Wheat Berries with Butternut Squash and Kale
After what feels like a much too long winter rut, I’m back! I went to a pop up dinner last night with some of the most amazing new chefs in Houston and I left feeling…. Inspired 🙂 I feel like I have been way too busy this winter, so I absolutely loved watching these guys be so creative in creating new dishes just for our dinner. So… now my turn! I created this recipe because I was craving risotto… but I’m really trying to eat healthier and OHHHH this dish turned out so good! It’s so satisfying and the sweetness of the butternut squash goes perfectly with the nuttiness of the wheat berries. This is definitely one of my new favorite recipes.
Ingredients:
- 1 small butternut squash, cut into ½ pieces
- unsalted butter
- ½ bunch of kale
- ¾ cup of wheat berries
- ¼ cup diced
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2.5 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, to taste
- olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large sauce pan. Add squash and sauté for about 5 minutes, and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little olive oil onto a baking sheet and pour out the butternut squash. Roast for about 25-30 minutes, tossing about every ten minutes or so.
- While the squash is roasting, heat a drizzle of olive oil up in the same pan and toast the wheat berries for about 1 minute. Place the pan in the oven and roast for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, pour the wheat berries into a bowl and set aside.
- In the same pan add 2 more tablespoons of butter and heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a 1/2 tsp. of Cajun seasoning. Add the wine and stir until its almost all evaporated. Then, add the wheat berries back in and begin to pour in the stock and water mixture, about ½ cup at a time – like a risotto. Make sure the water/stock mixture is warm as you add it.
- Continue to stir the wheat berries every ten minutes or so for about an hour until they are tender. Ten minutes before they are done, add in the kale and butternut squash. Then, pour in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste.
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