Acorn Squash with Seitan and Leftover Eggplant-Cabbage served on Tortilla, Grilled Asparagus (No Added Fat)

My friend Lani Muelrath described how acorn or butternut squash, either of which I find a bit challenging to cut in half or, worse, pieces, can easily be cooked, intact, with steam under pressure in 8 minutes in an Instant Pot pressure cooker. I had some of the eggplant cabbage dish from last week left, and decided to make a simple dinner, using up these leftovers and making some squash.

I put a trivet and cup of water into the Instant Pot pot, verified that the water was below the trivet level, and put an uncut acorn squash on the trivet. I closed the pot and hit three buttons ("Steam", which sets up a 10m pressure steaming, and the negative button twice to set the time to 8m) and let the machine do its thing.

After the eight minutes were up, I slowly let out remaining pressure and opened the pot. The squash was now soft and easy to cut! However, I found the flesh a little undercooked, so I put the two halves, after seeding, back into the Instant Pot on the trivet and cooked in high pressure (but not steam mode) for 2 minutes. The squash was now done!

I heated the leftovers, and mixed in about 4 ounces of seitan, a few tablespoons of marinara sauce, a little hot sauce, and a little more than half of the squash, cut into maybe 1 1/2" or so cubes. I also grilled some asparagus spears with no added fat on a cast iron skillet along with some onion, and served with a bit of lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

As I was about to serve, I thought to heat a whole wheat tortilla and serve the main course in it. I didn't have lettuce and my wife claims not to like Mexican-style dishes, but I used the tortilla anyway.

It all came out well! My wife and I loved the main course.