Maple-Dijon Roasted Delicata Squash with Wild Rice and Lemon-Tahini

• 2 delicata squash, sliced into ½-inch rings, seeds scooped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• sea salt, to taste
• 1 cup wild rice blend, rinsed
• 2 ½ cup water
• 3 tbsp tahini, well-stirred
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 clove garlic, mashed to a paste with a pinch of salt
• 2 handfuls baby kale
• ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

1. 1

   Heat your oven to 220°C / 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment — not optional here, the maple glaze will cement itself to bare metal and you'll be scraping for a week.

2. 2

   Bring the water to a boil in a medium pot, add the wild rice blend with a pinch of salt, then drop to a low simmer and cover. Cook 40 to 50 minutes until the grains split open and show their pale interiors. Drain any leftover liquid and set aside, uncovered so it doesn't steam into mush.

3. 3

   Toss the delicata rings with the olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon, and a good pinch of salt directly on the sheet pan. Arrange them in a single layer — overlapping rings will steam instead of caramelizing and you'll lose that chewy-edged contrast.

4. 4

   Roast 25 to 30 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the rings are deeply golden with caramelized undersides. The glaze should look sticky and slightly darkened, not burnt — check at the 20-minute mark because maple goes from caramelized to acrid fast.

5. 5

   While the squash roasts, whisk the tahini, lemon juice, garlic paste, and about 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. The tahini will seize and look like it's breaking before it smooths out — keep whisking and add water a tablespoon at a time until you have a pourable dressing the consistency of heavy cream.

6. 6

   Pile the wild rice onto a wide platter and fold the baby kale through it while the rice is still warm — the residual heat wilts the kale just enough to soften its bite without cooking it down to nothing.

7. 7

   Layer the roasted squash rings over the rice and kale. Drizzle the lemon-tahini dressing generously over everything — this is where tahini earns its food-group status in my kitchen — and scatter with toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve warm.

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