Unstuffed Winter Squash with Spiced Rice and Lentils

I like to think of this dish as like stuffed butternut squash but really more of unstuffed winter squash. This roasted butternut squash with spiced rice and lentil stuffing is rich and satisfying. A beautiful vegetarian main dish for the holiday table.

When I dream of holiday meals, this is what I dream of.

A plant-forward main dish for special occasions

Sweet, colourful veggies with a flavourful grain. If you are looking for a plant-focused holiday main, this is it. This is your centrepiece.

This unstuffed winter squash is full of warm spices, hearty and festive. The spiced rice and lentil stuffing filling and satisfying.

Of course, you can serve this dish alongside a traditional holiday meal. It makes a side dish that everyone will love and the vegetarians at the table can fully enjoy.

You have a couple of options for serving:

• you could make the stuffing and serve it inside a whole roasted squash or two... there is enough stuffing for at least 2 whole squash, you will have far more rice and lentils than needed just for stuffing. Serve the extra on as a side in its own right.
• Or you can do what I do - as much as my / your guest might want a majestic main dish at the center of the table, they will all appreciate how much easier it is to serve when the squash is roasted in pieces. I'm all about convenience sometimes.

Unstuffed winter squash is easy for holiday entertaining

This recipe comes from The Good Veg cookbook by Alice Hart. I made some minor modifications so that it is a bit easier to pull together.

➞I've used one large butternut and cut it up for roasting. This saves time and they are easy to find. You will need about a 2-3 lb squash for this recipe. Depending on the size of the crowd you are serving, you can easily go larger

➞I've seasoned the butternut with sriracha and honey before roasting - because it makes the butternut sing. I discovered this combination a while back and it is now my go-to anytime I am roasting sweet potatoes or squash. It does add some heat - in my mind not too much - but if you don't like spicy, then just season the squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. It will be just as good, and less spicy.

➞To keep this dish vegan, use another liquid sweetener, like maple syrup, instead of honey.

➞I've used ground spices instead of whole. Whole spices are beautiful and, yes, so much more fragrant then ground. But I find whole spices difficult to deal with in the final dish. Nobody likes biting into a coriander seed.

➞I've also used canned lentils here, to make this much faster. If you are feeling ambitious, or have the forethought to cook your lentils ahead of time, please do so. Little black French puy lentils would be very pretty in this dish.

Here is your step-by-step game plan for this recipe:

1. Start with the squash and get that into the oven
2. While the squash cooks, start the onions. They need time to caramelize properly. And will be happy hanging out in the fry pan while you wait for the rest of the dish components to finish cooking, just keep the heat on low. LOW AND SLOW
3. Once the onions are started, cook the rice. The rice needs to be hot when you stir in the spinach. Hot enough for the spinach to wilt. But you don't want to make it sit too long, so the spinach stays vibrant green.
4. You can use a rice cooker! My favourite small appliance. A rice cooker helps you and frees up a burner on the stovetop. Just mix in the spices with the rice and stock right in the rice cooker pot. And bonus, the rice will stay hot for you until you are ready for it, and the spinach.

More substantial vegetarian holiday dishes

Lemony Barley with Garlic and Kale

Easy vegetarian lasagna

Slow Cooker Spicy Acorn Squash