Butternut and Autumn Stuffing Bake || 21 Day Fix Approved Recipe

Healthy comfort food is the name of the game as the leaves start changing colors and the temperature starts dropping. Fall is my favorite "food season" because what's not to love about cozy soups and chili, rich spices, savory herbs, baked veggies and squash, and anything related to Thanksgiving?

Now that my schedule is finally calming down and I'm able to spend the weekends relaxing at home instead of driving around the Midwest for my grand wedding tour, I'm looking forward to trying more time intensive and adventurous recipes on Saturday nights. This particular casserole was inspired by a twice-baked stuffed butternut squash recipe from The Paleo Kitchen. I was using a small butternut squash from my grandma's vegetable garden, so I decided to combine everything into one dish.

This Butternut and Autumn Stuffing Bake is definitely going to be a regular on my dinner rotation. It's slightly sweet, savory, filling, deceptively healthy, and perfectly captures everything I love about the season!

Butternut and Autumn Stuffing Bake
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 apple, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp curry powder
2 eggs
shredded cheddar (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
coconut oil spray

Slice your butternut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds (reserve to roast!), place the squash halves cut-side down on a baking sheet, and bake for 30-40 minutes at 400*, or until the squash is soft when you pierce it with a fork.

In the meantime, take the biggest skillet you have, coat it with coconut oil spray (my most recent obsession...it's supposed to be better for you than canola oil), and sauté the apple, onion, and garlic for 3-5 minutes. Add the ground turkey, rosemary, curry, salt and pepper, and sauté until the turkey is cooked through.

Once the squash is baked, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes, then scoop the squash out of its peel and mix it into the pan of turkey.

In a small bowl, whisk the two eggs together and then stir them into the squash and turkey mixture so everything is combined.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350*, transfer your casserole mixture into an 8x8" glass baking dish coated in coconut oil spray, top with cheese (optional), and bake for 25 minutes.



Sprinkle with roasted seeds, serve with a green salad and enjoy! I drizzled some Cholula hot sauce on mine :)

[Serves 4, each serving: 1 green, 1 red, 1/4 purple on the 21 Day Fix (add 1/2 blue for cheese)]

xo Anna