• If you’re interested solely in the recipe, skip this bullet point and keep on reading. For those interested in sourcing nutrient-dense food, low-toxic household products, and discounts on brands that may support your AB journey, you may find value in my product guides. Head over to this page if you’d like to check them out. All are free (and always will be).

Prepare and make the kabocha squash.

• Dice the kabocha squash into 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch pieces.
• Measure out 2 cups and store the rest away.
• Place 2-3 tbsp of ghee in your cooking pan and bring to medium-high heat.
• Once the pan is hot, add the kabocha squash. As soon as you place the kabocha squash in the pan, rotate it so all pieces are covered with fat. Leave the pieces for 1-2 minutes, until you start to see a brown color creep up the sides of the squash, then rotate the pieces. After that, stir the squash every 30-60 seconds. Kabocha squash burns easily, so don't forget to rotate it. The goal is to get it browned and crispy without burning it. Even just 15-30 seconds too long without rotating the squash can burn it.
• When the kabocha squash is done, salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off) it to taste. Remove it from the pan and place it in a bowl to cool.
• Note: if you go through tons of salt in your household like we do, check out this salt purchasing hack that will save you money + make things more efficient. We started this last year, and I'm so happy we did!

Make the venison.

• In a separate cooking pan or the one you just used (note: if using the same pan, I recommend cleaning it out after pan-frying the kabocha and before using it to cook the venison), cook the venison at medium heat as you would any other ground meat. Salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off) it to taste. Venison cooks pretty quickly, usually in about 5-8 minutes or so.

While the venison is cooking, prepare the add-ins.

• With your vegetable peeler, skin the cucumber. If you don't have a vegetable peeler, skin the cucumber with a knife, or leave the skin on if you prefer. Cut around the seeds and chop the cucumber into cubes. Set the cubes aside.
• Chop the iceberg lettuce into thin slivers and set the pieces aside.
• Finely chop the chives and set the pieces aside.

Put it all together.

• In each venison burger bowl, place the venison, cucumber, kabocha squash, and chopped lettuce.
• Drizzle with yellow mustard and garnish with chives.
• Enjoy! These bowls are best enjoyed fresh, although leftovers can be stored in the fridge and are good for 2-3 days.