I love wild rice! Especially during the autumn. The earthy aroma and chewy texture meld perfectly with so many vegetables. Today I have butternut squash, kale sprouts, leeks, cremini mushrooms, & shiitake mushrooms.
Yum.
Prep your veg: (and preheat your oven to 425)
- peel, core & chop the butternut squash (the whole thing!) - rough chop on the kale sprouts (a did a whole bag) - clean and slice 2 leeks (you just want the white & super light green parts) - pulverize 3 or 4 garlic cloves - slice 2 pounds of mushrooms (I had a mix of cremini & shiitake - stems removed from the latter)
Time to cook:
- roast your cubes of butternut squash in some olive oil (plus salt & pepper) for 30 mins, until caramelized and soft - cook your wild rice (I cooked 2 cups in 4 cups of chicken stock) according to the instructions on the package - sautee leeks, garlic & mushrooms in olive oil and a few tbsp of butter, season to taste - add the kale sprouts when the other veg have cooked down, I like the kale to have a little chew to it - once the the squash is done, add it to the other veg and when the rice is done, combine it all! Season to taste. I added a tsp of dried thyme at the end.
- Serve it alone, or with your fav meat. We paired this with a delicious chuck roast. The flavors were divine!
Looking for kale sprouts? I found them at Trader Joes earlier this month. A great substitute would be broccoli, cauliflower, or even chopped kale.