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Find yourself a lovely, locally grown acorn squash, preferably from a market vendor who has been standing outside in the cold autumn weather all day because she's earned your money and it's more environmentally friendly. Bring it home and wash the dirt off of it and hack it in half with a large, sharp knife - carefully. Scoop out the seeds and strings - I've heard tell that you can keep them there seeds, bake 'em and eat 'em, if you are so inclined. Rub the whole darn thing with a teensy bit of olive oil and place cut side up on a cookie sheet. Preheat your oven to 350F and drizzle a dollop of lovely organic, non-pasteurized (and locally grown, if you've got it) honey into the hollows of each of the halves. Smear it around on the exposed flesh. Pop those squashes into the oven for 45-55 minutes or until they are soft and done. Enjoy!
Find yourself some lovely, locally grown leeks, preferably from the lady who sold you the acorn squash. Remember to say merci! Bring them home, but don't squish them with your can of organic pinto beans. Slice off the ends and peel the outside layer or two off so you have delicious looking, fresh and healthy leek. Slice the white part into rounds about 5mm thick and toss them into a large bowl. Once you reach the green part, just throw zem away. Rinse, rinse and rinse again the slices of leeks in order to get all the tenacious sand out from between the layers. You might even consider giving it help by pushing the concentric layers apart. Once you are convinced that you won't be aiding your digestion as our bird cousins do, throw them in a large pot with olive oil. Cook them over low-medium heat until fragrant and lovely. Chop a clove of organic, locally grown purple garlic and throw that in as well. Drain and rinse pinto beans and throw hem in to warm with the other two ingredients. Season a bit with salt and pepper. Serve with acorn squashes.
Find yourself some organic wild rice near the organic pinto beans (when you stop at your local natural food store to pick up your edamame appetizer - follow directions on bag for those). Look around and you should find your dried cherries there too. Bring them home (pay for them first, silly). Follow the directions on the bag of wild rice, which should sound similar to 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, boil then simmer for uberlong (about 45 minutes - how convenient), then let sit for another period of time. While you're at the sitting stage, this is an excellent time to introduce a few (as many as you like, I believe I used a small handful) dried cherries to the pot of warm, wet wild rice to allow them to begin the plumping process. And you could also tap in a hint of cinnamon. Serve alongside acorn squashes and leeks. Tell everyone what you ate and then have them be fantastically amazed by your talent for cooking (and alliteration)!
