Cooked wild rice has a rich nutty flavor, sometimes described as a smoky flavor, and a texture that is delightfully chewy. The slender, elongated grains that often come to market are usually about one-half inch in length and almost black in color with some touches of green. Wild rice towers over other grains when it comes to amounts of protein, minerals, B vitamins, folic acid, and carbohydrates. The best way to purchase good quality wild rice is to look for giant or long grain, or fancy or medium grain. These are true wild rices. The best place to store your wild rice is the fridge, especially if you're buying a large amount. Make sure before you cook your wild rice, it's rinsed. As a general rule established proportions for cultivated wild rice use 1 cup of dry wild rice to 3 cups of water, with salt to taste. Whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, in soups, salads, milled for flour, wild rice is a powerhouse of nutrient rich vitamins and minerals and should be in everyone's diet.
Here are a few recipes we've enjoyed as a family.
Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 white onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 cup white rice
16 ounces wild rice
3 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour* or 1 T potato flakes, and 2 T cornstarch
1 cup vegetable broth
4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Garlic salt
Salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil, onion, celery, garlic, and carrots in a pan over medium heat for 10 minutes. Prepare wild rice and white rice according to package instructions.Stir in chicken, rices, and a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low. In a medium pan over high heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour/GF cornstarch and potato flakes, vegetable broth, and a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Continue to whisk until boiling. Add 2 cups of the shredded cheddar and continue to stir until melted. Transfer chicken and rice mixture to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour cheese sauce over rices and top with remaining cheddar.Bake for 30-35 minutes.
1 white onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 cup white rice
16 ounces wild rice
3 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour* or 1 T potato flakes, and 2 T cornstarch
1 cup vegetable broth
4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Garlic salt
Salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil, onion, celery, garlic, and carrots in a pan over medium heat for 10 minutes. Prepare wild rice and white rice according to package instructions.Stir in chicken, rices, and a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low. In a medium pan over high heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour/GF cornstarch and potato flakes, vegetable broth, and a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Continue to whisk until boiling. Add 2 cups of the shredded cheddar and continue to stir until melted. Transfer chicken and rice mixture to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour cheese sauce over rices and top with remaining cheddar.Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Nutty Rice Salad
1 cup wild rice
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/3 cup chopped toasted unsalted cashews
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
Dress it up
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp ground pepper
Combine 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Drain well and cool.
*Wild rice takes longer to cook then ‘normal’ rice which is why ‘wild rice blends’ aren’t very good. Each type of rice has a different cooking time, so to combine them all means they won’t all turn out as well as they should.
Drain the rice (if there is water left in the pot) and transfer the rice to a large bowl. While the rice is cooling, mix in the dried cranberries, pecans, cashews, green onion, celery and red onion.
Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, mustard and sugar in a blender. While the blender is running, gradually pour in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the rice mixture and toss.
Gluten Free Chicken and Wild Rice Soup 2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 small onion or 1 large shallot, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 small carrots, chopped
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 cups chicken broth
2 chicken breasts, cut in half
3/4 cup wild/brown rice blend
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup gluten-free or all-purpose flour OR you can thicken the soup with potato flakes
Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots, season with salt & pepper, then saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme then saute for 1 more minute.
Add chicken broth then increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Add chicken breast halves and cook until no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes, then remove to a plate and set aside. Shred when cool enough to handle. Add wild/brown rice blend to the pot then place a lid on top, turn heat down to medium-low and simmer for 40-50 minutes or until rice is tender.
In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup milk with flour until smooth then add remaining milk. Slowly drizzle into soup while stirring. Add chicken then simmer soup for 10 more minutes uncovered and serve.
This recipe is from Earthy.com, I found it years ago while surfing online. These cakes are easy to make and go wonderful with a big piece of white fish or grilled salmon. We serve them with sour cream and sometimes with a little bit of mango chutney. If you end up making to many, break up the cakes and throw them into some simmering soup, or add them to a salad.
Big Lake Cakes 1 cup cooked wild rice (you can use a blend)
1 egg
1/2 cup flour * or if GF, use an all purpose GF flour or 1/4 cup corn starch,
arrowroot starch, potato starch and tapioca
1 stalk celery, finely sliced
3 scallions, finely sliced
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 inch long piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 T grape-seed oil
Cook wild rice in a large pot of salted boiling water for 45 minutes or until grains begin to open and are tender, but still chewy. Drain and set aside to cool briefly.
In a large bowl, stir together one cup of the cooked wild rice, egg, flour, celery, scallions, pecans and ginger. Mix gently, but thoroughly until all ingredients are well blended, but rice grains are not broken.
Heat the grape-seed oil over medium high heat in a large non-stick frying pan. Using a large spoon, scoop up a scant 1/4 cup of the wild rice mixture and place into the hot pan, pressing down gently until the cakes are about 1/2 inch thick. Do not crowd the pan – cook in batches if necessary.
Continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, about 6 – 8 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for another 4 – 6 minutes.
Remove the wild rice cakes to plates and top each Wild Rice cake with a dollop of Greek-style yogurt or sour cream and additional sliced scallion, if desired.
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