Cut acorn squash in half, clean seeds & stringy parts with spoon, drizzle open side with olive oil (or other healthy oil), season w/S&P, place face down on baking sheet, bake at 400° for 20 to 40 minutes depending on size of squash; when tender by poke with a fork, a squeeze. While in oven sauté diced onion, bell pepper (celery would be good, I didn’t have any, but I did have celery salt ), 4/5 GARLIC cloves minced; add ground meat to pan, brown, breaking up with wooden spoon while cooking, SEASON. My memory… Salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, dash of sage, celery salt (seasoning to preferences; we love garlic!); TASTE throughout. Add chopped/diced apple, stir & cook until apple is tender, add riced cauliflower (all I had on hand was a cauliflower & sweet potato mix), cook another 5 minutes, stir in chopped green onion & parsley (or other fresh herbs if you don’t have any, use dried…like rosemary, thyme or Herbes De Provence or a favorite of mine ➡️ za’atar)
Remove squash from oven & flip over. Allow ingredients to cool enough to handle. Of course I didn’t & stuff each squash with meat mixture, topping off with parm (other shredded cheese that you prefer; mozzarella, Italian cheese, or crumbled Cotija Cheese, pepper jack) …. & sprinkle with fresh scallion/green onion & parsley. Bake at 400° until cheese is melted.
There are so many options, like if not on a diet…obviously rice, or a certain style/theme e.g. Italian, Latin, Moroccan, Southern, etc…ground pork rinds would make a good substitute in place of breadcrumbs…either in mix or on top. As a matter of fact…next time I’m going to try a breadcrumb substitute of ‘arrowroot flour, grated parm & ground pork rinds w/seasoning’, I didn’t have it this time. 😋
Just2note 