Savor all the flavors of fall with this nourishing Autumn Rice Bowl, featuring butternut squash, turkey, rosemary, rice and a garlic yogurt sauce.
With the arrival of fall my taste buds seem to take a hard right turn from tomatoes and berries to desiring warm comfort foods like roasted winter squash and turkey. There’s something about this time of year that draws me to desiring nourishing fall foods that feel like a hug to my tummy. Just thinking about all my favorite autumn flavors makes my mouth water.
This post and recipe is sponsored by Farm to Family by Butterball. Thank you for your support of Make Healthy Easy.
It seems that for some fall flavors, especially herb-seasoned turkey, we save it for just the big holidays. Yes, roasting a whole bird is a time-consuming task, but what if there was an easy way to enjoy those same flavors on a weeknight? If I’ve had you since the words comfort and turkey, then I’ve got just the recipe for you, thanks to my partnership with Farm to Family by Butterball → Autumn Rice Bowl.
This rice bowl was inspired by the Buddha Bowl craze, where each ingredient is nourishing . I chose to work with Farm to Family by Butterball ground turkey because they use, fresh, all natural turkeys that are never treated with antibiotics, a first among ground turkey companies. It was the perfect choice to build a flavorful, nourishing and comforting Autumn Rice Bowl and a food you can feel good about feeding your family.
Butternut squash is my favorite winter squash and roasting it is THE way I like to eat it. It is an amazing source of Vitamin A, specifically alpha- and beta-carotene, and a good source of Vitamin C, which are known antioxidants. Winter squash in general also have promise to be anti-inflammatory and aid in blood sugar regulation. (Source)
For this recipe, you will tackle dicing up one of these bad boys. But don’t worry, it’s not difficult.
Start by peeling the skin off with a vegetable peel.
Then, cut off the ends of the squash and slice down the axis.
Next, use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
Lastly, cut the squash into planks, then sticks and then cubes. Boom! You’re ready to roast.
While the butternut squash is baking, you will also roast the garlic to use in the garlic yogurt sauce. Simply cut off the top of the garlic, lay it on a sheet of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and twist up to make a packet. Set the packet right on the oven racks.
This recipe has 3 components to it that all cook at the same time. To help you cook it the most efficiently, here’s my recommended order of prepping:
- Get rice cooking. You can do this on the stove top by my new favorite way to cook rice is in the Instant Pot. Preheat the oven.
- Get the skillet heating up on the stove while you dice up the butternut squash and prep the garlic. Also chop the spinach for the rice.
- While the squash and garlic are baking, cook the turkey in the skillet. Fold in the spinach when the rice is done.
- Cook the turkey, with add-ins. If you have time while the turkey is cooking, start making the yogurt sauce. Otherwise, quickly blend it together when everything is done cooking. It only take a minute to come together.
Just read through the recipe once or twice before starting and you will have it down, no problem!
Here’s how you make this delicious, nourishing Autumn Rice Bowl:
PrintRecipe
Autumn Rice Bowl
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 -5 1x
Description
Savor all the flavors of fall in this nourishing, weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dry rice of choice
- 4 cups fresh spinach (chopped)
- 1 medium butternut squash
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided)
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 package Ground Turkey
- ½ yellow onion (diced)
- ½ cup golden raisins (can substitute regular raisins or dried cranberries)
- 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (divided)
- ¼ cup turkey or chicken stock/broth
- Kosher Salt and Pepper
- ½ cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or the juice from half a lemon)
- 1 tablespoon of milk (optional)
Instructions
- Cook rice according to directions. When finished cooking, fold in chopped spinach. Set aside with lid on pot to keep warm. (Recommend doing this while preparing other items.)
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel the butternut squash. Then, cut in half, scoop out seeds, and cube flesh into bite size pieces. Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and spread on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
- Slice off the top of the head of garlic, leaving 80% of the bulb intact. Place garlic bulb on a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around it. Drizzle bulb with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Wrap up the aluminum foil around the bulb and twist to seal.
- Place both the pan of butternut squash and wrapped garlic bulb in the oven and bake for about 23-25 minutes, until squash is soft and lightly browned at edges. Remove from oven and set aside.
- While butternut squash is baking, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, then add the ground turkey and chopped onion. Cook, stirring frequently to break up turkey, until turkey is mostly cooked through. Add the raisins, 2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary, and stock, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and simmer for about 3-4 more minutes, until liquid is reduced in half.
- Make the garlic yogurt sauce by blending together, either by hand or in a food processor, the yogurt, the guts of the roasted garlic head (squeeze it out of the bulb), lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. Add milk if needed to thin sauce for drizzling.
- Plate meal by scooping spinach-rice, turkey, and butternut squash into a bowl. Drizzle with garlic yogurt sauce. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: American
If you too are craving fall comfort food, that still does your body good, then please make this Autumn Rice Bowl. I’m telling you, it covers all the bases. And please check out the Farm to Family by Butterball website to learn more about the cool things they are doing to make nourishing food for families.
Bring on Fall!
Looking for more fall inspired recipes? Check these out:
Pumpkin Apple Overnight Oats Recipe
