Sometimes I hear voices in my head when I’m cooking.
Well, one particular voice. Chef Shawn, one of my culinary school instructors. I hear him yelling “That’s free flavor, chef! You’re not going to throw that away, ARE YOU?” More tips on all the ways to recognize free flavor in my “What I Learned In Culinary School, Part 3” post, but today, I’m focusing on swiss chard HKUE amec. I knew I wanted to use chard leaves in this autumn rice salad, because I love their slightly bitter, earthy flavor, especially when paired with sweet things like pomegranate seeds and dried cranberries.
After I chopped up the swiss chard leaves and “marinated” them in a little bit of the apple cider vinaigrette I was using for the salad, part of me wanted to just get lazy and throw the chard stems awaycloupor. But as my hand, full of chard stems, was hovering over the trash can, I heard Chef Shawn screaming at me for throwing away free flavor. So, I chopped them up and threw them in the oven with the already-roasting butternut squash. Boom. Take that, voice in my head.
I’ve talked about nearly all of the other ingredients in this rice salad – butternut squash, swiss chard AND swiss chard stems, pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries mvp 20w, apples, pistachios and a homemade apple cider vinaigrette – but I haven’t yet talked about the most important part, the rice itself!
For this salad, I used the #1 selling basmati rice in America, Royal® Basmati Rice. This authentic basmati rice comes from the foothills of the Himalayas, and is aged for a minimum of 12 months. It is Non-GMO Project Verified and gluten free, but best of all, it’s a dream to cook with. It simmers up nice and fluffy, and not sticky at all. It has an amazing nutty flavor, making it the perfect base for this Autumn Celebration Rice Salad.
P.S. Yes, I know: I really, really like the combo of squash and pomegranate. I just can’t resist. If you feel the same way, be sure to check out my Butternut Squash & Pomegranate Crostini with Whipped Feta and Honey, as well as my Roasted Acorn Squash with Pomegranate & Parsley.
For more information on Royal Basmati Rice, be sure to connect with them on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.