I love this festive little dish.  This time of year, I am obsessed with the winter squashes-you may know this from some of my earlier posts.  Here we have forbidden rice with sauteed butternut squash, but it can easily be substituted for any of the winter squash, including pumpkin. 

I love this black rice-technically it's really a deep purple, rich in those same antioxidants found in berries, the anthocyanins.  It's much higher in nutritional value than white rice and has a delicious, nutty flavor.  I like to use it a lot this time of year.  It pairs really well with fall flavors. 

Cook the rice, according to package directions, one part rice to one and one half parts water or stock.  Then I folded in some diced butternut squash that I sauteed in a pan with olive oil until soft.  After mixing the rice and squash, I added a knob of butter to the pan and over medium heat, fried some fresh sage leaves until the butter was brown and the leaves were crispy.  Fold that into the rice and you have a festive side dish.