A busy day

Today was a sort of busy day, doing a number of little tasks and clearing up a few messes. Nothing monumental, but nice to have done. I wanted to have a dinner with real food (as opposed to Cheerios or graham crackers, which might have otherwise been my dinner on such a day) – real food so that I would be perky and energetic for the day’s big event, singing Mozart’s Requiem at the All Soul’s Day Mass this evening. I wanted real food, but real food that could be prepared in about five minutes. I also didn’t want to go to the store, so I had to use what I had on hand. I decided to cook an acorn squash, and dress it up a little. The whole squash was a nice sized dinner for me, but it would also make a nice side dish for two.

Baked Acorn Squash with Cheese and Hummus

Cut a largish (about 2.25 lbs) acorn squash in half. Remove the seeds and set them aside. Scrape out the hairy part. Rub the inside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Bake it at 350 for about 90 minutes, or until it is soft. Drop a bit of butter (hazelnut size) and a table spoon of grated cheese* in each cavity. With a spoon, moosh the flesh of the squash around until the butter and cheese are melted. Stir in a tablespoon of hummus into each half. Yummy.

Meanwhile, rinse the seeds, pat them dry, and place them in a bowl. Stir in a teaspoon of olive oil, some salt, a bit of garlic powder and a bit of onion power. Stir to mix. Spread the seeds on a cookie sheet (on a Silpat if you have one,) and bake with the squash for about 15 minutes, or just until they begin to brown. No picture of these because I ate them up too quickly.

*I used Quattro Fromaggio – a pre-grated mixture of Italian cheeses (Parmesean, Asiago, Fontina and Mild Provelone Cheeses) from Trader Joe’s.