Every week I have a “Clean Out The Fridge Night.” This is where I take whatever is left and try to use it up. There have been some pretty great recipes that have come out of it. This recipe is one of them. It’s incredibly simple, yet full of flavor.
I love winter squashes. They are fun and delicious. My local health food store has started carrying at least 8 different varieties. While it can be intimidating to venture into the unknown, it’s 
been fun trying all these odd looking squash. I’m actually still not sure of the name of the squash I used was. It reminded me of butternut squash. You could easily make this recipe using acorn or delicata squash and it would turn out great.
Still need to find out the name of this squash
I had half of a rotisserie chicken left over and needed to do something with it. My fridge was pretty bare due to being sick and not being home much this week. It was slim pickings. I took the chicken and decided to pair it with apple, onion, garlic and fresh basil to make a hash.
Then I remembered I had bought a bag of amaranth from TJ Maxx, which is a great place to go and find health foods for a great price by the way. I wanted to cook that up and see if Brielle liked it. I’ve never had it personally and was curious. It reminds me of cream of wheat type texture, easy to make into a breakfast cereal with some maple syrup and dried fruit or mix with yogurt.
So I’m roasting the squash, cooking the amaranth and making the hash. I decide to put all 3 of them together. Why not? It turned out fabulous! If you are living a grain free lifestyle, you can omit the amaranth without affecting the recipe. The hash is great by itself, could be put in a wrap with some romaine or spinach or put on top of a salad.
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, corn free and has a paleo option.
Chicken and Apple Stuffed Winter Squash
Ingredients
- 2 winter squash
- 1/2 rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup fresh basil 1 tbsp dried
- 5 cloves fresh garlic
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 1 medium apple
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp red palm oil or EVOO
- 1 cup cooked amaranth optional
- extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- dried italian herbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice squash in half, remove seeds and strings. Spray with evoo and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place flesh side down in a pan filled with 1/2 inch of water. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Cook amaranth according to directions.
- Shred chicken in your food processor or chop into small pieces with a knife.
- Chop onion and apple into small pieces.
- In a large skillet, heat red palm oil (or oil of choice) on medium-low heat.
- Add in onions and apple and cook until soft. About 8 minutes.
- Mince garlic and rough chop basil.
- Add in chicken after 5 minutes.
- Once chicken is thoroughly warmed and mixed in, add in garlic and basil. Turn off heat. Mix in amaranth.
- Take squash out of the oven, remove foil and flip over. Fill with hash mixture and put back in the oven uncovered for 20 minutes.
