This healthy dish includes all of the food groups and celebrates traditional indigenous ingredients, like squash, wild rice and bison. The “secret” ingredient, the chefs say, is the caramelized onions. Additionally, the squash used in this recipe testing application was grown by students in the UTTC campus garden!
Bring water to boil, add wild rice, cover and simmer for 55 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve the squash and remove the seeds (saving to roast and use as garnish, if desired). Rub the squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until squash is cooked through and tender.
While squash is roasting, dice onion and caramelize in olive oil in a large skillet. (This may take over 30 minutes; onions should be a golden brown.) Add the ground bison, apple, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the caramelized onions and sauté until the bison is cooked completely and the apples have softened a bit. Cover and keep warm.
When the squash has cooked, scoop out some of the squash, making sure to keep the shell (skin) intact. Put squash shells back on baking sheet.
Add the removed squash and cooked wild rice to the bison mixture. Stuff each squash half with the mixture, sprinkling each with 2 T. shredded cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted. Garnish with chopped green onions and roasted squash seeds, if desired.
YIELD: 8 squash halves
TO ROAST SQUASH SEEDS: Pick seeds out of pulp, rinse in water, drain and pat dry. Toss with ½ T. olive oil and salt, to taste. Bake in single layer on baking sheet at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir during cooking time.
*Other small winter squash, like acorn or buttercup, may be used.
