Wash your pumpkins. Dry thoroughly, making sure that the bottoms are completely dry. To remove the tops, use a sharp serrated knife and cut into the top at a 45° angle to ensure the top can be placed back on without falling through. Scoop out the seeds and stringy fibers gently with a spoon. Preheat oven to 350°.
Vegan Dinner in a Pumpkin
Ingredients:
Two 2 1/2-3 lb pumpkins or One 5 1/2-6 lb pumpkin (we liked having our own)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 bouillon cubes
4 ounces mushrooms, minced or sliced (we minced, but next time I'll slice for more variety in texture)
1/2 cup milk (we used original Silk)
1 can lentils (and liquid)
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
parsley, for garnish
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook until golden brown. Add 2 bouillon cubes, 1/2 cup milk, mushrooms, and lentils. Add both black and white pepper, thyme, cumin, parsley and sea salt and mix well. Turn heat down to low and allow to simmer while rice cooks. Stir every 5 minutes. Cook rice according to package directions. Once cooked, add rice to the lentil mixture and mix well. Fill pumpkins with lentil and rice mixture, then sprinkle with parsley and place the tops on.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the pumpkin is easily pierced with a sharp knife. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before eating!
Enjoy!
PS.
When you're done eating, remove any leftover filling and scrape out the remaining pumpkin. You'll be amazed at how much will be left after you've stuffed yourself. We got about 2 cups of pumpkin from each one, and that was after we ate until we were stuffed!
