These roasted acorn squash with wild rice stuffing is a perfect holiday dish for Fall and Winter. It’s festive in appearance and in flavor! I love having more hearty recipes this time of year especially something nutrient dense. Cooking with aromatic herbs during the colder months is no coincidence as it helps boost our immune system providing anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.
Tis the season for squash.
When squash is in season, I love to take full advantage in creating recipes that highlight the rich sweet and slightly nutty flavor that foods like acorn squash have. For this dish, I recommend using a sharp knife like a santoku, asian chefs knife or nakiri to easy cut them in half to roast. Simply cut off the top stem and then cut them in half. When, the squash is right side up, you will be halving it horizontally, not vertically.
Then remove the interior flesh, using a large spoon. I love to roast the seeds just as I would pumpkin seeds, they are delicious and packed with nutrients and vitamins just like pumpkin seeds.
Then I spray both sides with some avocado oil and drizzle on some sea salt. These allows them to caramelize a bit and have some flavor. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place them with the open side down and bake while you prepare your rice pilaf.
In a pot, start by cooking up the rice. While this cooks add avocado oil, garlic, onion, celery and herbs to a sauté pan and cook until translucent, then adding in your broccolini. I love using broccolini in this rice dish because it has a great flavor and texture with the soft rice.
After sautéing the broccolini for a bit, you can add in the mushrooms, vegan butter and coconut aminos. It’s best to add different vegetables at different times to maintain their texture.
Once the mushrooms are properly cooked and your rice is cooked (aka nice and fluffy) you can add in the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.
When the squash is ready, simply fill them with this beautiful rice dish and top with fresh herbs as garnish.
- 2-3 small-medium acorn squash, rinsed, halved and seeds/flesh removed
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced
- ½ cup celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz of crimini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (stems removed)
- 8 oz of broccolini, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
- 3 tsp avocado oil
- 3 tbs vegan butter, salted (I used miyokos)
- 5 tsp coconut aminos (separated- see instructions)
- Avocado oil spray (for roasting)
- 1½ cup uncooked wild rice
- 2½ cup vegetable broth
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- Sea salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Cut the acorn squashes in half and remove seeds using a spoon.
- Spray with avocado oil and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (with the skin side up). Bake for 45 minutes, or until fork tender, depending on size of the squash.
- Combine rice and vegetable broth into a pot and cook according to package instructions, allows to cit and fluff up for about 10 mins after it’s done.
- Into a sauté pan add avocado oil, onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme and celery and sauté for 15 mins-20 on medium heat until slightly soft and onions are translucent.
- Then add in the chopped broccolini, ¼ cup water and ¼ tsp sea salt and sauté for about 10 minutes.
- Once broccolini is tender add in the mushrooms, 2 tsp coconut aminos and 1 tbs vegan butter sauté for 15 mins then add in 2½-3 cups of cooked rice, ¼ cup chopped pecans, ¼ cup dried cranberries, 2 tbs vegan butter, 3 tsp coconut aminos salt and pepper to taste and mix until well combined.
- Remove the squash from the oven once they are done and stuff the rice pilaf mixture into the squash.
- Top with fresh herbs to garnish and enjoy!
- Place in the oven at 350 for about 5-10 minutes to heat up if needed.
- Enjoy!
This dish has a mix of sweet and savory, as well a mixture of textures from the dried cranberries to pecans. It’s a favorite for special occasions and holidays because of its presentation and always seems to be a crowd pleaser. It’s naturally vegan and gluten free in a not so obvious way given it’s satisfying depth of flavor.
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