Wild Rice Casserole

This is a favorite traditional dish in our family.  We have it on all holidays, family gatherings, reunions, dinner parties, weddings (it was a hit at mine!) etc.  Wild Rice has a full-bodied, nutty flavor and chewy texture that is SO delicious.  It is highly nutritious and a staple in my diet.  I feel recharged and nourished after eating this dish. 

You may be surprised to learn that wild rice is not a true rice or grain, but is an aquatic grass seed.  If you haven’t tried it I encourage you to try this recipe (or Wild Rice & Quinoa Stuffed Baked Apples; Wild rice salad).   It can be appropriately classified as a pseudograin (seed).  Pseudograins are higher in protein, fiber and trace minerals than grains and will provide you with clean energy to fuel your mind, body and soul.  It is easily digestible and gluten-free, so a great choice for individuals with gluten sensitivities.

Ingredients:

2 cups dry wild rice opened (yields approx. 8 cups)
10-12 fresh crimini mushrooms
2-3 celery
1 medium onion
1-2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp Thyme
½ tsp ground black pepper
¾-1 tsp Himalayan sea salt
¼ cup dried cranberries

1.  Add 2 cups wild rice to approximately 8 – 10 cups of water, bring to a boil, then cover with lid and simmer ½ hr., then shut off heat and let stand covered for another ½ hour until rice opened.  Drain and set aside.
2.   Preheat oven to 350 F.  Sauté onions and celery in coconut oil for a few minutes then make room to cook mushrooms in same pan, until they have browned.
3.   After mushrooms are cooked, add rosemary, thyme, pepper and salt and sauté another minute, then remove from heat.
4.    Mix the veggies with the opened wild rice.  Ensure salt and pepper are to your liking, then put in casserole dish and bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Mix in the dried cranberries.  Serves 4.

Note:  You can open the rice in vegetable broth if you wish and also use butter in place of coconut oil.   

Enjoy!!!

Food For Thought:

Seek the wisdom of the ages,
but look at the world through the eyes of a child.

Ron Wild

  Crimini and Chanterelle
      Wild Rice Linguine

Mushrooms can make some people a little apprehensive when it comes to eating them, but for those who like them, you will most definitely enjoy this simple, yet elegant wild mushroom and wild rice linguine. 

Right now at the grocery store there is a wonderful assortment of wild mushrooms – some I have never heard of like bluefoot mushrooms, with blue stems or lobster mushrooms that apparently taste like lobster.  They also had one of my favourites, fresh porcini.  While we were honeymooning in Florence, I fell in love with Italian porcini pasta.  I had it in broth, oils or creams—all were to-die-for.  Unfortunately wild, fresh porcini mushrooms are very expensive at the store, so I opted for wild crimini and chanterelle, which I equally love.  Lightly sautéed meaty mushrooms, together with onions and garlic tossed with the tastiest wild rice linguine (more to come on this exquisite, superior pasta very soon) and extra-virgin olive oil tasted divine.  This dish is rich in nutrients, protein and fiber.

I have wrote down a general recipe, but feel free to use any wild mushrooms you have access to and adjust the amount of garlic and EVO to taste.  You really can’t go wrong with this dish. 

Ingredients:                                             

6-8 Wild Rice linguine nests
12 crimini mushrooms
6 chanterelle mushrooms
1 onion
5 garlic cloves
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (good quality)
Parmesan to top (optional)

1.   Bring a large pot of water to boil, adding a generous amount of Himalayan sea salt.
2.   Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat and sauté onions until translucent and soft.  Then add the crimini mushrooms and sauté until their liquid is released and they are beginning to brown.  You can pair the olive oil with a bit of water for a steam-sauté if liquid drying up.
3.   You will have a beautiful base of sautéed mushrooms and onions, now add the chanterelles and garlic and cook until tender (about 5 minutes).  Salt and pepper to taste at the very end (not while mushrooms are cooking as it draws out the water and takes them longer to brown).  Also cook the pasta as directed. 
4.  Toss the mushrooms and pasta with remaining 2 Tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil.  Grate some parmesan on top if you like.  Serves 2-3. 

Enjoy!

 
     Whole Food Sneak Peak: 
                Mushrooms

   AKA “Meat” of the Vegetable kingdom.

Fungi are plant-like organisms, but do not contain chlorophyll pigments.  Since they don’t make use of the sun, they are often found in habitats that are both dark and damp.  It is wise to buy mushrooms from markets or experienced foragers, as they will indeed be the edible varieties and not poisonous. 

There are literally thousands of varieties, although probably only about 25 are consumed by humans, some include button, straw, shiitake, oyster, chanterelle, maitake, reishi, morels, lobster and bluefoot. 

Let’s take a closer look at button mushrooms that generally look like little umbrellas.  There are 3 different types of button mushrooms – white (mild, earthy flavour), crimini (more distinct and stronger flavour) and Portobello (meaty flavour and is actually an over-grown crimini mushroom). 

White button mushrooms are an excellent source of many minerals, including selenium, copper, potassium, and zinc; phytochemicals; B vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and niacin.  Not all mushrooms are equally nutritious.  Crimini and Portobello mushrooms possess all of the nutritional highlights of white mushrooms, plus are a good source of B6 and B12.  Most mushrooms have fairly good protein content. 

For the past 30 years or more, phytochemicals found in mushrooms have been the object of anticancer research.  Mushrooms contain the powerful antioxidant L-ergothioneine, which acts as a scavenger of strong free radicals (unstable molecules that cause damage to parts of your body).  The presence of selenium in mushrooms enhances this antioxidants activity.

Some people are allergic or sensitive to mushrooms.  People with intestinal yeast overgrowth, yeast sensitivities, or mold allergies may have cross over reactions to the fungi family. 

Mushrooms are best cleaned using very little or no water.  A damp cloth or paper towel is best to avoid the mushrooms tendency of soaking in water, which will result in a soggy dish. 

Mushrooms are great fresh in salads, cooked in casseroles, soups, stews, stuffed or pates.

Wild Rice & Quinoa
Stuffed Baked Apples

This autumn dish is INCREDIBLE! It’s loaded with super healthy pseudograins –wild rice and quinoa, which are high in fiber, protein, trace minerals and vitamins.  The sweetness of the warm, cooked apples contrasts beautifully with the wild rice, quinoa, mushrooms and aromatic sage mixture. 

It is simple to put together, looks great and tastes fantastic.   I am confident that this dish will be a hit at Thanksgiving dinner. 

(adapted from Baked Apple Stuffed with Wild Rice and Quinoa recipe in Vegetarian times mag.)

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable broth
2 cups water
½ cup wild rice
¼ cup red quinoa
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped (about 7)
¼ cup red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp chopped fresh Sage
¼ cup dried cranberries
4 medium apples
¼ cup grated sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese (optional)

1.  Preheat oven 350 F.  Bring broth and water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add wild rice, cover and reduce heat to medium-low and cook 50 minutes.
2.  Wash the red quinoa well, strain and stir in with wild rice and cook for another 20 minutes (water should be absorbed and rice and quinoa opened).
3.  Sauté mushrooms and onion in coconut oil for 7 minutes.  Stir in chopped sage and wildrice-quinoa mixture and sauté another 2-3 minutes.  Fold in cranberries.
4.  Halve apples through stem and scoop out core and seeds, leaving ¼ inch thick wall around sides.  Fill apple halves with 1/3 cup rice mixture.  Place in 11x7 inch baking dish and fill dish with 1 cup of water.
5.  Cover and bake 30-35 minutes (apples should be soft, but still sturdy enough to hold in the filling), then remove lid/foil and sprinkle with cheese if you like and cook until crispy (about 5-10 minutes). Serves 8.

Enjoy!

Note:  The wild-rice and quinoa mixture is delicious on its own as well if you don’t prefer to use the apples.  Just bake 15-20 minutes in a casserole dish if want rice mixture on own.  Whenever possible use fresh sage over dried, as it’s superior in flavour.  1 tablespoon of fresh sage equals 1 ½ teaspoons lightly ground or 1 teaspoon powdered sage. 

  Whole Food Sneak Peak:
        Sage

Click on these links and scroll to the bottom to learn about the nutritional benefits of wild rice, quinoa and apples.

Garden Sage belongs to the mint family.  Its botanical name salvia translates to “savior.”  Its leaves are grayish, silver-green in color.  It is lance-shaped with prominent veins running throughout.  They have an earthy, aromatic taste that is simultaneously sweet and bitter.  It is most similar to rosemary. 

Sage has one of the longest histories of use of any herb in cooking and in medicine and his still held in high esteem today as modern day science is just beginning to confirm the uses of sage as a medicine and preservative.  It contains compounds that can keep food preserved and are packed full of powerful antioxidants. 

Some known health benefits of sage include it preventing perspiration (anhidrotic), have blood sugar-lowering effects in diabetics, are an antimicrobial and have been known to dry up the flow of milk during lactation (in high dose medicinal amounts).  Sage tea is an excellent diaphoretic and can help induce a good sweat if you have a fever.

Sage’s most popular use is in turkey stuffing.  It can also be added to breads, soups, most vegetables and legumes.  It is best to add sage near the end of the cooking 
process as it is very delicate and will allow it to retain its maximum essence.