Stuffed Acorn Squash

Two years??  Wow.  It's been a while since I posted here!  Funny that I've recently decided to try vegan again, if just for a cleanse - I've only been ovo-lacto vegetarian since around early 2011.  But here's something I made tonight that thrilled me, and my guest loved it too, so I wanted to put it somewhere, if just so I could repeat it myself.

I started from this post from We Are Not Martha, but I changed it up quite a bit.  It's pretty healthy, and vegan, but it has a lot of flavor.  I've been loving ancho chile pepper powder, and I used it here.  I suppose chili powder would work, if you like it (I've never found one that didn't have a stale, cardboard-y flavor), but I guess I would favor a slightly spicy paprika over that.

Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash
2-4 servings

1 acorn squash
2 tbl olive oil (divided)
1/2 cup brown rice
1 1/4 cup vegetable stock
1 small onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
4 oz mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup dry sherry
3 oz frozen vegan ground crumbles (or so, about a quarter package)
1/4 crunchy apple, diced (I used honey crisp)
1/2 tsp ancho chile pepper powder  (see note above)
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Split the squash and remove the seeds.  Place the halves cut side up in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper.  Place in oven and roast about 45 minutes, or until fork tender.

Combine the rice and stock in a pot, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.

In the meantime, heat the rest of the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onions and saute until translucent.  Add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and saute until all the vegetables are tender.  Add the sherry and cook for a minute or so, then add the cooked rice, ground crumbles, apple, and ancho chile powder.  Cook another three minutes or so until the ground crumbles are thawed.

Remove the squash from the oven.  Stir the walnuts and parsley into the rice mixture, add salt and pepper to taste, then spoon it, divided in two, into the hollows of the squash.  Return the squash to the oven for five minutes and heat until the stuffing begins to brown.  Serve with a little more chopped parsley as garnish.