It wasn’t that long ago that I was craving (and buying) watermelon and iced lemon ginger green tea. Now, the trees are glowing and I want warm starchy things. Lucky me: I had a recipe I found last fall in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. It was for a bulgar pilaf with chestnuts and brown butter. I changed it a bit and came up with this:

Saute a small, finely chopped onion in about a tablespoon of butter. When they’ve softened, add in about two cups of bulgar wheat – I think this would be great with whole wheat berries, too, or barley might be nice – and stir to coat. Add in about a cup of chopped chestnuts – toasted pine nuts, hazelnuts, or pecans would be good too — about a quarter cup of raisins or dried cranberries (or chopped dried apricots or pears, or a combination), the grated peel and juice of a tangerine (about a tablespoon of orange juice and a half teaspoon of orange rind), a dash of allspice or cloves, and about a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon. Add in a quart of chicken broth (low sodium). Veggie broth would be fine, too. Bring to a boil and then turn down to low and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes – longer if you are using whole wheat berries or barley – then turn off the heat and leave it for another 10 minutes. When you serve it, chop some fresh herbs – flat leaf parsley, maybe a little fresh mint – and sprinkle it on top.

It makes a big pot full of pilaf. Four of us only ate about a third of it, so I froze the rest in two containers for two future meals. It’s a great accompaniment and while you can smell the orange, you don’t really taste it. Same with the allspice and cinnamon. You sense it, but it doesn’t overwhelm you. We had it with roast turkey breast and some roasted vegetables. It would be great with beef or lamb, too. Make it with vegetable broth and you have the start of a great meatless meal, too. Just bump up the nut content for some added protein.