Pan-Roasted Millet with Kale, Delicata Squash, and Pine Nuts

I wanted something light, yet seasonal. I had some kale in the fridge and a delicata squash sitting on my counter for the past 10 days. Browsing my new favourite book, I came across a recipe for pan-roasted millet with pumpkin seeds. Browsing one of my favourite magazines, I came across this recipe for delicata squash. Adding the kale and mixing all these different recipes a bit resulted in the above dish – the corn taste of the delicata squash accentuated by lemon and caramelized onions.

You’ll need:

• 1 cup millet
• 2 cups water (or 1 cup water and 1 cup vegetable stock)
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil, a bit more for cast iron pan
• 1 delicata squash, peeled, cut in half, seeded, and sliced
• 1/2 tsp ume plum vinegar
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (or pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds)
• 1/2 bunch kale, rinsed and coarsely chopped
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 lemon

Directions

Rinse and drain millet. Place in a casserole dish or medium pot over medium heat and dy-roast until water is absorbed and millet starts to give off a nutty aroma. Add water (or water & stock), salt, cover, reduce heat and simmer until all liquid is absorbed (about 25 mins). Set aside to cool slightly then fluff with fork, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and toss.

Set a steaming basket over a medium pot and begin steaming.

While millet cooks, heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add a tbsp of olive oil and arrange half the delicata squash without crowding the pan. Pan-fry for a couple of minutes and turn the squash. Once both sides are browned, add squash to steamer to finish cooking (the original Fine Cooking recipe calls for roasting the squash in the oven but that would have taken too long for my purposes). While first bath of squash finish cooking in the steamer, pan-fry the second half. I sliced the squash thinly and it took only a few minutes in the steamer for it to finish cooking. I set the squash aside on a plate.

Heat a bit more olive oil in the cast iron pan and add the red onions. Set the heat to medium low and fry the onions until they begin to caramelize, about 10 mins. Add the garlic and once fragrant, add the pine nuts and fry for a minute or so. Mix in the chopped kale. Mix in with the onions and garlic and drizzle a bit of water. Once the kale has wilted, add the juice of one lemon, mix in the delicata squash, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in with the cooked millet.