Roasted Stuffed Pumpkins

When I was sixteen, I gave up meat for Lent.  Going 40 days without something tends to make it a habit, and my taste for meat was tarnished.  For about 6.5 years, I was a pescatarian, until my taste for meat suddenly re-appeared with a vengeance right before my 22nd birthday (I actually remember the moment--sitting over dinner at The Aristocrat on February 14th, 2001, the night before I left for my semester abroad.  Strange how moments like that stand out.)  From about 25-28, my diet included way more than the normal amount of protein.  In fact, most of my meals were almost entirely protein.  I dropped a significant amount of weight eating this way, which is probably why it continued for so long.  Eventually, the high-protein diet got old.  Then Leo was born, and for some reason, my taste for meat was tarnished once again.  I am in the process of moving our family back toward the pescatarian lifestyle, though not a strict one.  I know the boys like their meat, and there are some dishes that include meat that I really enjoy.  Not a whole lot at this point, but some still.  I have found that I really, really like sauteed tofu, by which Patrick and Adam are completely disgusted, so I keep the tofu to myself.    A recent trip to Trader Joe's provided entirely meatless options for this little family.  So far, no complaints, though I know Adam misses the meat a little.  (I want to clarify that I am not at all opposed to Adam's diet and I would never try to impose my tastes on him, which is why I don't protest when he picks up  Meat-Lover's pizza periodically on the way home from work.)

Recently, I learned that quinoa is a good source of meatless protein, and I really want to try to make it.  I found this receipe on the Super Healthy Kids blog (see link to the left) and am more than just a little intrigued.  These sugar pumpkins, or pie pumpkins, are pretty inexpensive, despite the pumpkin shortage this year.  I believe this dinner might be hitting the table this weekend.  Patrick will flip over eating out of a pumpkin, and I'm hoping that this is good enough that Adam may warm to the idea of a meatless dinner.

To prepare the pumpkins:

•Cut top off pumpkin
•scoop out seeds (so much easier than scooping out a Jack-O-Lantern!
•Place pumpkins in oven safe dish with pumpkin lid.
•Pour water into bottom of dish
•Cover tightly with foil
•Bake at 410 for 30 minutes.
•Take out of oven , drain water, and fill pumpkins with stuffing.
•Return to oven with lids and foil and bake for 20 more minutes. (No water in dish this time)

You can fill the pumpkins with soup, or any sort of rice concoctions. Our Stuffing was: Quinoa and Black Beans. Recipe:
•1 tsp olive oil
•1 chopped onion
•3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
•1 cup uncooked Quinoa
•1 3/4 cup chicken broth
•1 tsp cumin
•1 cup corn kernels
•1 can black beans
•Garnish with avocados

Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add Quinoa, broth, cumin to pan. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add corn and black beans when Quinoa is cooked.