Wild Rice Pilaf

Cooking wild rice is very similar to cooking regular white rice although it takes a little longer to cook. In this healthy recipes, wild rice is cooked in vegetable broth until tender and combined with sautéed mushrooms, garlic, walnuts, and sunflower seeds seasoned with savory, sage, and thyme. The wild rice dish is garnished with cored and diced apples and dried cranberries for an ultra-delicious and healthy vegetarian meal. For even better results, use wild mushrooms to flavor the rice.





Ingredients

2 cups wild rice
4 cups vegetable broth (NOTE: you do not want the “low sodium” variety)
2 tbsp cooking oil (you can use butter if you want)
2 cups assorted mushrooms, chopped/diced
2+ cloves garlic, minced
½ cup crumbled walnuts
½ cup sunflower seeds and/or pumpkin seeds
1 tsp each (dried): sage, savory, thyme
2 apples (suggested: MacIntosh or Cortland), cored and diced
½ c dried cranberries (sweetened)

Preparation Instructions

Rinse wild rice in a sieve to get rid of the tannins (rinse it two or three times). In a sauce pan, cook the wild rice in the broth (45 minutes – 1 hour).

Meanwhile, melt the butter (or heat the oil) in a deep cast iron (or non-stick) skillet and saute (low heat) the diced mushrooms with the walnuts, sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds, minced garlic, and herbs until mushrooms are cooked through and the nuts and seeds are beginning to soften.

When both rice and vegetables are done, put them together in a serving dish, tossing to mix. Add the chopped apples and the dried cranberries and toss again.

Serve and enjoy.