed butternut squash stuffed with kale, quinoa, pomegranate
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It's hearty, it's warm and it's comforting. So thank you so much for joining me
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Thank you for joining me in my kitchen. I'm so humbled to have you and I so look forward to having you back
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