I must admit something: the majority of what I cook is the first time I’ve ever tried cooking it. I graduated from college almost two years ago and started cooking on my own at that point, but there is a lot of food out there to try! This was my first time ever cooking an acorn squash and oh boy, I was impressed. But it was also my first time buying an acorn squash and I forgot to check that the stem area was undamaged. It was damaged, which explains the oddly cut acorn squash in the photos since the top had starting going bad. I salvaged what I could!
Another thing that I must admit is that I am still testing out the waters of recipe development. When I started cooking, I stuck with things I knew how to do. I knew what was supposed to be on a pizza, in a quesadilla, or on the side of a chicken dish, but I did not know how to get creative and put together ingredients and flavors in ways I hadn’t experienced before. Until this acorn squash with roasted chickpeas and curry yogurt sauce – a Forks & Recreation original! (At least as far as I know).
I wanted the acorn squash to be the centerpiece of my meal instead of just a side. I have been seeing roasted chickpeas popping up on my Instagram feed recently, and figured that filling the squash with chickpeas would be a wonderful way to boost the squash from a side to a main meal. Then I pondered how I wanted to season it. I could have kept it simple with olive oil, salt, and pepper, but I bumped it up one notch and went with curry and cumin powder. Those two spices are good friends with chickpeas, so it felt natural. The chickpeas are roasted just enough to cook them slightly, but not long enough to get hard and crunchy.
But there was still one thing missing. Just squash and chickpeas would be delicious together, but still sounded a bit too dry. That’s where the spicy curry yogurt sauce comes in. A sigh of satisfaction, my perfect meal was complete: acorn squash with roasted chickpeas and curry yogurt sauce. I ate it with the yogurt sauce by my side, ready to be drizzled whenever needed.
Oh, and don’t forget to roast your squash seeds! I did not forget to roast them, but I may have forgotten to take them out of the oven…I was distracted by taking all these gorgeous pictures. Got them out just in time. I sprinkled a couple of the roasted seeds on my chickpea filling. They were cast back into the chasm from whence they came.
Did anyone get that reference? 🙂
- 1 acorn squash
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas: drained, rinsed, and patted dry
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- ½ tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. curry powder
- Salt for seasoning
- 1 Tbsp. pecans, chopped
- ½ cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. curry powder
- 2 tsp. lemon juice (approximately the juice from 1/8 of a lemon)
- 1 Tbsp. almond milk
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cut acorn squash in half with a sharp knife (careful, they can be tough to cut). Scoop the seeds from the inside and set them aside for roasting. Throw away the stringy bits from the middle of the squash.
- Drizzle one teaspoon of olive oil into each of the cut acorn squash halves. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place squash halves on a baking sheet lined with foil with the cut side down. Roast for 45-50 minutes on an upper rack in the oven until a fork easily pierces through the flesh to the skin.
- Once you put the squash in the oven, get started on the filling. Spread the chickpeas on a baking sheet lined with foil. Toss them with the olive oil, cumin, curry powder, and salt.
- After the squash has been cooking for 25-30 minutes, put the baking sheet with the chickpeas in the oven on the bottom rack and cook for 20 minutes (this way, the squash and chickpeas will be done at the same time.)
- While the chickpeas and acorn squash are in the oven, make the spicy curry yogurt sauce. Combine yogurt, cayenne pepper, curry powder, lemon juice, and almond milk in a small bowl. Add more almond milk as needed until the sauce is thin enough to drizzle off the spoon.
- To serve, fill the cavity of the squash with chickpeas and sprinkle in the chopped pecans. Drizzle with the yogurt sauce! Keep more yogurt sauce nearby as you eat to pour on as needed ☺
- Roasting squash seeds: Rinse the seeds. Dry well with a paper towel (they’ll stick to the paper towel: be warned). Spread out the seeds on a baking sheet lined with foil (or use the same foil-lined sheet from the chickpeas). Toss with a drizzle of olive oil, ½ tsp. curry powder, and a little salt to season. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Note on roasted chickpeas: Roast the chickpeas for 5-10 minutes longer until they are crunchy if you want a yummy snack!