Stuffed Autumn Squash with Thai/Indian Fusion Jade Rice and Vegetables

By Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff

The fall season is here and so are orange-fleshed vegetables and fruits. The nutrients in yellow and orange vegetables are credited with preventing cancer cells and improving heart health. The orange-flesh fresh foods are also good for your vision which is vital during the winter days. It is as if nature brings us the gifts of these colors for our health benefits.  

Right now, there is a variety of beautiful autumn squashes in the market – all of them are colorful and hollow, full of mystery! And some of them are difficult to cut. But, once you learn how to cut and prepare them, they are easy to cook. In this recipe I used a delicata squash, a buttercup squash and a red kabocha squash, to stuff with rice and vegetables. 

The fun part of this recipe is to make the green rice. Here, the cooked jasmine rice gets flavored with a green sauce that is made of radish leaves, cilantro, green onion, coconut milk, lemon juice, lemon grass, garlic and ginger.  Then, stir- fried vegetables, tofu and nuts are added to the rice. The final product is a nutritious and delicious stuffing which goes into partially cooked squashes to be baked. Bring them to the table to admire before serving!

Ingredients:

For the Squashes

1 small butternut squash

1 small butter cup squash (with green skin)

1 delicata squash

2 tablespoons of oil to rub the squashes outside and inside

For the Rice:

1 cup glutenous jasmine (or other glutenous rice)

2 cups water

For the green sauce:

1½ cups canned coconut milk 

1 cup reddish (or daikon) leaves, without the roots

1 cup cilantro with stems

1 cup scallion with all its green parts

1 stalk lemon grass, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon shredded ginger

4 to 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice

1½ to 2 teaspoons salt 

For the Vegetables

3 tablespoons of cooking oil, any type

1 cup firm tofu, cut into sugar-cube-sized pieces

1 cup finely chopped shitake mushrooms

1 cup carrots, cut into sugar-cube-sized pieces

1 cup finely chopped kale 

1 cup celery cut into small pieces

½ cup slivered and/or chopped almonds or walnuts

½ teaspoon cayenne powder

1 teaspoon or to taste salt

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice

First, prepare the squashes. Using a serrated knife, such as the one used for carving a pumpkin, carefully cut the squashes into two halves. Remove fibers and all of the seeds from their cavity. Then wash the squash halves and set them onto a steamer basket facing the cut side down. Place the steamer basket into a wide pot like a Dutch oven (or a wok with a dome lid)  Add a cup of water in the pot (or the wok). Cover and steam them for about 20 to 30 minutes until the inside of the squashes are almost fully cooked, but the skin is still intact. Then, set them aside.

Next, make the green sauce. Place all of the ingredients on the list for the green sauce into a blender and blend them at the maximum speed for several minutes to obtain a smooth thick sauce, about the consistency of a smoothie. Add ¼ cup of water if the sauce seems too thick. Keep the sauce in the refrigerator. 

Then cook the rice. Rinse the rice in cold water. Boil the water and cook the rice for 15 minutes at moderate flame. Keep covered for a few minutes and then spread the rice on a platter to cool.   

Next, heat the oil in a saucepan over a moderate heat and place the tofu cubes in a single layer.  Cook the cubes, turning once to cook the other side. Then take them out of pan and set them in a large mixing bowl.  In the same pan, add the rest of the vegetables and nuts and stir fry them for five to seven minutes, adding a few spoonsful of water if the mixture seems too dry. Add the stir-fried mixture into the bowl with the tofu. Add salt, cayenne and lemon juice and stir to mix. 

Now, combine this vegetable mixture with the rice, breaking any lumps of rice. If necessary, transfer the rice and vegetable mixture into a bigger bowl or pot. Then, take out the green sauce, shake it well and drizzle it onto the rice and vegetable mixture generously while watching to make sure it is not too wet. This is your stuffing. It should be mushy but not soupy.  

Set the oven at 350 degrees to reheat.

Stuff the squash halves with the rice/vegetable mixture stuffing by taking one squash piece at a time. Do not over- stuff. Rub a small amount of oil on the side of squash and on top.  Place them on a baking sheet and bake at the preheated oven for about ½ hour or a bit longer until the squashes look cooked and glazy on the outside and the top seems dry and cooked.   

Serve the squash halves with left over green sauce on the side. The halves can be cut further into quarters for smaller portions. Advise your diners to scoop out as much of the flesh as possible from the squash while eating the stuffing. 

Left-over stuffing if any can be rewarmed and used for stuffing other vegetables. Left over squash halves, if any can be turned into a soup the next day. The possibilities are endless!

Happy Autumn!

Recipes by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff, copyright 2024. Shanta is a Sunset District resident and the author of “Cooking Together” and “Flavors of India,” available at Other Avenues Food Store at 3930 Judah St. Shanta writes recipes and articles on food and nutrition. She teaches vegetarian and vegan cooking classes at her home and gives cooking demonstrations for the public at SFPL branches frequently which you can find by viewing San Francisco Public Library’s event page. You can also view her recipes via videos on YouTube by searching Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff’s YouTube videos.