Surprise Visitor

This weekend my husband and I had an old friend come by.  We were a quick stop between his weekend in the mountains and the airport, but none the less I had the urge to feed him (it was dinnertime after all).  Both recipes listed below can easily be done in advance, just set the squash in the oven 30 minutes before serving and viola!  We had a great visit, and a good meal, entertaining accomplished.  

Starter: 

Roasted chickpeas, sausage, a nice sharp cheese and apples 

You really can't go wrong with some cheese, cured meat, and fruit in my opinion. The addition of the roasted chickpeas, gave a unique twist to a somewhat average appetizer.

For the Chickpeas:  

Set oven to 325 degrees. Drain and rinse 1, 15oz can of chickpeas and put onto paper towels to completely dry.  Toss chickpeas with 1T. olive oil and spices of your choice. I used 1 1/2 t. of Emeril's Essence. If your looking for a little kick cayenne would be a great addition.  Roast in the oven for 45-50 minutes, let cool and serve at room temperature.  Trust me, they are addictive little suckers!

Dinner:

Stuffed Squash with wild rice

I have squash and zucchini growing like crazy in my garden right now, this was a great way to use them up! The combination of both was nice and colorful, and was what my garden offered that day.  That being said, the general consensus around the table was the yellow squash were slightly more tasty than the zucchini in this recipe, they cooked down a little more and were nice and sweet.

*5-6 med sized squash/zucchini 

*1 med onion

*2 med tomatoes (use canned if you don't have fresh, just drain off liquid)

*1 c. wild rice cooked  (follow package instructions)

*1 c. orzo cooked  (follow package instructions)

*1 lb sausage (I used spicy chicken sausage from my farmers market)

*salt, pepper

*2 t. Italian seasoning

*sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the zucchini and squash in half lengthwise,  hollow out middle with a spoon, so it looks like a boat. Sprinkle with salt.  Sauté onion in a little olive oil until translucent.  Dice tomatoes.  In a large bowl combine onion, tomatoes, wild rice, orzo, sausage (no need to cook before hand), Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix with a spoon until well combined and fill up the squash and zucchini with mixture.  Top with cheese.  Lay your stuffed squash on a rimmed baking sheet and put in oven for 30 minutes or until the squash is tender and sausage is cooked through.  Enjoy!