One of my favorite meal prep things to do is to make a giant pot of fluffy-amazing short grain brown rice. With that pot, I can whip up a wide variety of meals in a flash! Fluffy brown rice absorbs flavors beautifully and it is so soothing and satisfying.
This festive, vegan Butternut Squash Cranberry Tempeh Brown Rice Bowl has flavors of cinnamon, orange, maple and rosemary. It is simply dreamy! And perfect for the holiday season with those perky red cranberries adding a tart punch of flavor. Get my recipe and I have a fun holiday announcement for you..
This one bowl wonder meal is a holiday lifesaver! Fast and easy, perfect for your busy month..
Not into Rice? Change it up! You could easily replace the rice with quinoa, millet, barley, farro, buckwheat and more!
serve it steamy..
Butternut Squash, Cranberry, Maple Tempeh Holiday Brown Rice Bowl
By Published 12/11/2014
This holiday-approved entree is a one bowl wonder that you can whip up in minutes with cooked rice. The flavors are amazing: citrus, maple, rosemary, cinnamon.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups butternut squash cubes (frozen was used, but finely chopped fresh squash can also be used.)
- 1 cup tempeh cubes
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup, grade B
- ½ cup onion, chopped
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or orange juice
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- ⅓ cup cranberries (fresh or dried)
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley
- a few pinches of cinnamon
- a few pinches of fresh orange zest
- Oil: 1-2 teaspoon virgin coconut oil OR extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste, start with ⅓ tsp
- rosemary: add 1-2 pinches of finely chopped rosemary to the skillet - or sautè with a whole rosemary sprig and remove before serving.
- Optional: a pinch of cayenne or ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Warm a skillet over high heat.
- Add the oil, EVOO or virgin coconut.
- When the oil is hot, add the onion, tempeh, maple syrup and frozen squash. Allow to brown and heat for 2 minutes. If using fresh squash, you may want to lightly boil and drain squash before sautèing - this will help it cook and soften much faster.
- Add in all the remaining ingredients to the hot skillet, except the rice and parsley, and stir for another 2-3 minutes, if the pan gets too hot and ingredients start to over-brown, turn heat down to medium.
- Lastly, fold in the rice and parsley. Sautè for another 1-2 minutes to warm and lightly toast the edges of the rice, allowing the flavors to mix and mingle. You can also season and salt to taste here.
- Serve warm with some added fresh parsley over top for color.
Yield: serves 2Prep Time: 00 hrs. 08 mins. Cook time: 00 hrs. 10 mins. Total time: 18 mins. Tags: holiday,brown rice,entree,meal,easy,vegan,vegetarian,butternut,tempeh
Tracey Perry says
I want to make this in a larger amount, can it be made ahead and kept warm in a crock pot? Want to serve as my main dish at a x-mas eve gathering.
Theresa "Sam" Houghton says
This looks delightful! I just might have to have it for my Christmas lunch or dinner. Never mind that we're having butternut squash chestnut bake for Christmas Eve, lol! 😀
angelica says
This was very tasty...although, I did sub in field roast sausage for the tempeh and pearled barley for the rice. I took this dish as a main to my child's school holiday potluck so, I multiplied it to feed about 10 people...It made a lot and had to fiddle around with two pans to cook everything and still turned out great. Easy, texture, flavor, healthy, seasonal, cruelty-free...loved!
Warm Vanilla Sugar says
This rice bowl looks so tasty! Love it!
Kathy Patalsky says
thank you!
michelle says
This looks great! Since I have never cooked with Tempeh before, can you tell me what brands you like and where you like to buy it from?
Kathy Patalsky says
There are it that many brands out there for tempeh. All the brands at whole foods taste pretty similar to be honest. I like to switch things up by using the different flavors like wild rice, garden veggie etc. The brand is called lightlife that I usually find and use. Look to make sure there are not any black spots in the tempeh. That can mean it isn't as fresh sometimes. Still edible but I try to avoid any spots.
Christina says
That bowl has some of my favorite flavors all wrapped up in one delicious package! Pinned 🙂 Awesome job on the videos as well, I was cracking up you guys are great together!
Kathy Patalsky says
Thank you christina! Thank you for the pin! And yeah that's what happens after 5 hrs of filming! We were delirious and being pretty silly 🙂 can't waIt to share out videos!
Laura Olson says
This looks awesome! Can't wait! I wonder how it would be with millet or quinoa? I think I've gone "off" brown rice for a while.
Kathy Patalsky says
It would be delicious in sure! Farro too... Yum
Curvatude says
This looks sooo goooddddd! I must try this one. Thanks
Kathy Patalsky says
Thank you!
John Hartil says
This looks so delightful !
Kathy Patalsky says
Thank you John!
Ashlee says
Definitely going to make this for one of my Christmas dishes! I always love an excuse to use cranberries. And, that tempeh sounds incredible! I can't wait to try this.
Kathy Patalsky says
Perfect! Enjoy 🙂