Need a recipe for delicata squash? Then I have a dinner for you! Today I’m sharing a shrimp rice bowl with roasted delicata squash all drizzled with a lemony aioli. Everything you could want in a fall dinner all in one bowl.
Now is the time of year for All the Winter Squash Recipes! (and All the Apple Recipes 🙂
I’ve been having lots of fun trying out different ideas and buying all sorts of squash. I mean, how can I resist when it’s all fresh and in season?
I can’t! I can never resist fresh, seasonal produce.
I just posted some baked pumpkin donuts (so good!) and I have a butternut squash salad coming up (an amazing Thanksgiving side!), but then saw the delicata squash in the store and I knew I wanted to come up with something special for them too. I didn’t want to leave them out!
I’ve already done a roasted delicata squash and a delicata squash salad all covered in bacon and blue cheese, so it took me a moment…okay a week or so, to come up with a new idea for them.
It came about when I wasn’t even thinking about delicata squash, but rather when I was looking back at my Greek Buddha bowl and telling myself that I really needed another bowl recipe.
And then…BOOM: Shrimp Rice Bowl.
The moment I thought it, I wanted to eat one for dinner, and I know that is the mark of a great recipe. One that just needed some details filled in.
First detail, I needed a great fall veggie to balance out the bowl. Which is of course where the delicata came in!
Second detail, the sauce. It just so happened that I had recently read an article on Epicurious about using two sauces in grain-based salads to really pump up the flavor and make them more awesome in general. Here, I decided to toss the rice with a simple vinaigrette and then drizzle an aioli over the top.
Third detail, fun stuff. 🙂 We have our backbone to the recipe all sorted – protein, veggie, grain, and sauce; which means it time for those extras which will turn it from a good recipe to a great recipe.
I wanted something creamy, and all the healthy fats and nutritional punch of avocado made adding a few slices a given.
And I wanted a pop of color along with a hit of sweetness to balance everything. Pomegranate seeds are all over the place right now, and I love them so it just had to be them. (Can’t find them? Dried cranberries are readily available and would fill in for the pomegranate nicely.)
Finally, a little fresh basil finishes things off.
Oh, and I should mention that I use brown rice in this recipe.
I’m not much of a white rice person if the recipe doesn’t really need white rice (like most sushi or risotto). For everyday cooking, it’s brown rice all the way here. Either brown basmati or brown jasmine, whichever I can find in the store.
So, turn on the oven, get out your roasting pans, and put a pot on to cook up some rice! It’s time to make a comforting, fall-friendly shrimp rice bowl. And don’t forget the delicata squash. (Yes, it’s a winter squash. Also yes, you can eat the skin. It’s awesome that way.)
– Happy Eating, Annemarie
Delicata Squash and Shrimp Rice Bowl
Ingredients
Shrimp Rice Bowl
- 1 cup long grain brown rice, such as basmati or jasmine
- 2 medium delicata squash
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- kosher salt
- 1 lb extra large uncooked shrimp
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/2 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced
Vinaigrette for Rice
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Lemon Aioli Dressing
- 1 egg yolk, reserve the white
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup oil, half olive oil and half vegetable oil
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
Instructions
Shrimp Rice Bowl
- Preheat oven to 425F. Move the oven racks to the upper middle and lower middle positions. Put two roasting pans in the oven while it heats.
- Cook rice on the stove according to package directions or in a rice cooker.
- Cut the delicata squash in half. Scrape out the seeds and then slice the squash into 1/2 inch thick half rounds. Toss the sliced squash with dried thyme, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Once the rice has about 20 minutes left, add the squash to one of the hot roasting pans so that each piece lays flat on the bottom of the pan. Roast for 15 minutes. Then turn and roast for 8 minutes more.
- Pat the shrimp very dry. Then toss the shrimp with the other tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. When you turn the squash, add the shrimp to the other roasting pan. Roast the shrimp for 8 minutes.
Vinaigrette for Rice
- Mix together the vinaigrette ingredients. Toss the vinaigrette with the cooked rice.
Lemon Aioli Dressing
- Whisk together the egg yolk, salt, lemon juice, and mustard. Once the yolk turns a light yellow color, start adding the oil in a thin, steady stream as you whisk vigorously. When all the oil has been added, whisk in the garlic then taste the aioli. Add more salt or lemon juice if needed.
- If the aioli is very thick and won't drizzle, you can whisk in a little water until it is thin enough.
Assemble the Bowl
- Divide the rice among four bowls. Then layer on the shrimp, squash, and sliced avocado. Drizzle on some aioli and top with the pomegranate seeds and basil slices. Serve with the remaining aioli at the table if anyone needs some more.
Notes
- I have a rice cooker since I've never been able to make great rice on the stove. Either way brown rice takes 45-50 minutes to cook, depending on how long a resting time you want to give it. (With the rice cooker you can let it rest on warm for an hour with no issues.) 45 minutes will give you plenty of time to do all the prep for the salad - slicing the squash, roasting the squash and shrimp, making the vinaigrette and aioli. That way, once the rice is done, you can assemble the salads and eat everything while it's hot.
- You can stop and rest as you make the aioli. Whisk in any oil you've added, then take a break and resume when you're ready.
- Use about half the aioli to drizzle over the salads as you assemble.
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