As the autumn kicks in with temperatures dropping slowly but surely, as it should and it’s expected, I prefer my food to get warmer, heartier, go for healthier choices and….of course, have a bit of a kick.
This three grains, mushrooms with fresh herbs onion squash bateau offers just that. It is a meal that can be vegan, vegetarian by adding some crumbled feta cheese or can very well do with some meat added on a side.
I do love mixing grains and here I have mixed three grains, a nice long grain rice, another brown short grain and two types of quinoa, red and black, all organic. Amazing!
This is that perfect autumn dish 
for colder weather or even for Halloween which is just around the corner.
Talking about the Halloween now, I do like Halloweenish food but that ’s to a certain extent and I’m now talking about that Halloween food that I would never dare to put on the table, stuff that’s pretty yucky and gruesome with chopped fingers, skulls,
bleeding body parts etc.
I could probably just about go with some spiders, ghosts and ugggly eyeballs staring back at me 
but the rest is a no, no, thank you but no, thanks!
I clearly don’t see the point in putting some food on the table that creates repulsion, you are supposed to eat it, right?!! 
ha ha, eat and not dream about it.
Fall food ….
I thought of this dish for this time of the year and for the Halloween since it contains seasonal ingredients
, it’s served in a squash it’s hearty, it is comforting and not the least nutritious and it’s super delicious.
In the autumn and winter in particular we need to load ourselves on good nutritious food so we give our body a good variety of nutrients to heal the damages in our body.
Going healthy, choosing healthy…
Staying away from the takeaway and kebabs shops it’s not always easy especially when you get into that kind of habits but falling into a habit of making those kind of meals instead it’s not hard and it’s only about 1 million times better for us. Home cooked food is good in soo many ways, good for our body, for our skin, for our energy levels and for our whole well-being in general. It’s all about choice, good choice, knowing what is good, what isn’t.
I was talking in a previous recipe about my 11-year-old daughter starting to make really good choices for food, not sure it’s the peer pressure to looking good or it’s the education given by her mother ;-), I believe it might be a bit of both or simply her clever way of being. Smart cookie, you know… yes, she is mine but she really is making me proud in many ways.
I strongly believe that children need to know and need to be taught from early stages what food to choose and why, they will remain with good memories, good habits for the rest of their life.
My kids know that they can eat anything in moderation and make a healthy choice. It is hard work, for us and also for them with soo many temptations, it requires perseverance and persistence, willpower, setting a good example which is not always easy for us the parents but once this becomes engraved it becomes a lifestyle. I feel responsible to give my children an informed choice, I’m sure many parents feel exactly the same.
Fall food is best!
I was lucky enough to still find quite a few herbs in my garden so I thought of making the most use of those while they still last, not long at all left now. Not sure what else could bring such a good energy, vibrancy and flavours to a dish more than some freshly picked herbs.
We served this dish with some organic lamb noisettes which are such a lovely cut of meat, so flavoursome and so ridiculously tasty.
I’m not sure about how you feel about this but for me, I did not care so much when young but since I have children and also with age, getting a little wiser, I really care what I put on the plate, it doesn’t have to be a lot but little and of good quality.
I do buy organic as much as possible because I love it!
- It sustains local farming;
- It gives us the best- nutrition wise- and
- It’s seasonal which is very important.
I remember years ago going to the supermarket filling up the trolley with everything I fancied (being hungry never helped) and spending a lot of money on so much stuff that I would never touch nowadays. Since I have changed my way of shopping for groceries, food is costing us less, paradoxically I know because organic is more expensive, but that is because we buy less, we buy better quality, we buy what we need and I never throw away food. Ever!
In any case, food has always been an important aspect of my life and it will always remain that way, I’m sure. 
Coming back to this dish, it’s simply delish, let’s get cooking.
Three grains, mushrooms with fresh herbs and onion squash bateau
This autumn dish is packed with goodness and offers a great deal of flavours, nutrition and it is truly delicious.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 onion squash organic *
- 400 g mushrooms divided into half
- 100 g short grain brown rice organic cooked
- 50 g long grain rice boiled
- 150 g red and black quinoa cooked
- 1 small bunch freshly picked herbs *
- 150 g dudhi finely diced *
- 2 celery sticks
- 2 small red peppers finely diced
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- good drizzle Tabasco sauce (optional)
- 4 tbsp thyme infused balsamic vinegar * or lemon juice or both
Instructions
- Boil or steam quinoa and the rices and bake the squash* if not cooked or baked already. I’ve had these from the night before.
- Chop half of the mushroom quantity into thin slices the remaining half pulse in a food processor until they become like a small rice grains or couscous size.
- Place a slightly deeper pan on medium fire, add 1/2 of the coconut oil and brown slightly the mushroom slices. When ready, take out on a plate and set aside.
- In the same pan add the other half of the coconut oil, the diced dudhi, the celery and cook for about 4 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the peppers and the riced mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes stirring every so often.
- Add the rices and the quinoa mix well for 3 minutes. Mix in the finely chopped herbs along with cooked mushroom slices and mix well for 1-2 minutes stirring almost constantly. Turn off the heat, spoon this into the squash boats and serve.
Notes
* It took me a lot less to get this dish ready since I had the rice, quinoa and pumpkin already cooked - had them as leftovers.
I am sure you know what it’s like when you have a handful of this a handful of that that makes it quite difficult to know what to make with all these little leftovers.
This dish is great at gathering all these little quantities of leftover ingredients.
Squash preps:
* if you are not cooking this from scratch and you have it leftover you will need to warm this up at some point either in a pan or in the oven for a few minutes.
* squash preparation it’s easy, just wash thoroughly, cut it into two halves, scoop out the seeds and bake for about 35-40 minutes. Wash the seeds, season them (salt and pepper) and throw them in the oven too on a tray. They’re way too good to throw away.
Leftovers...
* I do this a lot and I do recommend it to you too especially when you know the next day is a busy one- whenever I bake something in the oven here it goes a pumpkin or some potatoes that can be a next day lunch or supper. It saves quite a bit time and energy. Planning ahead a little it’s magnificent.
Many of my friends and family ask me quite often, how can I possibly cope with cooking every single day- well, this is how.
Dudhi... what’s this? ....
You may or may not heard of this vegetable before. It is actually known under few other names, depending on where you are in the world - it is also known as calabash, doodhi, bottle gourd or lauki. It is a nice vegetable but you need to make sure it is not bitter as that is an indication of this veggies being poisonous. Preparation is simple. Peel, wash chop, making sure it is not bittter once again. I never eat it raw but always cooked.
Other tips :
* to infuse the balsamic vinegar simply add fresh thyme to the balsamic vinegar you will be using for at least half an hour before using or dry thyme to a larger quantity which can be used in the future. Use your instincts. 😉
* herbs used - lemon thyme, lovage and parsley, all from my own garden.
* it serves 4 people if served on its own but it will serve 6 with some meat on the side depending on the pumpkin/squash size. This was a larger one.
Looks delicious! I love squash in the fall and winter! I don’t usually mix grains! Such a great idea, for the different health effects! I can’t wait to try this!
Thank you Beth! I love mixing the grains for the health effects and for the different flavours and textures. Its just great. I am really glad that you like the recipe and will be giving it a go. Have a wonderful day!
This recipe is right up my alley! Can’t wait to try!
Hi Amanda and thank you! I’m really glad you’re keen to try it. Let me know how you’ve liked it?.
Such a vibrant looking dish! I love your food photography and your healthy approach to cooking! Cheers!
Thank you ever so much Nicole for your nice words, it means a lot to me ?
This squash dish looks totally spectacular and I can see it being wonderful for entertaining. The fact that it’s full of nutritious goodies is just a bonus 🙂
Thank you Anna. Yes, it is great for sharing at parties or whenever you have some friends and family over. It looks great too. I’m really glad that you like it.
I Love fall related squash dishes. This dish looks amazing! Going to add this to our meal plan for sure!
Thank you Alexis,
I am so glad you like it, we love fall dishes too, the colours and nourishment are just great.Have a wonderful week! xx