Newly improved Curry-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Tonight we made this recipe for the second time, and made a few changes on the way. This time I used a Cameo apple, since the Fujis were gone, a white onion since the red ones had either been used or had sprouted, and regular ground turkey instead of the spicy sausage because I had mislabeled the leftover container in the freezer. Luckily I realized this last part before serving, and thus had a chance to adjust the seasoning as needed--which mean adding crushed red pepper and cayenne. Knowing that my son wouldn't even touch this, I used a fairly heavy hand when spicing it up. The H noticed. Another change I made was to add 1/4 tsp curry powder to the quinoa while it cooked (stovetop this time, not rice cooker). We topped the whole shebang with freshly grated Parmesan cheese instead of cheddar.

Last time we had this, The H had asked for a sauce to drizzle on top, so I put my best "just wing it!" foot forward and came up with a pomegranate blueberry reduction. This involved simmering 100% pure pomegranate juice (3/4 cup) with frozen blueberries (1/4 cup), a whole cinnamon stick, a smashed clove of garlic, some squirts of honey, and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. Just before we were ready to eat, I whisked in a cornstarch-water slurry and let it bubble furiously until slightly thickened. Then into a gravy boat it went, and dinner was served.

The tart, fruity sauce helped balance the spicy-smoky flavor of the curried squash filling. We broke from tradition (having water to drink with dinner) and drank glasses of sparkling water mixed with more of the pomegranate juice to help tie everything together. Considering that The H had a second helping, and afterwards told me it was a great meal, I'd say all the changes were well worth it. I had originally intended to serve this with my beloved roasted broccoli, but time got away from me and we decided we wouldn't miss it. We didn't. :)