Delicata Squash Adventure

Like any good couch-dwelling, internet-surfing, lazy vegan, I read more about cooking than I usually end up doing. I like to read blogs and cookbooks about lovely and elaborate dishes and then go microwave a Tofurky dog to eat while staring into my open refrigerator and drawing a blank on what you can make with grape jelly, cilantro and a 2 year old can of Coors Light that someone left at your house. 

Ok, not really. I do cook pretty often. And I bake even more. And I really do read even more. One of my hands down favorite cookbooks is "Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining and Everyday" by Lauren Ulm. Yes, the same Vegan Yum Yum from the blog. I adore the blog and the book and I have the iPhone app...Obsessed? Maybe. But if you follow Lauren's work, then you understand. I haven't tried one single recipe that has let me down or come out less than amazing. Her recipes really are doable and decadent. And usually all of the ingredients are readily available at the local stores...except the illusive Delicata Squash. 

The Vegan Yum Yum book and blog have a couple of recipes with delicatas, which I'd never heard of or seen in the flesh. According to Ms. Yum Yum it's an heirloom variety with a thin skin and, therefore, not mass-market and cross-country-shipping friendly. I tucked "delicata" into my memory bank and went on with life until I happened into our local health food store one day and came eye to eye with live, perfectly striped, lovely little delicatas looking for a good home. 

I decided to whip up the "Delicata Squash Stuffed with Cherry Apple Almond Couscous" on page 55 of the book, which promises to be quick and easy. Since we had a pear on hand and no apples, and quinoa on hand instead of couscous, it got tweaked a little. (I later found this similar tweak on  ieattrees.com). I halved and roasted the delicatas while I got busy on the stuffing. 

The pears and cherries simmered and smelled lovely while the delicatas did their thing. Note: I only had whole almonds and the recipe called for sliced. I pulverized mine in my Magic Bullet and everything came out fine: 

After you simmer the fruit, you drain the liquid and use that to cook your couscous or quinoa. While that got underway, I prepared the dressing which is agave nectar, Dijon mustard and salt. The combination of mustard, fruit and squash gave me pause for thought, but Ms. Yum Yum has never let me down, so I plowed on. 

The delicatas came out of the oven smelling and looking lovely: 

I mixed everything up and packed it into my squash boats. Finished product (photo not as lovely as ieattrees.com or the one in the cookbook, but my mouth was watering at this point and I really didn't give a damn): 

The combination of the sweet fruit, nutty quinoa and almonds, buttery squash and slight tang of mustard was spot on. Everything really came together in a unique, but not overpowering, way. I had extra quinoa since I only bought two delicatas (original recipe calls for four) and it was very nice on its own as a side dish. Overall, this was easy, quick and delicious. I saved some seeds from my delicata in hopes of growing my own (and I plan to look online for backup seeds as well.) If you can get your hands on a delicata, I highly recommend. It's soft and mildly sweet and just damn cute. Who doesn't want to eat cute squash?