Thanksgiving is literally just around the corner and, like the rest of America, we here at Foodie by Trende are enamored with all the flavorful seasonal recipes. Last week, I shared my [vegan and gluten-free!] recipe for Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Shiitake Mushroom Gravy. (I cannot tell you how good that gravy is… on pretty much everything.) Today, we are also sharing a Foodie recipe video for Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup!

Eating vegetarian during the holidays usually means lots of starchy and fattening side dishes: mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, candied yams, rolls. Generally, these dishes are empty carbs with very little protein and other nutrients and chock full of heavy ingredients like butter and cream. Now, don’t get me wrong- I’m a big fan of butter and carbs, but I also need some variety on my plate.

Some vegetarians eat Tofurky or some sort of meatless loaf at Thanksgiving, but I usually just want a dish that is delicious, nutritious and filling and can be enjoyed by everyone, meat-eaters included. Enter this Harvest Grains with Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage recipe. The Harvest Grains Blend I used is from Trader Joe’s and contains Israeli couscous, tricolored orzo, red quinoa and baby garbanzo beans. Thanks to the quinoa and baby garbanzo beans, this blend has a decent amount of protein and other nutrients. Moreover, this can easily serve as a side-dish for some, while being a well-rounded main dish for others.

The toasted grains with crispy sage and butternut squash make for a wonderful autumn recipe and the addition of the pecans and cranberries give it a stuffing-esque quality. In fact, some people might enjoy using it as a stuffing! However you choose to serve it, you cannot go wrong by adding this dish to your Thanksgiving repertoire. Bon appétit!

Harvest Grains with Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage

Serves 12 (or 8 as a main dish)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 4 shallots, sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 16 ounce package of Trader Joe’s Harvest Grain Blend (about 2 ½ cups)*
• 3 ½ cups veggie broth (or 3 ½ cups water + 1 ½ tablespoons veggie bouillion)
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

* The Trader Joe’s Harvest Grain Blend is not gluten-free, however, you can definitely substitute any multi-grain blend or even use a rice blend instead. For those of you who don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby (sorry!), you can mix together 1 cup Israeli couscous and ½ cup each of orzo, quinoa and baby garbanzo beans.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together butternut squash, shallots, sage, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss until combined then place on parchment-lined baking sheet and put in the oven. Stir every ten minutes and cook until butternut squash is cooked through and has caramelized a bit on the outside – about 45 minutes.
2. While butternut squash is roasting, heat a large sauce pan or dutch oven over the stove on medium heat. Add coconut oil, garlic and entire package of Harvest Grain Blend. Cook until grain is toasted, stirring constantly – about 5 minutes.
3. Add broth to pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low until cooked – about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and keep covered until butternut squash is ready.
4. When butternut squash is done, remove from oven. In a large heat-safe bowl, combine butternut squash with the harvest grains, pecans, dried cranberries and lemon juice. Toss to combine and serve immediately. If desired, garnish with crispy sage.

f you are like me and believe that gravy is meant to go on everything at Thanksgiving (not just the mashed potatoes), enjoy this Shiitake Mushroom Gravy on top. So good!

Did you give this recipe a try? Any other recipes you would like to share with us at Foodie by Trende? Join the conversation on Facebook!

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