If you’ve been around here for a while, you know how I feel about true, hand harvested, wood fire parched wild rice. It’s a food that is so important to the history of the land we call Minnesota and the Native people who preserve the tradition of gathering it and preparing it. Hand harvested wild rice is a world away from the crunchy, hard, black as night cultivated version. I love using it on it’s own or in my Chicken Wild Rice Soup or to add some heft to a salad. This is a super simple salad that highlights the wild rice and alongside a roasted turkey breast, would make for a perfect Thanksgiving plate.

Delicata Squash & Wild Rice Salad

Gather:

1 cup hand harvested wild rice

4 cups water (flavored with Better Than Boullion or replace water with chicken stock)

1 delicata squash

4 oz chevre

1/2 cup dried cranberries and/or chopped honeycrisp apple

1/2 cup pepitas

1 cup arugula, spinach or microgreens

6 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Cook:

Put the water or stock and the wild rice in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a low boil or simmer and cook uncovered until the rice begins to curl, about 30-40 minutes. Drain and set aside. In the meantime, cut the squash legthwise, scoop out the seeds and then slice crosswise into half moons. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and spread on a parchment lined baking sheet. Oven roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, until soft and browning on the edges, flipping once halfway through. Set aside to cool.

To assemble the salad, put the wild rice, squash and greens in a large bowl. Mix gently. Put the olive oil through the pepper into a mason jar, put the lid on and shake to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. On top of the salad, crumble the cheve and sprinkle the pepitas and fruit. Serve cold or at room temperature.