Delicata Squash Rice Bowls
with dried cranberries / spinach
Unlike other winter squash, delicata has a thin rind that can be eaten after being roasted. Tossed with nuts and dried cranberries, it helps round out the bright colors in these light, fresh rice bowls.
Ingredients
- Honey - 2 Tbsp
- Mayonnaise - 2 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 Tbsp
- Vinegar, white wine - 1 tsp
- Rice, uncooked basmati - 3/4 cup
- Baby spinach - 4 oz
- Honey Mustard Sauce (ingredients listed separately) - ~1/2 cup
- Roasted Delicata Squash (ingredients listed separately) - ~1 lb
- Squash, delicata - 1 lb, 1/2" / 1.3cm slices (sub acorn or butternut squash)
- Beans, garbanzo (14 oz / 387 g) - 1 can, drained and rinsed
- Thyme - 4 sprigs
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Maple syrup - 1 tsp
- Cranberries, dried - 1/4 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make honey mustard sauce - Skip if sauce was made ahead on Monday. Whisk together honey, mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Cook rice - Double if making Thursday’s meal. Fill a saucepan with water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then add rice. Bring to a simmer, cover, turn heat down to low and cook until rice has absorbed all the liquid, 15 to 18 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Squash - Rinse and dry squash. Slice in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Cut into 1/2" / 1.3 slices. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Beans - Drain and rinse.
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Make
- Heat oven to 425F / 218C degrees.
- Line sheet pan with foil and brush with some cooking oil. Toss squash slices with thyme sprigs, olive oil and maple syrup. Season with some salt and pepper. Spread on the pan and roast, stirring halfway through, until tender, ~25 minutes.
- In the last 5 minutes of roasting, stir beans into squash so that the beans get warmed through.
- When squash is nearly finished roasting, toss spinach with some of the honey mustard sauce (just enough to lightly coat; you can save the rest of the sauce to drizzle over top.)
- If rice was made ahead, reheat in the microwave.
- Toss cranberries with warm squash right out of the oven.
- Assemble bowls with a portion of rice, warm roasted squash and spinach. You can toss everything together or eat each separate. Drizzle a bit more honey mustard sauce over top if you’d like. (Note: if you used delicata squash, the rind is tender enough to eat. If you used acorn squash as a substitute, the rind is tough and needs to be discarded.)
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
31 reviews
My farm fresh delivery had a delicata so I made a version of this. Yay! Added onion to the sheet pan and then kale a few minutes before beans (added red kidney to the garbanzos). Added spinach to the quinoa while it rested to wilt. Added some of the dressing (made with coconut yogurt instead of mayo and white wine instead of wine vinegar) to the quinoa but liked the flavor from the olive oil/maple/thyme roast better than the dressing.
Amazing sauce.. to bad I can only have delicata squash if I grow it myself (so only once or twice a year) although would also be good with butternut squash I think
The pan sauce is a winner, easy to make, fast, and very tasty. This recipe is especially husband approved.