Serve this as a side dish at Thanksgiving dinner or as a hearty weeknight meal. If you've got vegetarians coming to dinner, replace the turkey sausage with tofu crumbles or mushrooms and use vegetable stock in place of chicken and serve this dish as a hearty vegetarian entree.

Flavor-Packed Stuffed Acorn Squash
Serves: 4 | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1.5 hours

4 small acorn squashes
2 Tbsps. unsalted butter
½ package mild Italian turkey sausage
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped or julienned carrot
½ cup chicken stock
1 ½ cups cooked brown rice
1 6-ounce package fresh spinach, chopped
1 ½ tsps. dried oregano
1 tart apple, chopped into bite-size pieces
Salt and pepper to taste  
½ cup toasted walnuts
½ cup feta cheese
¼ cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1 inch off the top of each acorn squash and scoop out seeds. Cut off a small piece of the bottom to allow squash to sit upright. Divide butter into 4 pieces and put 1 piece inside each squash. Set aside.

Place a large sauté pan in the oven over medium heat. Remove casing from turkey sausage and place in pan. Cook, breaking into small pieces, until it’s no longer pink. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Add olive oil, onion and celery to pan, and cook for about 8 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add chicken broth to pan, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. 

Add rice, spinach, oregano, sausage and salt and pepper to taste to pan. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes until warm.  Remove from heat and stir in walnuts, feta and dried cranberries. Fill each squash with stuffing, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, replace lid and bake for 1 hour or until squash can be easily pricked with a fork.