Fall Harvest Roasted Squash

We are so excited to share three of Dr. Anne Kennard’s recipes from Nourish: An Integrative Medicine Cookbook. Here’s the first, for those cold days where You just need something to keep you warm and cozy. Yum!

Enjoy and eat up!

Fall Harvest Roasted Squash

This dish has all the glory of the fall harvest.  Any hard squash will work; I prefer the Acorn and Delicata varietals.  This warm fall dish offers the peak nutrition of the potent phytonutrients of the chard and apple, anti-cancer and immune boosting properties of the mushrooms and alimental vegetables, and a strong dose of Vitamin C from the apple, squash, and chard.  The herbs for seasoning are also medicinal; the thymol in the thyme is a potent antiseptic as is the oregano and rosemary.  No wonder these foods are seasonal to the fall, with their immune-boosting properties, just in time for cold and flu season. 

4 Halved and hollowed hard squashes

1 lb. Ground turkey, chicken thighs, or turkey sausage (optional)

1 Leek, chopped

1 Shallot, chopped

1 Onion, chopped

5 leaves Rainbow chard, divided into leaves and stems

1 c Medicinal mushrooms

1 Chopped crisp apple; I like Honey crisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady

2 c Red lentil, cooked in bone broth when possible

2 Carrots, chopped

1 Parsnip, chopped

1 T Thyme

1 tsp Rosemary

1 T Sage

1 tsp. Oregano

½ c grate Manchego cheese

Drizzle the squash with olive oil on a baking pan, top with salt and pepper.  Roast the squash in the oven at 425 for approx. 30 minutes. 

Cook the lentils according to package directions, replacing water with bone broth for extra protein and gut health benefits.  

Sauté the leek, onion, shallot, celery, all herbs, and chopped stems of the chard in olive oil until soft.  Add in the meat if desired, cooking until browned.  Add chopped carrot and parsnip, mushrooms, and apple.  When softened, add in the lentils and stir to make a thick filling for the squash.   While the filling is hot, add the chopped chard leaves, they will naturally wilt without additional cook time. 

Spoon the filling into the squash and top with grated manchego cheese.  Replace back into the oven until the cheese bubbles. 

Of note, this filling can be mixed with bone broth for a wonderful fall soup that has all the benefits of the ingredients above with the protein and collagen from the bone broth. 

Dr. Anne Kennard, DO, is Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fellowship trained in Integrative Medicine, and mom to a preschooler.  She is a certified yoga and meditation instructor, herbalist, and author of "Nourish: An Integrative Medicine Cookbook.”  Blending modern medicine with ancient wisdom, she speaks nationally on women's integrative medicine and physician wellness topics.  Dr. Kennard enjoys gardening, herbal medicine-making, cooking, yoga, and time with her family. 

Find her @drannekennard (Facebook), @dr_anne_kennard (IG), and at www.drannekennard.com

Interested in more recipes? You can find Dr. Kennard’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/169737221X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_z3hVDbMT6K2ZA?fbclid=IwAR3qH4DFNy3x8cY-zsa3StVg1h-jUM5dXFjg3BFXUoPGB86kkRKnZmLzIag