Summer Squash Rice Bake with Fresh Herbs & Walla Walla Onions
Savory, hearty, and healthy, this gluten free, vegan dish will check all your summer dinner on the patio boxes.
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 Walla Walla Onion Yellow, white, or red onions are fine substitutes
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 large or 2 small yellow squash summer squash
- 6 tablespoons fresh oregano or 3 teaspoons dried divided
- 6 tablespoons fresh basil or 3 teaspoons dried divided
- 3-4 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake or to taste
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 lemon zest and juice, divided
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 pint canned tomatoes
- 1 cup water more if needed
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove top, ends, and peel from onion, and slice into half moon slices.
- Do the same for the garlic cloves.
- Slice the Summer Squash into half moon slices.
- Coat the bottom of an oven proof Dutch oven with oil.
- Sprinkle in red pepper flakes, and ⅓ of the herbs chopped), reserving the rest for later.
- Once they’re fragrant and bubbly, add the onions.
- When they are slightly cooked and mildly translucent, add the Summer Squash and garlic.
- Cook for a few minutes, then remove all of the vegetables from the pan.
- Add brown rice to the pan and start to toast it for a couple of minutes.
- Add the zest of one lemon, and the juice of half a lemon, reserving the rest for later.
- Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper and cook for one minute.
- Add the jar of tomatoes and water. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the vegetables back to the pan, along with another third of the fresh herbs.
- Stir and cook in oven at 400 degrees F for one hour.
- Remove from oven when rice is cooked through. Remove lid and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the reserved lemon juice, and remaining herbs for garnish.
- You can also garnish with nasturtiums and more fresh basil leaves.
- Serves 6.
Notes
Summer is the most magical time to live in Washington state. If you’re lucky it is warm, sunny, and magnificent, but also still lush, green, and lovely.
Depending on the year, now is about the time our gardens start to really deliver.
I just got back from a trip and noticed some amazing Walla Walla onions that were ready to harvest.
These are the onions Washington is famous for. The flavor is sweet, mild, but still deliciously oniony, and people love this time of year, and look forward to buying them at the supermarket, and in restaurants for a limited time.
But they are pretty darn easy to grow at home, too. These are typically sold in bundles at the nursery in early spring.
Walla Wallas have a relatively short shelf life, and can’t be kept like storage onions, so it’s good to have some yummy recipes on hand to use them up in season.
Which brings us to today’s recipe.
Savory, hearty, and healthy, this gluten free vegan dish will check all your summer dinner on the patio boxes.
In addition to Walla Walla’s, summer is a perfect time to harvest fresh herbs from the garden, and to harvest those vibrant, yellow, summer squash.
This stuff usually grows around here like crazy! Much like it’s pal Zucchini. This recipe answers the age old question: How am I going to use all this summer squash?!
Let's make this lovely summer supper.