Tempeh Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Marinade:
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon hickory bacon-flavored salt, or more taste
1 (8 ounce) package tempeh, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
Squash:
3 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup pecans, or to taste, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegan butter (such as Earth Balance(R)), divided
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups chopped kale
1 cup mushrooms, diced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preparation

Mix water, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, maple syrup, lemon juice, sage, and bacon salt together to make the marinade. Place tempeh in marinade; refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sprinkle squash with salt and pepper. Place squash cut-side down on a baking sheet; spread pecans over the other.
Bake pecans in the preheated oven until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Bake squash until tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon vegan butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tempeh and marinade, kale, mushrooms, garlic, fennel seeds, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook until water has evaporated and tempeh and kale are crispy and browned, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and more bacon salt if needed.
Dollop remaining vegan butter into each cooked squash half. Stuff with the tempeh mixture and top with pecans.