Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Wild Rice “Stuffing”

Student teaching officially begins. I am in Ms. Reyes's classroom five days a week from seven-thirty to three-fifteen, then driving back to DeKalb for evening seminar twice a week. The days are long and the drive is forty-five minutes each way on the Tri-State and I am eating granola bars in the car for breakfast, which is not ideal but is what the schedule allows. I am too tired to complain. I am too happy to complain.

The kids are — there are not adequate words. There are seven of them and they have all arrived with histories and challenges and needs that are documented in files I have read carefully and still barely capture the actual person. M. does his wall-touching lap. A girl I will call E. communicates primarily through a picture-exchange system and has a smile that could stop traffic on the Stevenson. A boy I will call D. gets frustrated when transitions happen quickly, and my first job has been to learn to give five-minute warnings, then two-minute warnings, then one-minute warnings. Yesterday D. made it through a transition without crying for the first time this week and Ms. Reyes and I exchanged a look across the room and I had to turn away because I was going to cry myself.

I am eating very practically this week — batch cooking on Sunday to survive the whole week. Brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes, a pot of lentils with onion and garlic and cumin. Everything portioned into containers and stacked in the communal fridge with my name on them. Total spend on food this week: under twelve dollars.

Sunday batch cooking is the only way I am eating real food. Without it I would be granola bars all week and an emotional wreck by Wednesday. The sweet potatoes take forty-five minutes to roast and I do not have to watch them. I have been doing my seminar readings while they are in the oven. This is efficiency. This is what it looks like to be an adult with too much to do and very little money and one hundred percent of her heart committed to being in that classroom every morning.

The Sunday roasting session that saved my week got me thinking about how transformative it is to put something in the oven and just… walk away. That’s exactly the spirit behind this Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Wild Rice “Stuffing” — it comes together with minimal hands-on time, scales beautifully for a week’s worth of containers, and it’s the kind of meal that feels like you did something kind for yourself even when you had almost nothing left to give. If you’re feeding a classroom with your whole heart and eating on twelve dollars a week, this one’s for you.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 cup wild rice (or wild rice blend), rinsed
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup pomegranate arils
1/3 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Season and roast squash. Toss butternut squash cubes with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil, cinnamon, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Spread in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 40—45 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until tender and caramelized at the edges.
Cook the wild rice. While the squash roasts, combine rinsed wild rice and vegetable broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40—45 minutes until the grains are tender and beginning to split. Drain any excess liquid and fluff with a fork.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and maple syrup. Season with a pinch of salt.
Combine. In a large bowl, gently toss the cooked wild rice with the roasted squash, pomegranate arils, toasted pecans, green onions, and parsley. Drizzle with the dressing and toss to coat.
Taste and serve. Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold straight from the fridge — it holds up beautifully all week portioned into containers.

Nutrition (per serving)

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Wild Rice “Stuffing” — The Sunday Batch Cook That Carried Me Through the Week