Wild Rice Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash

Kate and I have wanted to start a food blog for about as long as we have known we were both crazy about food.  It started as a pipe dream, but we couldn't quite imagine how it would work.  First of all, we couldn't imagine ever being in a place that had an actual kitchen instead of the closet that masqueraded as a kitchen in our small dorm hall (this is not exaggeration - we do think it was once a closet).  At the time, I was also vacillating between veganism and vegetarianism and wasn't quite sure where I stood on food ethically, and Kate, as an omnivore, was starting to question her own eating choices.  It still sounds odd to some people that an omnivore and a vegan are able to happily cook together, let alone write a blog about it, but to us it seems natural.  We both love food, we both eat food that makes us happy, and we're both perfectly content letting the other person do the same.  We're really excited to be starting this project, and thought it would be fitting to post one of the first dishes we cooked together as roommates in our real, grown-up, adult kitchen (complete with more than one pan - thank you, Christmas).  This dish definitely established some good food juju in our apartment (and believe me, food juju is nothing to laugh at), and was lucky enough to fall on a night where Kate's relatives had provided us with some real adult wine - aka, not cheap.
      

Wild Rice Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash

1 large butternut squash

2 cups wild rice

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

1 large onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup white wine

1 tsp thyme

about 8 cups vegetable broth or vegetable bouillon

1/2 cup almond milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Peel and cube the butternut squash and toss it with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Spread out on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish and roast for about 30 minutes, or until squash is tender and cooked all the way through.

2. In the meantime, heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet.  Saute the rice, garlic, and onion for a couple of minutes, until the onion is translucent and the rice is toasted and fragrant.  

3.  Add the white wine and thyme, and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. 

4.  Add the vegetable broth 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly, and waiting until most of the liquid in the skillet is gone before adding another cup.  When the rice is cooked, add the almond milk and stir over medium heat until most of the liquid is gone and the risotto is creamy.