B and I hosted our friends Anna and Brendan for dinner this evening as part of the DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker program with Rice Select. 
The mission: put together a fun new recipe featuring basmati rice. Game on!
We set the table with gourds and autumnal flowers to get us in the mood.
B’s a pretty good chopper, while I prefer doing things like man the oven or sautée veggies.
We wanted to highlight flavors of the season, and put together a menu with favorites like squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds and cranberries.
To drink: Smuttynose pumpkin ale!
SUNDAY NIGHT SUPPER: AUTUMN EDITION menu
sweet potatoes puréed with cranberries, orange, and cinnamon, and topped with shredded coconut
This is a recipe from B’s childhood! His mom used to make it when he was growing up; it’s simple to prepare, but delicious and makes a beautiful presentation. You boil sweet potatoes until they’re soft, then peel off the skin. Then boil cranberries until they’re soft, too. Combine them in a food processor with the sweet potatoes and squeeze in the juice of a few oranges. Blend until smooth. Put the mixture back into orange skins and top with cooked cranberries and coconut, or, copy B’s mom and add a few marshmallows and put under the broiler to brown.
spinach and arugula salad with grapes, apples, spicy seeds and goat cheese
autumn basmati pilaf with sage, roasted squash + chickpeas
pear-apple galette for dessert
I followed this recipe, which was good, but the crust was a bit dry and crumbly.
Anna also brought a box of coconut-pecan-dark chocolate blondies, which were delicious (and deliciously addictive).
Thanks to DailyBuzz Food and Rice Select for sponsoring a wonderful evening! I hope you enjoy the following recipe. It’s simple, but hearty and full of flavor. Pilafs are so easy to make, and you can do so much with them. I’ll be making more of them as the season wears on.
AUTUMN BASMATI PILAF WITH SAGE, ROASTED SQUASH + CHICKPEAS
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and finely diced
- 2 c. basmati rice
- 1 oz. fresh sage, divided
- 4 T olive oil, divided
- 1/2 t sea salt, + more to taste
- 1/2 t freshly ground pepper, + more to taste
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 onion, diced
Preheat oven to 400˚.
Cook rice according to package directions. I learned a cool trick for making basmati: tie a dishtowel around the top of your lid. While it simmers, your rice will become light and fluffy.
Chop half your sage. In a large bowl, toss with squash, 2 T olive oil, 1/2 t sea salt, 1/2 t pepper, and chickpeas. Spread evenly onto two foil-lined baking sheets and bake 15- 20 minutes, until squash and chickpeas are crisp-tender.
Chop half of your remaining sage. Heat remaining 2 T olive oil. Sautée onions and sage until onions are translucent and tender, about 10 minutes.
In a large serving dish, combine rice, squash mixture and onions and mix together. Garnish with sage leaves. Serve and enjoy!
This post is brought to you by Rice Select.
