This kabocha squash, coconut, and wild rice stew is the perfect dish for deep winter. It is hearty, filling, and plant based. It’s really great thing to serve to your favorite people.
Awhile back, I got an email asking if I might want to participate in a blogger promotion that All-Clad was running in order to spread the word about their new line of NS1 Nonstick Induction cookware. They would send me the NS1 Chef’s Pan so that I could play with it, develop a dish in it, and then share both my thoughts and the recipe with my readers. Of course I said yes. Who says no to All-Clad?
This line of All-Clad is made from anodized aluminum, has a sturdy three-layer PFOA-free nonstick interior, and is induction-compatible thanks to steel base that also helps prevent warping. The chef’s pan has high sides and broad cooking surface that makes it great for simmering, sautéing, and steaming.
This pan become my favorite for wilting and braising greens (something I do A LOT in the winter), because it has a bit more vertical real estate than a frying pan, and the tight-fitting lid keeps the moisture in the pan. I also like it for one of my favorite weird breakfasts – sauteed cabbage with a couple of eggs scrambled in once the cabbage wilts and browns (a simple version of the dish Joy explains here).
The nonstick surface has proved itself to be among the most sturdy and easy to clean that I’ve tried in my cooking career, It still looks pristine after a month of regular use. I haven’t taken particular care to baby it, either. I wash it and set it in my dish drainer, same as all my other cookware (this pan is dishwasher safe, but it just doesn’t seem necessary, given how easily it cleans up with a quick swipe of the sponge).
Now, let’s chat about the kabocha squash, coconut, and wild rice stew I created. It’s a medley of squash (I used kabocha, but any sweet, dense winter squash would do), braised greens (a combination of kale and baby spinach), wild rice, red lentils, and coconut milk. It’s loosely based on a recipe in Liana Krissoff’s brillian book Whole Grains for a New Generation, and is delicious, filling, and just happens to be vegan.
I love making easy stews like this one in this chef’s pan, because the flared shape helps the moisture evaporate out, concentrating the flavors in the pan. It also has plenty of room for the eight cups of chopped greens that finishes the dish.
Disclosure: All-Clad sent me the pan you see pictured above and they provided a giveaway unit, both at no cost to me. No additional compensation was provided.
Kabocha Squash, Coconut, and Wild Rice Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 large onion sliced into thin half moons
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 4 cups water
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 pounds cubed kabocha squash or any other winter squash (about 4 cups)
- 8 cups chopped mixed greens a combination of kale, spinach, chard, mustard, or anything else you have that needs to be used
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a chef’s pan (or a similarly sized soup pot) over medium-high heat. Add the onion slivers and cook until they soften and brown, about ten minutes.
- Add the ginger, cumin, coriander, and salt and stir them into the onions. Cook for less than a minute, just to toast the spices a bit.
- Add the wild rice, red lentils, and water and stir. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan and cook for 45 minutes.
- Once the rice is tender and the lentils have mostly dissolved, add the coconut milk, honey, rice wine vinegar and cubed squash.
- Cook for about ten minutes, until the squash is mostly tender.
- Heap the greens into the pan and cover. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the greens are wilted enough to tuck into the stew. Add a splash of water if it seems too thick.
- Cook until the greens are tender. Once the greens are tender and the squash is soft, the stew is ready to eat!
I’m dreaming of homemade saag on a cold fall evening simmering in that pan…yum!
This looks amazing for making pasta in cream sauce! High-sided dishes let you make so much more.
Soup or greens.
I would cook what’s for dinner tonight: one pot gnocchi, chicken and spinach. Yum!
I would absolutely try your squash, coconut and Wild Rice stew. I can just about smell it cooking.
lentil soup!
Cabbage, onions, and smoked sausage sound good!
I would try the Kabocha Stew sounds delicious 😉
I’d cook some Chinese recipes. I don’t currently have a wok but I think that this would do quite nicely as a combination pot.
With this pan I would cook some pan fried brussel sprouts with bits of crispy guanciale
So many things. Fried eggplant with garlic and cilantro. Herb frittata. Wild mushroom pilaf. Curried lentils.
An omelet.
Since I don’t eat Pasta or Rice….I would make a stir-fry using cauliflower rice. I would love to try Zoodles in it too! Yummy!!
I’d cook a beautiful melange of winter vegetables!! Rutabagas, turnips, potatoes, carrots… They’re rooting for me to win, by the way! 😀
I’d fry cod or other delicate white fish in a little ghee and citrus, certain that my fish wouldn’t stick in this lovely pan.
My go to everyday nonstick pan needs to be replaced, this would be perfect. First up would be curried squash soup.
Kimchi jigae!! Perfect for when the cold starts to come…
Breakfast potatoes
I wouldn’t keep this for myself. I’d give it to my brother and sister-in-law who just bought an induction range top and are in need of appropriate cookware. However, I will cook the stew in my trusty stainless steel pot.
Thai green curry with chicken.
Probably dal with squash/sweet potatoes. Because I had an opportunity for a great deal and have 11 butternut squash to use up!
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Chili!
Oooh, this would be perfect for mushroom risotto!
Mushroom curry
An exquisite mushroom ragout
I would make my curry vegetables in this!
I would cook a totally grass fed beef stew in this beautiful pan!
I would love to make some pumpkin gnocchi with a sage sauce!
I would make winter soups….chili and gumbo!
I would melt sugar, fry eggs, sauté fish, and not have to worry about food sticking to the pan.
I see wild rice for Thanksgiving as a good fit for this pan.
I’d make sweet potato black bean chili – it smells like fall!
What wouldn’t I cook in it? Stew, pasta, hash. I would love it!
I’d cook greens and veggie stir fries using vegetables from my garden. This pan would be perfect!
So so so many things! Stews would be awesome, like yours above. But honestly I think the main wonderful thing about this would be that my grandma could use it; I use cast-iron pans to cook in our house but they’re too heavy for her to lift, and her nonstick pans are really not good. Would be lovely to allow her to cook in a bigger pan!
Beans! A family recipe of pintos with tomatoes, bacon, and beef.
I’d probably cook dinner 5 nights a week in it. Seriously.
Butter chicken, my absolute favorite Indian dish.
I grew lots of swiss chard this summer and would saute sweet potato cubes, add the chard – this is where a tight fitting lid is great for wilting, then add an egg. Great breakfast.
Hmm, I might try chili first. But I bet it would be great for all sorts of different dishes.
Wilted greens for sure.
I’d make a wild mushroom and butternut squash risotto! So warm and comforting on these cold wet days.
My Potsticker noodles; Ground pork, bok choy, ginger, sesame, garlic and soba noodles…
I’d saute kale and onions!
I’ll either try this recipe or a black-eye pea/squash recipe from Maddhur Jaffrey.
Turkey or Chicken Curry! This is my new favorite go to for cold wet days.
This recipe looks delicious! I’m thinking I’d love to do a stir fry or maybe a sweet potato hash in it. Looks like a wonderful pan.
This time of year, I’d make soup! I recently made a sweet potato soup with pickled garlic that I want to eat until spring time.
Carbonara!!!!
There are so many dishes that would work in this pan. I think first up would be a Korean stir-fry, I think this pan would be perfect for browning tofu!