Curried Kale with Roasted Acorn Squash and Black Rice

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 55

Course Side Dish

Servings 6

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked black rice
2 1/2 cups water divided
1 acorn squash cut into 8 wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper
10 dried red chilies
1 stalk lemongrass
1 (1-inch) piece galangal peeled and finely chopped
2 shallots halved and sliced
6 kaffir lime leaves stalks and stem removed, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp all-natural crunchy peanut butter divided
2 tsp palm sugar divided
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 bunch Kale stalks removed, rinse and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup red spinach rinsed

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F
Place the rice, water and a pinch of salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Stir to combine. Cover the pot and place over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let cook undisturbed for 50-55 minutes or until the rice is tender.
While the rice is cooking, arrange the acorn squash wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle the olive oil over top and sprinkle liberally with the salt. Finish the squash with fresh ground pepper and pop them in the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the squash is fork-tender.
While the rice is cooking and squash is roasting, make the curry paste. Place the dried chiles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 10 minutes.
While the chilies are soaking, smash the lemongrass with the blunt end of a knife. Remove the tough outer leaves and finely chop what remains. Transfer the lemongrass to a food processor and add the galangal, shallots, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, 1 tsp of the palm sugar, cumin, ground coriander and 1 tbsp of the peanut butter.
Take the chilies out of the hot water and give them a coarse chop. Add them to the food processor and blitz until the mixture is smooth and cohesive. Transfer the curry paste to a bowl and set aside.
Pour half of the can of coconut milk into a large, deep skillet. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a rapid simmer and cook the coconut milk down for about 7 minutes or until you can easily draw a trail of bare skillet through the center of the coconut milk with the back of your spoon.
Stir 4 tbsp of the curry paste (freeze the rest for future use) into the coconut milk and continue to cook the milk down. Cook until the oil in the coconut milk separates and forms pools on the surface, about 4 minutes more. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk, water and palm sugar and bring back up to a simmer.
Stir in the kale in batches, waiting for it to wilt before adding more. Once the kale is tender, take the skillet off of the heat and add the remaining peanut butter. Stir until the peanut butter is well integrated.
At this point, your rice and squash wedges should be ready. On a large platter, create a bed of cooked black rice. Arrange the squash wedges evenly across the rice and drape them with the curried kale. Finish the dish with a sprinkling of fresh red spinach and serve immediately.

Notes

This Curried Kale with Roasted Acorn Squash and Black Rice may look elaborate but it's actually very approachable. You do need a food processor to make the curry paste but beyond that, no special equipment is required. There are a few tricky to find ingredients in the curry paste. If you can't track them down at your local Asian market, purchase store-bought panang curry paste and add the called for amount of peanut butter to the sauce at the end. And if you can't find panang curry paste, substitute it for red.

Keyword acorn squash, Basil, black rice, chilis, coconut milk, curry, galangal, Garlic, Holiday, kale, lemongrass, shallots, Thai, thai basil, Thanksgiving