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Posts tagged ‘Wild rice’

Feb 28

Wild rice and Puy lentil bowl with roasted squash, za’atar, and tahini

Wildrice-tahini-bowl

One of the many strategies we utilize for keeping things moving along at home without too much chaos is to spend time on weekends cooking batches of meal components to put together at a moment’s notice. We usually cook a big batch of a grain, a bean or lentil, and a variety of roasted or otherwise cooked vegetables, and – if we’re really on top of our game – a sauce or two, maybe a big batch of soup, and some breakfast and snack items for Aldo (like smoothies poured into reusable pouches, a batch of these mini muffins, or some homemade Lara bars).

This meal was one that worked into that routine – I had planned out the combination ahead of time, but doubled the batches of rice, lentils, and squash and used those in other meals throughout the week. Leftover rice became gallo pinto with fried eggs for breakfast, lentils were mixed into pasta and other dishes for Aldo’s lunches, etc. etc. Weekday lunches for Aldo and I are commonly portions of grains and beans and vegetables in various configurations, heated in pans on the stove (or incorporated into packaged macaroni and cheese or Indian food – lest you think I do everything from scratch). Read more

Nov 19

6 Comments

What you need to know about wild rice (and an easy pilaf to get you started)

Wild_rice_pilaf_2

I’ve been feeling a little remiss in my duties as a Minnesotan lately, considering how little I’ve talked about wild rice over the years I’ve had this site. We don’t eat it as often as we should, and that’s probably where the guilt actually lies, but I’m determined to remedy the situation and so here I am.

I know I’ve mentioned wild rice here and again, but let’s back up and get a good handle on the whole business. Wild rice (which is not actually a rice, but we’ll get to that) looks like very long long-grain rice covered by a thin brownish-blackish skin. When properly cooked, that skin breaks open and most of the grains begin to curl in on themselves, which many recipes refer to as “blossoming.” The grains still have their bran intact, which gives it a toothsome, chewy texture similar to brown rice and other whole grains. It has a toasty, nutty, earthy flavor, and can often smell and taste slightly like black tea. The flavor and texture it adds over other rices and grains is worth the extra effort required in cooking it, and it’s interesting to add to soups, breads, salads, and other dishes in a way that other grains seem to act more as mere filler or heft.

WildRice_Kale

That said, I’m from Minnesota. I get it. I’ve eaten wild rice my whole life, and in a million different ways. I’ve always known the difference between real wild rice and the other stuff, just like someone from the Northwest knows about wild salmon and someone from New Mexico knows about real green chile. Wild rice isn’t nearly as pervasive of a thing as those other two, so don’t feel bad if you have no idea where I’m going with this – just know that there’s a difference. Read more

Apr 17

5 Comments

Wild rice edamame salad

(This recipe is part of a post on a shower I threw – you can see more about it here.)

If there was any star recipe of the shower, this one was definitely it. This is one of the few I tested in the weeks before the party to see if it was something I might want to make, and it was a legitimate physical struggle not to eat the entire thing – all 6 servings of it – in the hours after I first made it. The hearty, hefty base of wild rice together with a strong sesame flavor, the crunchy brightness of the edamame, scallions, and carrots, and the chewy tartness and sweetness from the dried cranberries makes this a well-rounded, main dish-worthy salad perfect for spring (particularly spring in Minnesota). Read more

Jan 3

West Coast Wild Rice Soup

WildRiceSoup

I love grocery stores. It’s probably rare that anyone has been that emphatic about such a place, but in my case this excitement is in no way overstated, fleeting, or insignificant. I was raised on the luxury shopping experience of Minneapolis-based chain Byerly’s/Lund’s thanks to my caterer grandmother and the fact that it was by far the closest store to my house, and it wasn’t until moving to Claremont that I realized the average grocery store didn’t have chandeliers and wall-to-wall carpet, nor as wide and as high-quality a selection of items.  This is not at all an indicator that my young life was full of gourmet foods or fancy lifestyle habits, but rather that my family enjoys to have their Doritos and cases of Coke brought to their car for them and that Saturday lunches meant the store’s hearty selection of free weekend samples from the time I was 6 years old. Read more