Most of the recipes that I post are what I consider my most noteworthy meals. I usually post the first trial, as I'm not what I would consider a "professional" blogger and therefore don't really perfect the recipes before posting (someday...but I dream). This rice recipe is one of those that can be adapted a hundred different ways but I post it anyway because I hope that it might trigger an idea for someone else. I often see other recipes on blogs that trigger ideas for me even if I don't follow the exact recipe. Plus, I often end up with extra squash, apples, greens, and carrots on hand so it's nice to have an idea of how to combine them to create a cohesive dish that is low fat and wheat-free. I want to thank all of my fellow vegan bloggers for inspiring me almost daily with what you create in your vegan kitchen!
Wild Rice with Harvest Veggies
Inspiration
Ingredients
2 cups wild rice, washed well
2-3 carrots, sliced thin
1 small butternut or other winter squash, diced
1-3 collard leaf, sliced into very short, thin strips
1 apple, diced (optional)
4 cups vegetable broth plus 1 cup water, or 5 cups water
1 small onion, chopped
3 small cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 the needles of small sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
pine nuts for garnish
Preheat oven to 400. Place butternut squash and apple on a parchment lined baking tray and bake until tender. Mine baked quickly I think because it was very ripe (about 20 or so minutes).
As squash is baking, heat a small amount of oil (or broth if you want to do a healthy saute) in a deep skillet on medium. Add onions and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add carrots, garlic, and rice and continue to saute, adding broth if needed (for healthy saute) to avoid sticking. Saute for 2-3 minutes more. Start by adding 2 cups of broth and stir slowly. Continue to cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid is absorbed. While it's cooking, you can tend to your salad. When most of the liquid is absorbed, add two more cups of liquid along with the rosemary and thyme. Continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed. The whole cooking time may take up to 40 minutes. At this time, add the baked squash and apple to the mixture. The white pieces in the wild rice still have a visible white part inside when they are still needing more cooking time, so test small bites for tenderness. Add salt and black pepper, if desired. If the rice is still not done by the time the second batch of broth is absorbed, add the remaining liquid and cook, covered, on low for about ten more minutes. When the rice is done, add collard and cover for 5 minutes to lightly steam the pieces.
Serve topped with pine nuts.
The result of this cooking process is rice with sweet undertones and a nice dark brown gravy. Next time, I would add more collard and maybe half of the carrots. I think a great variation of this dish would be to add cooked green or brown lentils at the end when you add the squash. Also, adding nutritional yeast might deepen the gravy flavor.
Apple Walnut Salad with Miso Dressing
Salad Dressing Inspiration
Ingredients:
1 head leaf lettuce, chopped
1-2 apples, cubed into small bite sized pieces
1 cup of walnuts, chopped
Miso Dressing (see link above...you won't regret it!)
Combine and serve!
This is a tart and satisfying salad that can go many ways. I added grapefruit but I do not recommend this...it does not compliment the acidity in the dressing. Since I added apples to the salad I omitted them from the wild rice dish. Next time you have green beans and fingerlings lying around, I would definitely check out Chef Ronnen's salad that I linked there! It's amazing!
[Right after I posted this, I found
this recipe...I am going to try it soon!]
