Autumn Salad with Pears, Squash & Kale

You know it’s fall when the roasted squash recipes appear. I made this a couple weeks ago to bring to a friend’s “Autumn Fest.” Basically, I started with my recipe for roasted squash and pears and added some other ingredients to make a more substantial dish.

• 2 small delicata squash, cubed
• 4 anjou pears, cubed
• 3 small red onions, cut into eighths
• 3 well-packed cups of torn kale
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup wild rice
• 1/3 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup red rice
• 3 cups water
• walnut oil, for drizzling
• freshly cracked pepper
• sea salt

Dressing

• 5 tablespoons walnut oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix the squash, pears, and onions in a casserole dish or roasting pan. Drizzle lightly with oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast in the oven for about one hour and fifteen minutes. Scrap and mix about halfway through the cooking time. The edges should be just beginning to brown.
3. Meanwhile, combine the rice and water in a pot. Bring the water to a boil; then cover and reduce to a simmer.
4. Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together; set aside.
5. Add the kale to the rice pot when about 5 minutes are left on the pears and squash.
6. Mix the rice/kale and pear/squash mixtures in a large bowl or serving platter. Add the dried cranberries and dressing. Toss to coat. Adjust salt and pepper and serve.

(Serves 6-8)

I used the delicata squash and anjou pears, mainly because that’s what looked best at the store. If you decide to give the recipe a go, I would worry more about produce that looks good rather than making sure to have the exact same type of produce.

You don’t necessarily have to use the same proportions of rice, but for the timing to work make sure to stick with unmilled rice. You could make the recipe with white rice but make sure to adjust the cooking time down as white rice cooks in much less time.

Mike declared this one of his favorites foods that I’ve made up for the blog, so I guess you could say he recommends it.

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