Cynthia’s Rice Cooker Pilaf Stuffed Acorn Squash | © 2012 Cynthia Wenslow

This isn’t exactly a recipe, since I just wing it each time, but here’s my general method. My goal is a nice mix of flavors, textures, and good nutritional impact.

Ingredient list – amounts will vary based on cooker and final volume of pilaf required:

unsalted butter, at room temp
rice of your choice
dry white wine
vegetable stock (I use homemade so I can control the salt)
dried cranberries (or chopped fresh)
onion, diced
carrots, diced
celery, diced
mushrooms, finely chopped
garlic, minced
spinach, cooked, liquid pressed out, chopped
thyme, fresh or dried
parsley, finely chopped
orange zest
salt and pepper
pecans, chopped

Put a tbsp of room temperature unsalted butter in the rice cooker bowl.

Select the rice you want to use. I tend to like a mix of brown rice and wild rice (which I know isn’t rice), about 3/4 brown and 1/4 wild. This gives nice texture and earthiness. Put it in the rice cooker bowl.

Add the liquid. Instead of water, use 1/2 dry white wine and 1/2 vegetable stock for the liquid. I add a little extra, because I then add a couple tbsp of dried cranberries.

On the stove, saute about 1/2 medium onion, diced, 2 carrots, diced, 1 or 2 stalks celery, diced, a handful of mushrooms, finely chopped, in a couple tbsp butter (or olive oil), until beginning to brown. Add a clove or two of minced garlic to the pan. After a couple minutes, remove from heat and add to rice cooker.

Cook some spinach. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Finely chop and put in rice cooker.

Add thyme, parsley, salt and pepper, orange zest, and pecans. Stir to mix ingredients. Set the cooker for the predominant rice used.

Notes: Obviously, there are endless variations and uses for this. Sometimes I add a bit of Parmesan to it. You could use orange juice as part of the liquid. Sometimes this is used as the stuffing in acorn squash (as shown) or bell peppers. Kale could be used instead of the spinach. You could add an egg or two to the end product, form into balls and drop in the deep fryer.