Wild Rice With Spiced Pumpkin

Since I am focusing on Pumpkins right now,  I am also focusing on travel, because they just happened to go together this week.

Tim and I took the train to New York for the weekend, and on the way back, there was a group of Australians sitting by us who were discussing all then places they’d seen in the US.  It reminded me of a trip I took some years ago to Australia with my mother.

We signed up for one of those group trips where you get on the bus, off the bus, up at 6am, climb every mountain, ford  every stream, travel every highway…..and basically come home so exhausted that you can’t get out of bed for a month.

Our trip officially began in California, where we all met up and boarded a plane for a fifteen hour flight to Melbourne, or as I like to call it: Fifteen hours trapped in hell, where I would have rather have had a root canal without Novocain, been forced to watch Mama Mia: Here We Go Again on an endless loop, or try to keep up with the Kardashian’s.

First problem: I was assigned a middle seat.

It might not have been that bad, except that my mother, a smoker at the time, had the window seat.  Fifteen hours next to a smoker who couldn’t smoke.  It was like sitting next to a beehive inside an active volcano that was covered in poison ivy.  When the plane doors finally opened, she practically mowed down the people in front of her as she clawed her way to the nearest exit.

The aisle seat was filled by a woman who reclined her seat, put on an eye mask, wrapped herself in a blanket, popped a sleeping pill and didn’t so much as flicker an eyelid for fourteen of the fifteen hours.  There are wax figures at Madame Tussauds that show more signed of life than she did.

Second problem: The temperature inside the plane would have made Antarctica seem like a tropical vacation.  The only way it could have been colder was if they opened all the windows and had us sitting on blocks of ice.  Naturally, there were no blankets available, and sadly, my jacket was only rated for subzero temps of 40 below.  Trying to get a hot beverage to warm up was like trying to trying to turn a pumpkin into a coach without a fairy godmother.  Not.  Going.  To.  Happen.

Other than that though, it was an awesome trip. 😁 Cant wait to go back someday!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup wild rice
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped sage
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1  3/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup cranberries
• 3 cups of 1/2 inch cubes of pumpkin ( buy a pie pumpkin)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped sage
•  chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400
2. Saute the onions over medium low heat in a splash of olive oil till soft, but do not brown them ( about 5 minutes).  Add the 2 Tablespoons of sage, lemon zest and water and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, turn the heat down and let the rice simmer for 45 minutes or till the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
3. Meanwhile, cut the rind off the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, and cut the pumpkin into 1/2 inch cubes.
4. Combine the maple syrup, garlic powder, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of finely chopped sage in a medium bowl, add the pumpkin and toss well to combine.  Put the pumpkin on a lined baking pan and roast for 15 – 20 minutes or till tender, but not mushy.
5. When the rice is done, add the cranberries and pumpkin and toss gently to combine.  Put the rice into a serving bowl and sprinkle with some chopped pecans.

Enjoy!