Fall is in the Air

Adam and I went to the Farmers' Market Saturday and were surrounded by an abundance of fall harvest vegetables. The warming, comforting qualities of autumn's squash and greens make this time of year one of my favorites for food. (Although, I don't like to discriminate.) While I was searching 101cookbooks.com, I found a recipe that would be perfect for my farmers' market stash of butternut squash: Roasted Pumpkin Salad. The squash and onions are roasted to a perfect sweetness; the rice is nutty and adds texture; and the dressing is tart and creamy. It's a wonderfully healthy and complete meal. The only problem is that it's difficult to stop eating! (Sorry, once again, I don't have a picture. I still have to buy batteries. I'll get on it soon! But, you can go to 101cookbooks.com for a gorgeous picture of the salad.)



Roasted Pumpkin Salad (www.101cookbooks.com, Heidi Swanson)

We used brown rice instead of wild rice. I'm sure wild rice would be just as delicious as the brown was.

3 cups of pumpkin (or other winter squash), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
12 tiny red onions or shallots, peeled (OR 3 medium red onions peeled and quartered)
2 cups cooked wild rice
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. honey
2 Tbs. warm water
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Toss the pumpkin in a generous splash of olive oil along with a couple pinches of salt, and turn out onto a baking sheet. At the same time, toss the onions with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and turn out onto a separate baking sheet. Roast both for about 45 minutes, or until squash is brown and caramelized. The same goes for the onions, they should be deeply colored, caramelized, and soft throughout by the time they are done roasting. You'll need to flip both the squash and onion pieces once or twice along the way - so it's not just one side that is browning.
3. In the meantime, make the dressing. With a hand blender or food processor puree the sunflower seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and honey until creamy. You may need to add a few tablespoons of warm water to thin the dressing a bit. Stir in the cilantro, saving just a bit to garnish the final plate later. Taste and adjust seasonings (or flavors) to your liking - I usually need to add a touch more salt with this dressing.
4. In a large bowl, toss the wild rice with a large dollop of the dressing. Add the onions, gently toss just once or twice. Turn the rice and onions out onto a platter and top with the roasted squash (I'll very gently toss with my hands here to disperse the pumpkin a bit). Finish with another drizzle of dressing and any remaining chopped cilantro.