Roasted Pumpkin Farro Pilaf with Cranberries

The combination of roasted pumpkin, hearty farro, dried cranberries and Swiss chard makes for a delicious fall dish that's pretty too. Without cutting it, throw your small pie-pumpkin (thinner stem than carving pumpkins) into the oven to soften and make cutting much easier. After 20 minutes, take it out, skin it and cut it into cubes. Toss with oil and spices, and roast. If you just don't have the time, substitute pre-cubed butternut squash (from the produce department) for the pumpkin. Farro is a popular ancient grain that cooks up in about 15 minutes even though it is 100% whole grain. Wheat berries are similar to farro but take a lot longer to cook. If you want to serve this as a salad, use thinly chopped red onions rather than white, add more greens, add cooked farro to the other ingredients and toss.

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Roasted Pumpkin Farro Pilaf with Cranberries

Yield: 8 servings

Author: Judes Draughon

Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 50 Min

The combination of roasted pumpkin, hearty farro, dried cranberries and Swiss chard makes for a delicious fall dish that's pretty too. Without cutting it, throw your small pie-pumpkin (thinner stem than carving pumpkins) into the oven to soften and make cutting much easier. After 20 minutes, take it out, skin it and cut it into cubes. Toss with oil and spices, and roast. If you just don't have the time, substitute pre-cubed butternut squash (from the produce department) for the pumpkin. Farro is a popular ancient grain that cooks up in about 15 minutes even though it is 100% whole grain. Wheat berries are similar to farro but take a lot longer to cook. If you want to serve this as a salad, use thinly chopped red onions rather than white, add more greens, add cooked farro to the other ingredients and toss.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup uncooked semi-pearled farro (1 1/2 cups cooked)
• 1 tsp ground coriander, divided
• 2 cups pumpkin, peeled and diced
• 1 cup shredded Swiss Chard
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar (white balsamic or apple cider)
• 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place farro in a medium saucepan covered with about 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain excess water.
2. After 20 minutes take the pumpkin out of the oven, cut the stem out and cut it in half. Increase the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees. Clean out the stringy, messy stuff from each pumpkin shell half.
3. Place the pumpkin halves on a cutting board, cut-side down, and peel the skin off using a y-shaped vegetable peeler. Slice pumpkin into cubes, toss with 2 teaspoons olive oil, coriander, and some salt; roast high in the oven until tender and browned about 15 minutes.
4. Add 1 teaspoon oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat. Place minced onion in skillet and cook until translucent. Add celery and cook for a minute or two longer. Combine curry, 1 teaspoons oil, high quality vinegar, 1/2 tsp ground coriander (optional), cooked farro, cranberries, salt and pepper to onions and celery. Cook for a minute or two while mixing ingredients together. Toss Swiss chard and roasted pumpkin into the mixture and turn off heat. Serve.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

146

Fat

3 g

Carbs

27.2 g

Fiber

4 g

Protein

4.5 g

Sodium

211 mg

1 serving = 1/2 cup

anti-inflammatory, blood sugar control, heart healthy, vegetarian, weight loss