Move over, Quinoa Salad; There's a new grain in town.

We picked up the Holiday Cooking Special Issue of Bon Appetit at Farm Boy yesterday. It was a very, very good investment, and boy was it persuasive. Until dinner tonight, I really wasn't in the mood for fall food yet. I didn't want squash, or pumpkin, or turkey. A big, hot lasagna was at the bottom of the list. I couldn't stand the thought of stew. But tonight, all of that changed with one taste of this dish: "Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Corn".

We had it alongside two teeny chicken pinwheels (boneless, skinless chicken smeared with tarragon mustard and wrapped around a blob of brie and a few dried cranberries)--just something I concocted with the ingredients we had kicking around. It was excellent, sure, but I can't really take credit for that--you can't make a mistake with brie and cranberry. And anyway, the chicken was simply not the main event. It was in more of a supporting role, if you will.

The rice salad--warm, filling--with its array of textures--the nubby rice, soft-on-the-inside, caramelized-on-the-outside squash, juicy corn, and crisp leeks--was a meal on its own. Despite having nothing seasoning it except for coarse salt and fresh ground pepper, the flavours were intense and incredibly rich. I implore you to try this dish. It's well worth the work (peeling the squash being the worst of it) and the cost of the ingredients (wild rice is expensive!).

Note: I halved this recipe and it made enough for a HUGE serving for each of us plus another serving left over. The full recipe is supposed to feed 10 people (in a Thanksgiving, multiple-side-dish scenario). Halving it would easily give 3-4 people a reasonable side dish.

Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Corn

SERVES 10
Adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2008
Nancy Oakes and Pamela Mazzola

• 1 1/2 cups wild rice
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled butternut or buttercup squash (from 1 1/2-pound squash)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped leeks (white part only)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen white corn kernels, thawed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

Rinse rice in strainer under cold water; drain. Bring 6 cups water and 2 teaspoons coarse salt to boil in large saucepan. Add rice; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until rice grains begin to split and are tender but still slightly chewy (Do test them; eat a few grains and make sure they're a texture you'd normally enjoy eating), about 35-45 minutes. Drain. Spread on rimmed baking sheet to cool. Transfer to bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil rimmed baking sheet. Toss squash cubes and 3 tablespoons oil in medium bowl. Spread squash in single layer on prepared sheet; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast just until tender but firm enough to hold shape, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Transfer squash to bowl. Cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and 3/4 cup water; simmer until leeks are tender, about 7 minutes. Add corn; simmer 2 minutes longer. Add rice and butternut squash; simmer until heated through and liquid is absorbed, about 4 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

How to Sound Pretentious at Your Next Potluck

Bring something with quinoa (keen-wah) in it! This filling, nutritious grain used to feed the Inca, and it's just recently burst onto the mainstream cooking scene. I'd describe it as a cross between couscous and barley, and I've yet to have it taste better than it does in this recipe for Quinoa with Charred Corn, Red Pepper and Feta.

Quinoa with Charred Corn, Red Pepper and Feta

Adapted from Rose Reisman's Quinoa with Charred Corn, Spinach and Red Bell Pepper (ctv.ca)

1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2-3 ears of corn
Olive oil for sauteeing
1 cup diced white onion
½ cup diced red bell pepper
2 tsp crushed fresh garlic
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp seeded minced jalapeño pepper
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup chopped FRESH parsley (you can also use cilantro, but not everyone likes it)
2 oz crumbled light feta cheese
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice

Start by doing two things at once: in one pot, bring the quinoa and stock to a boil. Cover and simmer at medium-low for 15-20 minutes, just until the stock is absorbed. At the same time, in another pot, boil the ears of corn until they're bright yellow and tender enough to eat. Remove corn and quinoa from heat and set aside.

Chop up your other ingredients while you wait for the corn to cool. When it's cool enough to handle, use a serated knife to cut the kernels off of each ear. Some of them might stay clumped together, and I prefer it that way.

Brush a non-stick skillet with olive oil, and heat it up over medium heat. Sauté the corn for approximately 8 minutes, just until browned, stirring every few minutes (i.e., let it brown, but not burn). When most of the pieces have a touch of brown, caramelized goodness, remove from heat and set aside.

In another skillet, saute the diced onion, bell pepper, garlic, cumin and jalapeño pepper in a bit of olive oil until the onion softens and begins to brown--this might take 6-7 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Dump the now-somewhat-cooled quinoa into a LARGE serving bowl. Add the sauteed vegetables and corn, and stir in the green onion, parsley, olive oil, and lemon juice. Now, if you're serving this immediately, add the feta and go nuts. However, if you're saving it and taking it to a potluck, I recommend waiting and adding the cheese just before serving, or at least once the mixture has cooled. If you don't, the cheese tends to melt and get lost in the salad. I like it better when you can find huge chunks of feta, and I doubt I'm alone in feeling that way.

The resulting salad is colourful, delicious and really transportable--definitely potluck material. I wish I had a picture of it to share, but the stuff didn't last long enough to photograph. Instead, here's a picture of raw quinoa.