Visually appealing, savory, sweet, and comforting. It’s the quintessential fall meal.
Squash obsessed peeps raise your hands! 🙋🏻♀️
In past years I had turned up my nose to squash because in my opinion it can be a total pain to work with. Certain varieties are difficult to cut, de-seed, and oh my god they take forever to cook! Delicata squash seems to be a hidden gem in the squash community though. My husbands facial features said it all when he took a bite of this meal the other day. Eyes closed and savoring each bite he said “Can we have this over sweet potatoes pretty please?” That’s a pretty bold statement. Why yes, yes we can while they are still in season.
I don’t think I’ve ever made a more visually appealing, tastebud awakening lunch/dinner prep before this one. Although this prep may be a little more time consuming than past posts it’s 1,000% worth it!
Yield: 8 Meals Cook Time: 45-50 minutes
INGREDIENTS
3 Delicata squash – Yields around 5 cups cooked
1.5lbs ground chicken
1.5 lbs ground Chicken sausage (Italian Flavor)
3 cups Tuscan Kale
1 cup Red Cabbage
8 Tbsp Dried Cherries (I measure this way because I add garnishes to each meal separately)
8 Tsp Feta Cheese (I prefer Bulgarian Feta)
8 Tsp Pepitas
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tsp Raw HoneySalt/Pepper
PREP STEPS
SQUASH PREP STEPS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Clean delicata squash under warm running water
Cut squash lengthwise and with a spoon clean out seeds.
Cut each section into 1/2” half moon pieces (yes you can eat the rind, yaaaaay!)
In a large mixing bowl toss with 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper
Arrange evenly on baking sheet, bake for 30 min, making sure to flip each piece with a spatula every 10 minutes or so.
PREP STEPS – While Squash is roasting
In a large pot cook up ground chicken & ground sausage on medium heat
While your meat is cooking prepare kale by extracting the rib, layering 2-3 kale leaves on cutting board, roll up like sushi and cut into ribbons. (trust me this is much easier than trying to chop the large leaves individually…PAIN!)
Toss in large mixing bowl and massage kale by hand with a tiny bit of olive oil. (this helps breakdown the leaves so they’re not so tough)
Chop up cabbage; by this time your meat should be almost cooked.
Take kale/cabbage mixture and combine in pot with still cooking meat
Stir in honey, apple cider vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper.
Next add dried cherries, pepitas, and feta to the pot and mix ….OR if you’re fussy like me you can top each individual lunch container with these garnishes. I can’t help myself, I like things to be equal and visually appealing!
MEAL ASSEMBLY
Place 8 food prep containers of your choice on the counter
Measuring cups come in very handy for this part. Fill each container evenly with chicken/kale mix. (each container was approximately 1 1-2 cups)
Next layer – evenly disperse delicata (approximately 5 slices each)
If you’re OCD like me you can now garnish each container with dried cherries, pepitas, and feta. This is where the Tbsp & Tspn measurements come in.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Macro count Calories – 334 Carbs – 29 g Protein – 25.5 g Fat – 15 g
THE INSIDE JOB: containers to use, how long it lasts, how much to prep, mistakes not to make, how to add custom flavor….etc.
You can totally make this meal vegetarian if you’d like by replacing ground chicken with Tofurkey or tempeh.
Remember, it’s YOU vs. YOU!
XOXO,
Nicole
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