I was pretty excited about making this dish! It’s warm (I’ve been craving warm food lately) and healthy so you don’t feel guilty about eating it, like say an Alfredo pasta. Plus, this is packed with tons of good for you veggies, so not only is it low cal but it’s actually healthy.
Originally, I intended to use barley risotto. However, upon my arrival at my regular grocery store, no barley risotto to be found. Considering the resolutioners were crowding up my store, I knew they’d be crawling all over the even healthier stores and I wasn’t in the mood to fight the crowds. So I settled on this quick cook, whole grain mix. It actually turned out working well because it gave the dish a little more variety in texture.
You’ll need:
1/2 a butternut squash
3/4 a large white onion
2 cups of fresh kale
Several cloves of fresh garlic
1 cup of whole grains
2 cups of chicken broth (can sub vegetable broth and make this vegan!)
Fresh Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Finely chop the onion and garlic. The garlic is for taste and I love garlic so I added a lot. You can reduce this if you prefer. I used about 5 cloves.
Wash and pat dry your kale. Remember to remove the ribs. If you need a reminder on how to do this click here. Scroll down and there’s a demo. Then slice the kale into smaller strips.
Now for the butternut squash. Warning: this is not the easiest vegetable to work with. First, slice it in half down the middle.
I had to take a break, arm strength was waning.
Success!
Use a spoon to scope out the flesh. You only need half of the butternut squash for this recipe but I went ahead and sliced and diced the whole thing so I can use the other half later.
Now peel all the skin off. Since the shape of this squash is irregular this is a little challenging. Not too bad though.
Now slice it up.
Then dice it up into bite size pieces.
Measure out a cup of grains and lets get to cooking!
Drizzle the bottom of a large pot with olive oil. Add your onions and garlic. Cook on medium high heat until translucent.
Should smell really good right about now!
Stir in the butternut squash.
Now add the kale. Let the kale wilt just a bit. Stir this around for 1-2 minutes.
Then add two cups of chicken broth.
Cover and bring to a boil.
After it boils, add in one cup of grains.
After adding grains, bring it back to a boil.
Then transfer it to a small casserole dish.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. The liquid will be absorbed while it’s cooking.
And 30 minutes later… Dinner is ready!
Add fresh grated Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a bowl.
I like lots of Parmesan!
Yum yum! Time to eat!
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