Curried Rice and Chickpea Salad

This has become a staple in my recipe library over the past year. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to throw together and the flavor is great. I've taken it to a few potlucks and it always disappears pretty quickly. I got the recipe out of Robin Robertson's "Quick-Fix Vegan: Healthy, Homestyle Meals in 30 Minutes or Less" Cookbook.

1 ripe mango, cut into bit sized chunks
3 cups cooked rice (I used a wild rice blend here, but I like brown basmati too)
1½ cups home-cooked chickpeas or 1 can, rinsed
1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice
¼ cup minced scallions
⅓ cup golden raisins (I used dried currents)
⅓ cup toasted peanuts (I used almonds)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp mango juice
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine mango, rice, chickpeas, bell pepper, scallions, raisins, peanuts and parsley or cilantro in large bowl.   Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour dressing over salad and stir to combine.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This was pretty simple to make, but I was surprised at how good it turned out to be. It has pretty simple flavors, but it tastes like the flavors of fall. My squash was pretty big, so each half is big enough for a full meal for me, though I think it would make a good side dish as well.

2 acorn squash
1 1/2 cups wild rice
Juice of 2 oranges and zest
1/3 cup dried apricots or cranberries
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Cut squash in halves and clean out insides. Salt and pepper if desired. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook rice with 3 cups of water, about 20 minutes until water is gone and rice is tender. Combine rice, dried fruit, almonds, ginger and cinnamon. Add zest of both oranges, and juice of 1 1/2 of the oranges. Add salt and pepper and stir to combine. Once squash is out of the oven, squeeze remaining half of orange over squash. Fill the cavity of the squash with rice mixture. Return squash to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Take out of oven and serve.