Cheesy Baked Kale and Mushroom Stuffed Pumpkin

Get high-fives all around from family, friends and guests with this mouthwatering Cheesy Baked Kale and Mushroom Stuffed Pumpkin recipe.

Cheesy Baked Kale and Mushroom Stuffed Pumpkin – Healthy and Delicious!

The answer to the question, "what should I bring to a holiday dinner or fall gathering?"

You’ve been invited to a holiday dinner and you know you need to bring a dish. If you’re into eating plant-based, and it’s usually slim pickings at events. You know you want something that you’ll love but that will also knock the knickers off the other guests.

Stuffed Pumpkin Recipe

Whoa mama, do I have the recipe for you. This recipe is hearty because of the mushrooms, but is also sneakily healthful with tons of vitamins and minerals like zinc, b vitamins, fiber, vitamins A, C and K, calcium and protein.

I took a taste and went weak in the knees over the meaty mushrooms, soft bread, tender kale, sweet pumpkin and cheesy Daiya.

Whole foods cashew cheese option

For a whole foods option, and no cashew allergies like I am dealing with, skip the Daiya and make a cashew cheeze sauce: 1 cup raw cashew nuts, soaked overnight in water, 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes, 2 tsp miso paste or salt, to taste, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 cup unsweetened dairy-free milk, salt and pepper, to taste

Cooking with whole pumpkin is easier than you think

I’m so glad I finally tried making a baked pumpkin. I’d always wondered how to cook pumpkin and it seemed overwhelming. Little did I know how easy it is! No more peeling and chopping hefty squashes for me. From now on they’ll be stuffed and tender and do all the work for me by creating a handy bowl.

This recipe also works with kabocha squash, calabaza squash or Seminole pumpkin! - Dawn Hutchins

It’s such an awesome presentation and so yummy, they’ll never know it’s healthy. You’ll sit down and gaze over the dinner table with pride as everyone stuffs their faces with your pumpkin and dives in for seconds. And you can say to yourself, BAM. I did that.

I chopped the mushrooms finely so my daughter wouldn’t notice them. Luckily as soon as she saw the cheese and bits of bread she was sold. There wasn’t a bite left over. I even re-made this as a main dish for our Halloween cookout and knocked it out of the park again!

I’ll definitely be making this for Thanksgiving side dishes.

Your Turn:

If you’re living a plant-based lifestyle how will you be handling the holidays? Do you have any secret strategies you can share with anyone that might be new to eating this way?

Cheesy Baked Kale and Mushroom Stuffed Pumpkin

Serves 4

Prep Time 10 min

Cook Time 1 hr 15 min

Total Time 1 hr 25 min

Cheesy, Baked Kale and Mushroom Stuffed Pumpkin (pumpkin, kale, mushroom)

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Ingredients

1 medium sugar pie pumpkin (about 4 lbs)

Salt and pepper, to taste

8 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped

¼ red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

5-ounces frozen, chopped kale or spinach, or fresh, finely chopped

2 slices whole wheat or gluten free bread, such as DeLand Bakery bread, cut into bite sized pieces

2/3 cup shredded non-dairy cheese, such as Daiya or 1/3 cup nutritional yeast or 2/3 cup cashew cheese*

2 Tbsp coconut milk or non-dairy creamer

1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

Dash of ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF; cut the top off each pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and set aside*; season the inside with salt and pepper.

2. In a large bowl, mix the mushrooms, red onion, garlic, kale, gluten free bread, non-dairy cheese, coconut milk, coconut oil, nutmeg and additional salt and pepper, to taste.

3. Place pumpkin in a large baking dish and stuff with mixture; place any leftover mixture around the outside of the pumpkin in the baking dish; place top back on pumpkin and cover dish with foil; bake 1 hour, remove top of pumpkin, re-cover lightly with foil, bake an additional 20 minutes, or until flesh of pumpkin can be pierced with a fork. Scoop mushroom and soft pumpkin into festive bowls and serve with rice or quinoa if desired.

Notes

*cashew cheeze sauce: 1 cup raw cashew nuts, soaked overnight in water, 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes, 2 tsp miso paste or salt, to taste, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 cup unsweetened dairy-free milk, salt and pepper, to taste

**Use the pumpkin seeds previously set aside to roast, dry and plant!

By Dawn Hutchins

Adapted from Oh My Veggies

Estimated Nutrition Info

4 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 175.0

Total Fat 8.0 g

Saturated Fat 4.3 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g

Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g

Cholesterol 0.0 mg

Sodium 740.8 mg

Potassium 639.7 mg

Total Carbohydrate 23.6 g

Dietary Fiber 4.8 g

Sugars 4.5 g

Protein 4.4 g

Vitamin A 360.5 %

Vitamin B-12 0.1 %

Vitamin B-6 10.8 %

Vitamin C 60.8 %

Vitamin D 3.3 %

Vitamin E 2.9 %

Calcium 7.9 %

Copper 16.6 %

Folate 7.2 %

Iron 9.8 %

Magnesium 7.7 %

Manganese 23.7 %

Niacin 8.9 %

Pantothenic Acid 6.8 %

Phosphorus 9.2 %

Riboflavin 15.5 %

Selenium 3.9 %

Thiamin 7.5 %

Zinc 4.6 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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