I made this dish last night and it was a hit with my family and I have no doubt it will become a familiar side or main at many other houses soon too!
I think it imperative to start with the simple cooking instructions for wild rice as the salad above calls for the rice to be already cooked so you can get to mixing the ingredients, chilling and most importantly eating. All the prep for this recipe can easily be accomplished while the rice is cooking. Wild rice is actually not rice at all, its a long grain from wild marsh grass however, its nutritious and these days its cultivated in California (Yay for local!) Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wild rice can be found in the bulk sections of these local Berkeley and San Francisco stores; Whole Foods, Berkeley Bowl and Rainbow Grocery.
BASIC STEAMED WILD RICE
INGREDIENTS
1¼ Cups Wild Rice
3¾ Cups Water
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place the rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse well under cold running water to clean
2. Place the rice and measured water into a medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer undisturbed until the rice has absorbed most of the water and the grains have swollen (some may split apart to show their white pith, this is fine and actually having the bulk of the grains split will give you a less chewy texture and more even cook throughout the rice). About 35-55 minutes (generally the longer and darker the grains are the longer the cooking time will be). If some liquid remains after the rice is don, drain it off. Fluff the rice and cook, uncovered, over low heat for about a minute to let any excess liquid evaporate, about 1 minute.
- 1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
- 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 4 cups cooked wild rice (see above)
- 3 medium scallions, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
- 2 cups shelled cooked edamame, thawed if frozen (I find frozen is easy for this)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and small dice
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar, plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons honey
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Place the almonds in a medium frying pan over medium heat and toast, stirring often, until golden brown (do not let the nuts burn), about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl. Add the sesame seeds to the pan and toast, stirring often, until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the almonds.
- Add the rice, scallions, edamame, carrots, and cranberries to the bowl with the almonds and sesame seeds and toss to combine.
- Whisk the olive oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a medium bowl until combined. Drizzle over the rice mixture and toss to combine. Taste and season as needed with more salt, pepper, and vinegar. Cover and chill for at least one hour before serving. Once you pull this out for serving give it a good stir and re-adjust the salt and pepper as necessary.
Happy New Year! As we have said goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012 the outlook for the year is bright.This is the time to reflect on the past and prepare for the future. Along with preparing most of us are busy settling into new resolutions and many of those include giving up something or adding something new in to our routines. For alot this new resolution will be about getting back into a fitness routine. This particular topic has come up quite a bit lately in conversations with friends and clients and I feel some people have the wrong idea about when to get started on a fitness program.
