The holidays can be a tough time for vegetarians. The traditional centerpieces at the holiday table are often meat-based, and some people’s idea of vegetarian options is stuffing (scooped out from the inside of a turkey) and mashed potatoes (made with chicken broth). There are commercially available options, such as the "Tofurkey" or "Unturkey," but these usually only appeal to vegetarians and will go uneaten by the other dinner guests, and it can seem like a sad gesture compared to all the homemade food on the rest of the table. This homemade stuffed pumpkin recipe will be enjoyed by everyone, and with the wild rice, apple, and maple syrup is very seasonal for the fall and winter holidays. If you will be having dinner at someone else’s house, it can be cooked and assembled beforehand, and warmed up there.
Stuffed Pumpkin with Wild Rice Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sized (8-10 inch diameter) pumpkin
- butter or margarine
- 1 cup long grain brown rice or brown basmati rice
- 1/4 cup wild rice
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1-3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed.
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- dash cloves
- 1 large tart green apple (like Granny Smith), cubed
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- 4 tablespoons real maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
- salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut top off pumpkin (as if preparing to carve a jack-o-lantern) and set aside. Scoop out seeds and string. Rub the inside with butter or margarine, and season lightly with salt. Bake on a cookie sheet for 30-40 minutes, or until flesh on the inside walls begin to soften. Set aside.
- While the pumpkin is baking, in a medium pot, combine brown rice, wild rice, 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook with lid on until done (30-40 minutes). Add more broth if needed.
- Allow rice mix to cool slightly, then stir in apple, walnuts, and maple syrup. Add salt and pepper as desired.
- Spoon rice and apple blend into pumpkin and replace top.
- If you will be serving it at a later point, you may wrap it in foil and refrigerate it now; to reheat, bake on a cookie sheet in a preheated 400 F oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the rice is warmed through and the pumpkin flesh is very soft on the inside and beginning to wrinkle on the outside.
- If serving immediately, bake on a cookie sheet in a preheated 400 F oven for 20-30 minutes or until pumpkin flesh is very soft.
- When serving be sure to scrape some of the pumpkin flesh with each spoonful of rice, making sure not to pierce pumpkin skin.
Serves 2-4 as a main dish and 4-8 as a side dish.
