Happy November friends!! Can you believe the holidays are nearly here? This is the time of year I start going crazy on my pinterest board – hoarding entertaining ideas for fall and Thanksgiving (and holiday ideas too of course!) – which reminded me of this recipe we created last fall but had never shared here on coco+kelley.
It’s colorful, dramatic, and perfect for a seasonal tabletop (or just your average Saturday night…).
When entertaining, I often gain inspiration for the menu from the setting itself. Remember this jewel-toned tabletop from last fall? Well, it’s what inspired this complimentary dish.
I selected colorful fall produce – butternut squash, carrots and beets – to roast and sit atop black rice, mimicking the same feel of the table. Not only is it a gorgeous dish, but it’s healthy and fairly easy too!
Black Rice + Roasted Veggies // serves 6
- 1 ½ cups black rice (wild or forbidden)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 shallots, peeled and diced
- 1 cup pecan pieces
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 butternut squash, peeled seeded and diced
- 1 bunch of carrots (a colorful variety will make the dish more beautiful!)
- 4 beets (we found golden and red beets, but any variety will do)
- 1 tsp cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Carrots, Beets & Squash
Preheat the oven to 450º and start with prepping the produce. Wash the beets and carrots, and trim off the greens, leaving a bit of the tips on the carrots. Peel the carrots. Place them both in a large stock pot with cold water, and bring to a boil, adding 1 tsp of sea salt.
Once the water is boiling, let the carrots blanche for about 1 minute, leaving the beets in for another 5-7 minutes. (You can pierce the beets to make sure they’re tender before removing!). Rinse both under cool water after removing from the pot.
For the butternut squash, I like to place it in the oven for about 5-10 minutes to get it soft enough to easily peel and chop. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds before placing it on a baking sheet to pop into the oven. You don’t want to cook it too long – just enough to get the tough outer skin soft.
Once all the veggies are prepped, you’ll want to toss them in olive oil and sea salt before placing them on a baking sheet. The squash should be diced while the carrots simply cut in half, and beets sliced. We added a bit of thyme and extra salt and pepper once they were on the baking sheet, then popped them into the oven for about 15-20 minutes – until the edges start to brown. You can flip them halfway through to get them roasted evenly. In the last 2-3 minutes add the pecans to one of the trays to toast them up.
Directions: Rice
Start by setting a saucepan over medium heat, and adding the butter and shallots to saute for about 2 minutes. Add the rice and toss to coat. Add the prescribed amount of water as directed on the rice package, and about 1 ½ tsp of salt. Bring to a boil, and then stir and lower the heat to let simmer until cooked through.
I timed my prep to have the rice boiling while the carrots, beets and squash were cooking, which is just about right – they should both be ready around the same time!
Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the heat and add the orange zest, thyme and cumin, then salt and pepper to taste. You can drizzle a bit of olive oil in with it if it’s become too sticky to mix well.
Start by laying down the rice first on a dish, then add the veggies on top, and thyme to garnish.
This dramatic and delicious dish not only lends superb fall flavor, but serves quite a few mouths as well, making it a definite winner for your next dinner party!
