The best way to Prepare dinner Wild Rice Recipe

Discover ways to cook dinner wild rice on the stovetop! With its chewy texture and nutty taste, this entire grain is scrumptious in salads, aspect dishes, and extra.

Wild rice is one among my favourite entire grains to cook dinner within the fall. Its chewy texture and nutty taste make it an ideal companion for seasonal produce like candy roasted squash and earthy root veggies. As a result of I’ve discovered myself making ready it loads recently, I assumed I’d take immediately’s submit to present you some background on it. I’m additionally sharing a foolproof stovetop cooking methodology and a few of my favourite wild rice recipes.

What’s wild rice?

You would possibly suppose, given its title, that this entire grain is a relative of the white or brown rice you’d discover alongside it on the grocery retailer. The truth is, wild rice isn’t rice in any respect, however a kind of aquatic grass. It’s indigenous to the Nice Lakes area of North America, the place it grows naturally in freshwater lakes and waterways. At present, it’s also cultivated commercially in the USA and Canada.

Wild rice, known as manoomin in Ojibwe, has vital cultural significance to the Indigenous peoples of the Nice Lakes. It is part of the Anishinaabe creation story, and traditionally, it supplied important sustenance all through the higher Midwest’s chilly winters. Indigenous individuals proceed to hand-harvest naturally occurring wild rice across the Nice Lakes immediately, knocking the grass with wood sticks in order that it releases the grains of rice into their canoes. If you wish to be taught extra concerning the rice’s historical past and cultural significance, I like to recommend studying this article or this one. You should purchase hand-harvested rice from Native Harvest in Minnesota here.

The best way to Prepare dinner Wild Rice

Hand-harvested wild rice might be mild or darkish in coloration, whereas the cultivated type is all the time darkish brown or black. This cooking methodology will work with both sort, however observe that hand-harvested rice tends to cook dinner extra rapidly. Relying on the range, it may be prepared in as little as 20 minutes, whereas the cultivated wild rice you’d discover on the grocery retailer will seemingly want 50 or extra.

• Begin by bringing a medium pot or saucepan of water to a boil. No want to fret a couple of particular rice-to-water ratio for this recipe. We’re going to make use of what I name “The Pasta Technique,” which simply implies that we’ll cook dinner the rice in a pot of boiling water. Whereas the water involves a boil, place the rice in a fantastic mesh strainer and rinse it nicely.
• Then, add the rinsed rice to the boiling water. Cut back the warmth in order that the water maintains a mild boil. Simmer till the rice is tender however nonetheless has a slight chunk, sometimes 35 to 55 minutes, although the cooking time could possibly be kind of relying in your rice. A few of the grains will begin to break up open barely.
• Lastly, let the rice steam. Drain off the liquid, return the rice to the pot, and canopy it with a clear dishtowel. Place the lid on the pot, and permit the rice to sit down for 10 minutes, turning into absolutely tender and fluffy.

Fluff with a fork, and revel in!

Favourite Wild Rice Recipes

With its nutty taste and chewy texture, the cooked rice is a scrumptious aspect dish by itself. After I serve it actually merely, I gown it with olive oil, pinches of salt, and freshly floor black pepper and toss it with some chopped recent parsley.

It’s an awesome addition to bigger salads, soups, and aspect dishes as nicely. Attempt utilizing it in any of those recipes:

It could even be a stunning gluten-free different to the wheat berries on this autumn wheat berry salad recipe.

Extra Complete Grains to Attempt

If you happen to love this wild rice recipe, attempt one among these entire grains subsequent: