When I first started searching for ways to include more winter squash in our diet, I happened by chance up on a recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto in a little pamphlet that came with a magazine. Although I did not have much experience with either squash OR risotto at the time, the ingredients sounded good and it looked easy enough for me to try. Both my DH and I were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it, so I’ve hung onto the recipe and made it a few times since then.

Of course, you know, I’ve changed it up a bit! For one thing, I try to use brown rice instead of white, so I made that little switcheroo. Also, the original recipe called for bacon - which is delicious - but I don’t always have that on hand, so I don’t always use it. Finally, it calls for butter and Parmesan cheese to be stirred in at the end, which tastes great but makes it unsafe for my Certain Little Someone to eat, so I just leave those out.

Of course, traditionally, risotto is made with Arborio rice, and Chef Ramsay (who seems to have a particular fondness for risotto, but only if it’s perfectly cooked) would be horrified, I’m sure, by my version made with brown rice. Whatever. It still tastes good. Maybe it’s not exactly risotto, then, perhaps we should give it a new name. Any ideas?

At any rate, using brown rice will be better for you, and although it takes longer to cook, it will actually make the process a bit easier. Traditionally, risotto has to be stirred and stirred and stirred forever and ever, but brown rice takes longer to cook, so you can let it go for a few minutes while you work on other dinner preparations.

And of course, including squash in the risotto adds a little flavor, not to mention vitamins galore! And it makes the risotto seem that much more homey and cozy, perfect for autumn. I used acorn squash, but you can use any pureed squash (including frozen butternut, if you’re in a hurry!).

Brown Rice Risotto with Acorn Squash
1 TBSP oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped onions or scallions
1 cup brown rice
4 cups chicken broth, divided
1 cup acorn squash puree
1 TBSP chopped fresh sage
salt & pepper to taste
1 TBSP butter, optional
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, optional
3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled, optional

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add garlic and onion, and saute. Add brown rice and stir until coated with oil. Slowly pour in 1 cup chicken broth, and stir. Continue cooking and stirring frequently until liquid is mostly absorbed. Do the same with the remaining chicken broth, adding 1 cup at a time until each is absorbed. To the last cup of chicken broth, add the squash puree before mixing it into the rice. Stir in sage and salt and pepper. Cook until rice is creamy but still somewhat firm (you may need to add more broth if it is all absorbed and still not completely cooked. Sometimes brown rice is like that.). Remove from heat and stir in optional ingredients (one or all), if desired.

This is not the QUICKest way to make rice, and it’s probably the most time-consuming version of risotto. You have been forewarned. However, like I said before, it doesn’t require the constant watching and stirring of regular risotto, so it frees you up to make the rest of your dinner. If that’s not good enough for you, you could probably make a decent resemblance by cooking quick rice in chicken broth, and mixing it with the vegetables, seasonings and squash. I suppose it definitely wouldn’t be risotto then, but it would have a lot of the same flavor and the same general idea. And if you’re not competing on Hell’s Kitchen, then that’s good enough!

It is somewhat EASY-er than regular risotto, though. AND it’s actually an easier (for me, anyway) way to cook rice, since as you know I struggle with that on occasion. Or all the time .

It’s very CHEAP, especially now that squash is in season. Because I used homemade broth and fresh sage from my (loosely termed) garden; and because I omitted the more expensive optional ingredients, the total cost for mine was probably around $1.

There is no doubt that this is a very HEALTHY side dish because of the brown rice and the squash. Homemade chicken broth or stock is the healthiest option because then you can control the sodium (and homemade chicken stock is chock full of wonderful things for you, as well).

Almost a year ago, I made some soul-baring confessions. Pretty deep stuff. I thought maybe it was time to open up a little more and reveal yet another shocking truth. Are you ready? You might want to sit down.

I can’t cook rice.


There. I said it. Whew! I hope you still follow my blog in spite of it!

It’s really the truth. I stink at making rice: it’s either sticky or crunchy. Or worse, burned! I even bought a really cool microwave rice cooker from Tupperware that actually works great and turns out perfect rice (no thanks to me!). The problem is that I can’t use anything but straight water to cook the rice in, and I prefer to cook my rice in broth so that it actually has a little flavor. I’d try an electric rice cooker, but I really don’t need one more appliance in my teeny tiny kitchen.

On top of that, I mostly cook brown rice because it’s significantly healthier than white, but it’s a little more complicated than white, too. But that’s coming from me, who struggles with any kind of rice no matter what, so you might want to take that with a grain of rice. I mean salt.

Rice pilaf, however, is another story. Rice pilaf I can do. I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing it’s because the rice is typically browned before cooking in water. I’m not sure how that helps, though: perhaps the little bit of pre-cooking helps it to continue cooking more evenly? I’m not a scientist, so maybe somebody can explain this phenomenon to me. Whatever makes it work, I’m not complaining. If that means rice pilaf is the only way we eat rice for the rest of our lives, I’m cool with that. It’s pretty tasty, after all.

Even he thinks so! He loves rice pilaf!

So here it is… perfectly cooked rice every time. Or at least almost every time.

Perfect Rice Pilaf
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP chopped spring onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 cups chicken broth

Heat the oil in a pan over med-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, stirring and sauteing for 30 seconds to a minute. Add rice, cooking and stirring until lightly browned (yeah, I know it’s already brown…). Add water; bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer about 40 minutes or until rice is softened.

I won’t lie (in the spirit of true confession): brown rice is not exactly QUICK. It takes white rice a long time to cook, and brown rice takes even longer. There’s really no good short-cut, either, to be honest. I have used pre-cooked rice and simply sauteed it in olive oil with seasonings, which makes a fair facsimile.

It is the EASY-est way I’ve found to cook rice, though. OK, I suppose the boil-in-bags are easier, and I do make use of those on occasion, but I’m always suspicious of how much nutrition has been stripped from them.

It’s CHEAP, especially if you use homemade chicken broth and plain old brown rice.

If you’re using brown rice, it’s very HEALTHY. The World’s Healthiest Foods website says this: The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids. By law in the United States, fully milled and polished white rice must be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B3, and iron. But the form of these nutrients when added back into the processed rice is not the same as in the original unprocessed version, and at least 11 lost nutrients are not replaced in any form even with rice “enrichment.”


I would highly recommend everyone to switch to brown rice from white, for those very reasons. Be prepared, though, if you’re not used to it, it’s different in several ways:


-It has more flavor.
-It has a different texture, being somewhat chewier than white rice, which is very soft.
-It definitely takes longer to cook.