Manoomin-Stuffed Squash With Gingery Orange Sauce

Author Notes

I spent many years living on the north shore of Lake Superior. I appreciated the slower pace of life, the unexpected mood swings of the big blue water. It was upon moving there that I discovered wild rice—not only at the grocery store, but also at gas stations, and in the summer, at stands on the side of the road. In the upper Midwest, wild rice is a regional food, with deep significance to the native people.

While living on the shores of Lake Superior, I spent a few summers working as a chef for a wilderness outfitter on Moose Lake. We were an entry point to the BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness), a highly protected stretch of glacial lakes that border Canada and the U.S. Within the deep woods of the BWCAW are pristine lakes, untouched by motorized boats—nature in its purest form, a place where humans are the intruders. During my lunch breaks, I would get to take a canoe out. And on my days off, I would go for an overnight. When the lake was calm, I’d paddle out for miles, straight to the Canadian border.

My first introduction to cooking wild rice was at this mom-and-pop outfitter lodge. I inherited a menu that they’d been using for decades, to serve the fishers and scout troops and adventure seekers. Most of the food felt very Midwestern, and all-American—items like pork chops, steak and potatoes, and fresh dinner rolls. One of the staple salads was a wild rice salad with canned wild rice, mayonnaise, apples, celery, and carrots.

A few years later, a good friend brought me some wild rice that they had recently harvested. Northern Minnesota and bordering Wisconsin are home to the Anishinaabe tribe, which also includes the Chippewa and Ojibwe. In that region, wild rice is often called manoomin, or “good seed” in Ojibwe. Every year, my friend canoes on various lakes in Wisconsin to harvest manoomin. Many of the Ojibwe travel these lakes by canoe as well. In late summer through early fall, it’s tradition to take part in manoominike-giizis (Wild Rice Moon), or the ricing season.

Wild rice is actually a seed that grows in aquatic grass. Harvesters go out in their canoes and tap the tall grass so that the seeds fall into the boat. Sowing the rice would be an insult to Mother Nature—in fact, there are certain parts of Minnesota where the rice must be harvested manually, not with a machine. Inevitably, through the thrashing process, some seeds fall back into the water, helping to sustain the grains for next season.

I dreamed up this dish one year, when I wanted to create a hearty entrée that just happens to be vegan and gluten-free for my former restaurant, Martha’s Daughter. This combination is so great—cozy squash, wild rice, apples, walnuts, and citrus. If you want to plan ahead, the squash can be roasted in advance, then reheated in the oven while you mix the filling. The ginger sauce can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 5 days.
—Nyanyika Banda