Smoked Paprika Wild Rice, Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

By viblanco • October 11, 2012 • 0 Comments

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Author Notes: With a fusion of orange, rust and brown ingredients this dish screams, "“Autumn!" Not to mention, the autumn abundant tubers and the aroma of smoked paprika, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg push the fall-cool-weather-thanksgiving theme even more. But, I’'m here to tell you that I make and eat this dish all year.
I first encountered this recipe idea from http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/curry-roasted-butternut-squash-and-chickpeas and made adjustments over time to make it my own. I typically use sweet potatoes; however, butternut squash or kabocha squash work just as well (and less cooking time is needed). In addition, I have substituted in black beans for the chickpeas with great success.
I typically bake the onions and potatoes (with half of the spice and oil) for 25 minutes and then add the wild rice and chickpeas (with the other half of spice and oil) for the remaining baking time. I do this to ensure that the onions are caramelized and not steamed. But, admittedly, combining everything at once is much simpler. - viblanco

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ~1/2" cubes
1 1/2 large yellow onions, cut into ~1/2" pieces
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked, cooked and drained (yields 2 cups)
1/4 cup dried wild rice, cooked and drained
2 tablespoons (heaping) Spice Mix (see below)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or favorite oil)
yogurt, greek yogurt or sour cream for garnish
cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Spice Mix

2 teaspoons smoked paprika (or chipotle chili powder)
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder (omit if using spicy chipotle chili powder)
1 teaspoon salt

Cook the wild rice (according to package instructions) and dried chickpeas ahead of time as they both take some time to prepare. Put both aside until you are ready to make this dish. (See http://food52.com/blog/4634_how_to_cook_dried_beans regarding cooking dried beans.) To save time, substitute 2 cups of canned chickpeas in place of preparing dried chickpeas.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
In a small bowl, combine the ingredients of the spice mixture and set aside. (Note that there will be remaining spice mixture after preparing this dish.)
In a large bowl, combine the onion chunks, sweet potato cubes, cooked wild rice and cooked chickpeas, two tablespoons of the spice mixture and the extra virgin olive oil. Mix well so that the spices and oil are combined evenly.
Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet that is large enough to keep the mixture relatively shallow for better roasting.
Bake the vegetables for 45 minutes. Add or subtract time based on the tenderness of the sweet potatoes (very tender = ready). While the mixture is cooking, be sure to rotate and mix the vegetables about every 15 minutes for even roasting.
Serve hot with several dollops of plain greek yogurt or sour cream and sprinkle with cilantro leaves. (Of course, forget the dairy if you want to eat this vegan style.)