Wild rice and kale salad with maple-roasted squash

Heat the oven to 200 °C conventional. Spread the walnuts in a small dish and toast for about 10–15 min while the oven heats, watching their colour. Cool, then chop roughly. Rinse the wild rice in a fine sieve. Bring all the water to the boil with 1.5 g salt, add the rice and simmer uncovered for about 40–50 min. The grains should be tender but still slightly chewy, with many split open. Drain any remaining water and spread the rice in a dish to cool for about 20 min.

While the rice cooks, wash the squash, trim the ends and halve lengthways. Scoop out the seeds but keep the skin. Cut into even half-moons about 1 cm thick. Toss with 15 ml oil, the brown sugar, 15 ml maple syrup and nutmeg. Spread in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Roast for about 25 min, turning halfway, until the flesh and skin are tender and the edges lightly caramelised. Leave to cool.

Remove the kale’s thick stalks. Wash and dry the leaves, weigh them and slice into fine ribbons. Peel the onion, weigh it peeled and slice thinly. Open the pomegranate, release the arils and discard white membranes. Weigh 140 g arils. Wash and dry the parsley, remove stalks, then weigh and chop the leaves. Whisk the remaining 60 ml oil with the mustard, vinegar, remaining 15 ml maple syrup and 1.5 g salt in a bowl. Measure 45 ml of this prepared dressing and pour over the kale in a mixing bowl. Massage with your hands for about 2 min until the leaves soften.

Toss the kale with the cooled rice, walnuts, onion, measured pomegranate arils and parsley. Arrange the cooled squash on top and add all the remaining dressing. Shave the Parmesan over the salad and add the pepper. Serve as soon as assembled.