Taco Squash!



Had this big beautiful squash from my garden and 1)didn't know what it was exactly and 2)didn't know what to do with it. Good ol' Facebook helped me figure out it's a summer squash, similar to zucchini but larger seeds and a meaty pulp you generally don't eat. A friend suggested making taco meat and putting it in the squash and baking it, covered with cheese. Wowza, good idea!

This is my version of Taco Squash

Large green summer squash, quartered, insides pulp and seeds scraped out
1 lb ground beef
1 red pepper, diced
2 medium carrots, shredded
3/4 cup zucchini, shredded
1 1/2 Cups frozen corn
Taco seasoning powder
Water
1 1/2 Cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400. In a skillet, brown 1lb of ground beef. Add to skillet diced red pepper, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, corn, and simmer with taco seasoning (packet/make your own/measure from Costco container/etc) and enough water to keep it 'wet' until veggies are tender. 

Place the squash quarters skin side down on a foil-lined large baking sheet with edges (to catch the juice). Fill the squash with the meat/veggie mixture, loosely cover with foil and bake at 400degrees for 45 minutes. Because baking time depends on the size/thickness of your squash you may want to check it around 40 min and then keep cooking until the squash is firm, but fork tender. When it is nearly done, cover the quarters with cheddar cheese and continue baking uncovered until the cheese is a gooey yummy mess. Done! 

PS. You can eat the skin, it gets tender like zucchini when baked a long time, but if you don't like it, then just scoop each bite and don't eat it :)

Serve with sour cream, salsa, and tortilla chips.

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