Wild Rice

[Guest guest]

I want to rave about wild rice a little bit here. Flannigan, who is

stocking the warehouse with wild rice that she drives up north to pick

up. Last

week, was telling me that for all of the wild rice she has ever

eaten, this is the best she's had. Knowing full well that as soon as someone

says " this is the best I've ever had " , I have to go try and confirm it for

myself. Anyone else suffer from CFJ (Chronic Food Jealousy)?

Before I continue to tell you about my own experience, I have to admit to

you that I was previously unaware that there is " real " and " paddy " wild

rice. In the bags of wild rice that sells, she has an informative

piece of info describing why " paddy " rice is inferior in taste, texture, &

nutrients. Most wild rice that's available in grocery stores are actually a

hybrid developed by the University of Minnesota and are often full of

pesticides.

Even without opening the bag, the smell of this real wild rice was so earthy

that I didn't wait long to cook up a batch. The difference in the way this

particular kind cooked up in comparison to many others was significant. Much

fluffier and the flavor it imparted can be summed up as what

originally said: " This is the best I've ever had. "

While I could have eaten the whole pot of wild rice with some butter and sea

salt, I felt compelled to look up a recipe in one of my tried-and-true

cookbooks (I'm a cookbook nerd---improvisation is cool and respected, but

there's a similar feeling to marking an item off of a to-do list when trying

out a new recipe). The first recipe I came across happened to call for

everything that I had on hand (some of you may relate to the challenges of

keeping up with the bountiful harvest of your CSA box!!!). It felt great to

put all of the extra vegetables to use, but I still have to say that the

next time I cook up more of this wild rice (probably tomorrow...knowing me),

I'm going to try it with some of my leftover Lucky Pig bacon lard and sea

salt (and while I'm at it, have you checked out the selection of sea salts

at the buyer's club yet? Holy gangbusters, Batman!) .

Just in case you too have these veggies on hand, this would make a perfect

local and & in-season meal. I also wrapped it up in a big ol' leaf to act as

a burrito wrapper:

*Wild Rice Salad

6 servings

*2 stalks celery

2 small vine-ripened tomatoes (seeded)

½ large carrot

½ med. red onion

2 bell peppers (2 different colors preferably)

½ C crispy almonds (that is…soaked & dehydrated…you can buy these at the

buyer's club, too!) chopped or sliced

½ cup raisins (I used dried sour cherries)

4 cups cooked wild rice, chilled (1 cup dried)

6 T balsamic vinegar (I would use much less next time)

3 T extra virgin olive oil (this will be at the buyer's club soon, too)

1 tsp minced garlic

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Chop all vegetables to an approx ¼ in. dice.

In a large bowl, combine veggies, almonds, and raisins and toss with the

wild rice.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, and garlic until well

combined, then season with the salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the

salad and toss well.

Becca

[Guest guest]

Some of you probably already know this, but if the package has the word

" Cultivated " (like all of the packages at Cub) anywhere on the it, it's paddy

rice.

I can attest the real stuff is FAR superior to paddy rice, and the rice they're

selling at the warehouse is good stuff. I haven't tasted any yet, but I was

extremely tempted to buy some last time I was there. Now I'm having non-buyers

remorse.