Roasted Vegetable & Wild Rice Salad with Almond-Parsley Sauce

1 cup wild rice
1 acorn squash, seeded and cut into 1-inch thick wedges
2 turnips, diced
1 apple, diced
4 Tbs olive oil
salt and black pepper
1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup roasted almonds, chopped
1 Tbs lemon juice

1) Heat oven to 450F. Cook the rice according to package directions (typically boiling in 4 cups of water for 45 minutes).
2) Toss the squash, turnips and apple with 2 Tbs of the oil, salt and black pepper. Place on two large rimmed baking sheets. Roast, turning once, until golden brown and tender, 22 to 24 minutes.
3) Combine the parsley, almonds, remaining 2 Tbs oil and lemon juice, with salt and black pepper, in a small bowl.
4) Serve the rice and vegetables topped with the sauce.

Review: I learned my lesson and carved up the acorn squash while wearing gloves. My skin thanked me! This was a very unusual dish for a weeknight. I forgot that wild rice takes so long to cook. Yet, somehow I got every part of this salad done at the same time, which made it easy to throw together. The almonds were a great addition to the roasted vegetables and the wild rice gave it an earthy flavor. I think this may be made better by using pomegranate vinegar instead of lemon juice, maybe adding pomegranate arils on top, too. Maybe I'll make this again to try that out.

Adapted from:
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/roasted-vegetable-wild-rice-salad-almond-parsley-sauce