The butternut squash this summer has been unreal. I’ve been eating butternut squash from HEB, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc. for years and they have never tasted like this.

I’ve been getting my squash from Springdale Farm, which is right down the street from me in East Austin. All summer I swear they have been getting better. Last night I cut one in half and I roasted one face down in the oven with a little olive oil and salt and the most amazing flavors appeared.

Think of the best potato chip you’ve ever had… The edges of this squash tasted like that!

I normally like to cut up my squash in cubes and roast it with garlic and onions and eat them like potatoes, or slice them and put them on the grill. Lately, I’ve been just roasting the squash face down to get a soft and naturally sweet flavor.

In addition, I’ve been trying to cut back on my animal protein intake so a go-to replacement is Seitan. For those of you new to Seitan:

A definition of seitan: Although it is made from wheat, seitan has little in common with flour or bread. Also called “wheat meat”, “wheat protein”, “wheat gluten” or simply “gluten”, seitan becomes surprisingly similar to the look and texture of meat when cooked, making it a popular meat substitute. (The Spruce)

When I shop at Central Market or In.gredients I like to pick up a few packs of Upton’s Natural chorizo flavored seitan and keep them in the freezer until I’m ready to cook. It’s good with tomato sauce, tacos, and of course this stuffed butternut squash dish. It can be used in place of any ground beef, pork, turkey, or chicken.

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SEITAN STUFFED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Serves 4

Prep time: 7 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 1.5lbs butternut squash (you need half a squash per person)
• 1 pack of Upton’s Natural or 8oz of seitan
• 4-8 cloves of garlic (depending on how much you LOVE garlic – I used 8)
• 1 can of 15 oz of black beans
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400° F.
2. Cut your butternut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out and throw away the seeds.
3. Cover the insides off the squash in olive oil and sprinkle a pinch or 2 of salt and pepper into the squash then lay them face down on a roasting pan.
4. Place the squash in the oven and cook for about 35-40 min or until soft (you can check it by poking the skin with a fork, should go right through the skin)
5. Peal your garlic cloves and cut them in small chunks (about the same size as a black bean).
6. Heat up a medium sized sauce pan and coat bottom with oil.
7. Sauté the garlic until it starts to brown, then toss in the seitan and break it up into small crumbles. Cook for another 4 min on medium-low heat.
8. If using canned black beans, drain out half the liquid and pour the remaining liquid and beans into the sauce pan. Mix them together with the garlic and seitan. Cook another 3 min on medium-low heat.
9. The chorizo seitan from Upton’s comes with a lot of flavor so I don’t add anything else to it, but if you have plain seitan I would recommend salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne.
10.  When the squash is done, remove it from the oven and flip them over and let it sit for 5 min to cool off. Then scoop out a landing strip (about 1/2 inch deep) from the open area where the seeds were to the top of the neck.
11. Finally fill the squash with your seitan and black bean sauté and squirt a little Sriracha on top for some extra spice and flavor.

This meal goes great with a side of roasted leafy greens, broccoli, or asparagus.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you are a carnivore and have to have meat, you can replace the seitan with and ground meat and it’ll be just as delicious. Only difference is that when you add the meat to the sauce pan with the garlic, cook it until it is browned through.