Wild Rice and Acorn Squash Pilaf
A healthy and colorful vegetarian dish to serve as a side ... or the main course!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups uncooked wild rice
- 1 acorn squash
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp pepper, divided
- spray oil
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup chopped kale, loosely packed
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400°.
- To slice squash in half, first slice off the base and the stem using a large, sharp knife on astable cutting board. Be very careful!
- Set the squash’s flat surface down on the cutting board, and slice in half
- Scrape out the seeds from the interior – you can roast these just like pumpkin seeds!
- Place on a baking sheet interior face up. Spray interior with oil and add ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Cook for 45 minutes.
- While squash is cooking make wild rice – combine rice with 2 ¾ cups water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer, cook for 45 minutes.
- Season your rice with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Add the chopped kale to the rice, stirring well. Kale does not need to be cooked first – the hot rice will heat up the kale.
- Toss in cranberries and pecans to the rice and mix well until combined.
- Squash is done when you can stick a fork in it with no resistance.
- Allow squash to cool for 10-20 minutes.
- Scoop squash out of the peel and chop roughly into ½ inch cubes.
- Toss squash with rice mixture. Top with extra pecans or cranberries if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 61kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 1gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 2mgPotassium: 201mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 198IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg