Warm Harvest Bowl

This warm harvest bowl with apples and maple glazed butternut squash is a great make-ahead meal for lunches during the week, or a delicious vegetarian dinner. Batch cook each ingredient to use it in even more recipes for the week. Either way, it's the best of fall in a bowl.

I received free Nature's Earthly Choice wild rice and barley medley, and this recipe appears in their Fall cookbook. All opinions are my own.

[This recipe was originally posted in October 2018. It has been updated with cooking instructions, expert tips, FAQ, related recipes, and ways to repurpose/use up ingredients]

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How will this warm harvest bowl make your life easier?

Buy a whole butternut squash or grab pre-sliced butternut squash to make dinner really easy. You pretty much do some chopping and assembling, and let the oven and stove do all the work.

Even though it does take over 30 minutes to make, it's really 85% hands off baking time. It's a great recipe to batch cook the extra ingredients to throw together into an easy salad or buddha bowl.

What makes this harvest bowl good?

• Butternut squash
• Maple syrup
• Kale
• Honeycrisp apple
• Nuts
• Nature's Earthly Choice wild rice and barley medley
• Dressing with extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, salt & pepper
• Parmesan cheese

How do I make this warm harvest bowl?

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil 1 ¼ c water in medium pot for wild rice and barley medley. Once water is boiling, add ½ c wild rice and barley medley, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside once grains are soft.

While rice is cooking, add 2 cups cubed butternut squash, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp maple syrup, and ¼ teaspoon salt to a lined baking sheet.

Mix together, roast in oven for about 30 minutes, or until squash is tender. Turn butternut squash 1-2 times while cooking. Remove once softened.

Make salad dressing by mixing together ⅛ cup each olive oil and apple cider vinegar (add slowly to taste preference), 1 teaspoon dijon mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

Make salad by washing 3 stems of kale, then remove stems. Massage kale by rubbing between your hands to soften it. Chop massaged kale, then set aside. Soon before squash and rice are done, chop ½ apple. Set aside. 

Remove rice when done, and take butternut squash out of oven when it's soft. Add rice mixture, kale, and butternut squash to large mixing bowl. Mix together. This will soften and warm up the kale. Add apple and mixed ⅛ c mixed nuts. Toss together. 

Pour dressing over salad, add parmesan cheese and salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately or refrigerate for lunches. 

I'd serve it with this Pomegranate Balsamic Marinated Pork or a simple grilled/pan fried pork chop

Expert Tips

• To save time when prepping each ingredient I recommend this order: pour water into pot, turn stove onto medium-high. While water is heating up, chop up and then prepare butternut squash. Roast. While butternut squash is roasting, prepare salad dressing and kale. Remove rice and squash once done, and chop apple at the last minute. Assemble salad from there.
• I bought a whole butternut squash, chopped it, and left the skin on, because it's a pain to peel these. But if you need to make this bowl as quick as possible- buy precut butternut squash.
• Want to make this into 2+ meals? double the recipe and mix it all together for a 2nd dish or keep ingredients separate to use in other dishes. The maple butternut squash is delicious and would pair really well with pork and so much more. Each component is delicious and super versatile.
• I love all things tangy, I have even added more apple cider vinegar to my leftovers, so if you're like me, add up to another ¼ cup apple cider vinegar.

FAQ

Can I use something other than butternut squash?

Absolutely, I love this recipe for that reason, substitute for another squash or use sweet potatoes. Still roast them with maple syrup though, it's so good!

What type of apple is best?

Personally, I love Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, and Braeburn apples because they're super crunchy, and have that great sweet-tart ratio when they're in season. But use whichever apples you love/have on hand.

What protein can I add to this?

Absolutely. Pork & apples is such a great flavor combo, so I'd recommend adding a pork chop or something similar on the side, or chopped inside the salad. Chicken or white beans would be good too.

How can I repurpose this harvest bowl?

• Keep each ingredients separate until you make this bowl, that way you can use the ingredients in different recipes.
• Turn it into a salad by adding other seasonal greens

What can I make the leftover ingredients?

• (apples) Skillet Pork Chop with Apples & Brussels Sprouts, make this PB Yogurt dip to dip apples into, No Bake Apple Tart with Greek Yogurt
• (butternut squash) swap the sweet potatoes for butternut squash in this Instant Pot protein packed creamy soup
• (kale) Simple Sauteed Kale Salad, Simple Warm Kale Salad with Pomegranate Dressing, Sausage & Egg Casserole

Did you make this warm harvest bowl? Leave me a comment & rating to share how it turned out!

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