Wild rice, squash, walnuts, dried cranberries, fresh grated parmesan cheese, arugula, and a simple vinaigrette make this a fabulous meatless meal. This bowl of goodies is packed with a variety of flavors and textures. I took a standard arugula salad with a basic vinaigrette and turned it into a delicious meatless lunch or dinner! The dried cranberries go so well with the wild rice, it’s a naturally great combo. Roasted squash, salty nutty parmesan, chewy cranberries, earthy wild rice, peppery arugula, and crunchy walnuts…I’m hungry just writing this. Yum!

I’m going to be honest, this one doesn’t just come together in no time…it takes a little time to prepare, but trust me it is worth it and would be a great Sunday meal prep option for lunches! Wild rice actually takes almost an hour to cook, so make sure to check your package instructions to plan accordingly! I took a little help from the store and bought pre-spiralized squash so all I had to do was roast it for a few minutes. Everything else is super easy to come together. What I like about this recipe is that you can serve this salad warm, cold, or room temperature and it’s great every way!

Wild Rice Power Bowl

Servings 4

Author Laura Doerr

Ingredients

For the salad

4 oz baby arugula
3 cups butternut squash cubed or spiralized
drizzle olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup wild rice cooked
1/2 cup dried cranberries reduced sugar
1/2 cup walnuts chopped
3/4 cup fresh parmesean cheese grated
salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette

3/4 cup apple juice
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp shallots minced
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (if your squash is raw). If you bought frozen, follow package instructions for cooking. On a baking sheet, toss cubed or spiralized squash with a drizzle of olive oil and maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until soft (15-20 min for cubed, 10-15 for spiralized), and let cool.
In a saucepan, combine the apple juice, cider vinegar, and shallots and bring to a boil. Cook for about 7-10 minutes over med-high heat until it has reduced to about 1/4 cup. Remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard and olive oil until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Dressing can be served warm or chilled.
Salad can be prepared as one large salad, or divided up into smaller individual portions. Combine arugula, roasted squash, wild rice, dried cranberries, walnuts, and fresh grated parmesan cheese. Toss with desired amount of vinaigrette and serve.
Salad can be served warm, room temp, or chilled!

Recipe Notes

Make sure to season each layer of the salad as it is being prepared. For example, season the rice cooking water with salt, salt and pepper the squash while roasting, and salt and pepper the vinaigrette.

Recipe calls for 1 cup cooked wild rice, use the package conversions for measurements on non-cooked rice, and allot for cooking time.

You can look for precooked frozen squash or pre-cubed. I used spiralized squash from the store produce section, huge time saver!