Grain-free Cranberry Pecan Pilaf

December 17, 2012 by Leanne Vogel October 3, 2018

Grain-free “rice” mixed with roasted butternut squash and dried cranberries. Perfect as a side dish to any meal or make it the main event by adding grilled chicken, chickpeas or smoked tofu.

Ingredients

Roasted Butternut Squash

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes – yields approximately 2 cups of cubed squash (to view a tutorial on how to do this, click here)
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Everything else

• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 3 cups chopped kale
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh curly parsley
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 6 pecan halves, roughly chopped
• 10 pistachios, roughly chopped
• ½ tablespoon pepita seeds
• 1 batch of homemade Catalina Salad Dressing

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel the squash and cut the flesh cubes. Toss with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and spread on a baking sheet. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until until the tips brown and the pieces are tender but still a bit firm.
2. When the squash is nearing completion, prepare cauliflower “rice” by cutting the head of cauliflower into florets and pulsing the florets in the bowl of your food processor until broken down into rice-sized pieces. Transfer to a steamer and steam for 2 minutes, until tender. Drain, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
3. Reuse the roasting pan to roast the kale in the preheated oven just 1.5 minutes will do the trick. Add kale to the bowl along with remaining ingredients and prepared catalina dressing. Stir to coat and serve warm.

Nutrition Information Per Serving