Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

Balsamic Squash and Kale Tart with Wild Rice Crust

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Cooking helps me to express my creative side. Most of the recipes I create (other than the classic and traditional ones) are often done impulsively, such as this Balsamic Squash and Kale Tart with Wild Rice Crust. I am willing to bet that you have not had a savory tart like this. One made with a rice crust. Probably not.  So, if you are looking for a way to enjoy your winter squash and Kale a bit differently, then you will surely want to give this savory tart a try. But I must tell you it takes time. However, you can do a lot of prep in advance. If you prefer watching a video I have it on my YouTube channel.

 

 

Exactly eleven years ago today, I had the opportunity to attend a cookout event with Chef Ian Lai. Besides being a chef, he is a consultant and educator at the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver and works with community groups to build sustainability and food production. He also directs a non-profit organization that encourages elementary school children to connect with the earth and their community. Richmond, BC where I live, celebrates Culture days at the end of each September. During that year Chef Ian Lai hosted a farm-to-feast cookout demonstration and tasting class at a beautiful rooftop garden.

 

 

The idea of this class was to understand the need to contribute to our community and economy by buying local foods. He demonstrated making a perfect pie, and tart, and then under his supervision we made barbecued flat bread and learned to preserve vegetables by canning. We picked beans and beets from the rooftop garden to take home.

 

 

 

He gave some excellent tips on converting recipes from regular to gluten-free. We also learned about edible wild greens that grow around us, such as dandelions. I ate the salad that he made but never got the courage to pick dandelions from my backyard, until now. However, I eat dandelion greens that come in salad mixes, they taste pretty good. How about you folks? Have you ever tried eating dandelions picked from your yard? Do you grow them like other salad leaves?

Sadly, such cookouts never happened after that year, but I thought to revisit my older post from 2012 that I thought you would enjoy!

Onto this Savory tart.

Let’s start from the beginning, or, in this case, from the bottom. This hearty Tart has a base of rice. Since I did not know how to make gluten-free pastry dough in 2012 and the premade gluten-free puff pastry was not available (even now), my culinary mind went to work, and I thought to make tart crust with cooked rice. I have no clue how this idea popped into my head, but I knew I wanted to serve the veggies creatively. It was a total experiment, and it worked. Even though now I know and am good at making pastry dough I kept the base of the recipe the same.  I used true roots wild rice blend, but you could replace it with brown, red, or white rice.

 

 

The crust is filled with balsamic kale and onion mixture and topped with elegantly sliced delicata squash. The beauty of this tart is that it really is as simple as it sounds. The rice crust becomes crisp and chewy and is a great contrast against the soft, squash and kale. So, the three layers are easy to make!  Be sure you give yourself enough time to complete the necessary cooking, cooling and cutting time periods. You can prep the three components (crust, filling, squash) in advance and just assemble and bake before the meal.

 

 

In my previous recipe, I used carnival squash, and it was cut in chunks but this time I used delicata squash and cut in thin half-moons. They make the tart beautiful. Sometimes it’s the little changes that make a simple recipe something special. You can use a mandolin to slice the squash half-moons or your knife; not too thick and not too thin. I used a knife. Delicata squash has a thinner skin than acorn and carnival and is very easy to cut. This squash is only available in late summer and early Fall, so now is the time to take advantage!

 

 

This tart can be a perfect holiday side dish (on upcoming Thanksgiving in Canada) and will be loved by everyone. I hope you can give this Savory Tart Recipe a try and come back to let me know how it came out. I promise you that it will be a hit with your friends and family.

 

 

Print
Balsamic Squash And Kale In Rice tarts

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes

Ingredients

    For Rice crust
  • 3 1/2 cups cooked wild rice blend (recipe below)
  • 2 Tbsp flax meal
  • 3 Tbsp water
    • For Filling
  • 1-2 red onion, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cups shredded kale leaves (no stems)
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp best quality balsamic vinegar, or to taste
  • 3/4 -1 cup cheddar cheese
    • For Topping
  • 1 delicata squash (about 1 pound)
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 3/4 tsp red chili powder
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • olive oil to brush the top

Instructions

    Cook Rice
  1. Add 1 1/2 wild rice blend and 3 cups vegetable broth or water to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
  2. Immediately lower to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Let it cool a bit before making crust (Put it in the freezer for 20 minutes for faster cooling).
    3. For Filling
  3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until starting to soften and are browned, 5 minutes. Add kale, garlic, salt, balsamic vinegar, and pepper. Cover and cook, removing lid to stir often until the kale is wilted and tender, 6 -8 minutes or longer. Splash a tbsp of water if needed to soften.
    4. Preheat oven to 400°F.
    Prepare Squash
  4. Cut squash in half lengthwise, and remove seeds. Place squash cut-side down and slice into 0.4 cm thick half-moons.
    5. Make Tart
  5. Make flax egg by mixing flax meal and water (you can add a tbsp more if needed but I recommend to avoid). Combine rice and flax egg.
  6. Grease 8x4"rectangle tart tin (you could even use a 9" round or smaller tins). Add the rice mix onto prepared tart tin, spread with your fingers, covering the entire surface with a thin layer. Bake for 20 minutes, until toasty.
  7. In the meantime, stir cheese into onion and kale mixture.
  8. Toss squash slices with salt, red chili powder and balsamic vinegar.
  9. When the rice crust has baked, carefully bring out of the oven ( but leave the oven on), and spread kale and onion mixture across crust in an even layer and place half-moon squash slices on top as closely as you want.
  10. Brush the squash with olive oil.
  11. Cover the edges of the rice crust with foil to prevent over browning or becoming too hard. (check video how I do it).
  12. Return to the oven for 60 minutes or until the squash starts to char on top. Serve warm. Enjoy!
https://www.simpleglutenfreekitchen.com/2023/09/balsamic-squash-and-kale-tart-rice-crust.html

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. i love dandelion greens picked first thing in spring when they’re not very bitter and there are only little buds close to the leaf cluster. the little buds are great and dandelion greens are great in potato salad (i have a recipe that’s been handed down from my mum and i’ve made it vegan)… i ‘encourage’ dandelions to grow in my yard, garden and flower beds by making sure the seeds stay close to the mother plant, so when they go to seed i’ll pull them off and push them onto the ground nearby.

    Reply

  5. I love this post my friend! Firstly because this chef sounds like he has wonderful morals spreading awareness of great environmental and healthy ideas 🙂
    Secondly the recipes look and sound so delicious!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    Reply

  6. Lovely squash and rice tarts. Neat idea to use rice as the crumb for the pie. Eagerly waiting for more info on roof top veggie garden. I have limited space to grow stuff, would be great if I can learn a few tricks for next summer.

    Reply

  10. These look absolutely brillant. I often roast my pumpkin with a bit of soy sauce sprinled onto it but I haven’t tried balsamic – will given that a go.

    Reply

  21. What a beautiful tart!!….I love the combination of flavors and texture….I imagine this for a Thanksgiving table and it is perfect!!….Fantastic tart!!……..Abrazotes, Marcela

    Reply

  23. That looks so good Balvinder,. I would have not imagined eating it this way, Food is first eaten through eyes and the way this is presented I would just dig in right away. Bookmarking this to try soon.

    Reply

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