Wild Rice Pilaf

Wild rice is the state grain of my home state of Minnesota. It's very important to have a state grain; the international community just won't take you seriously if you don't take a stand on these things.

As the name suggests, it grows, well, wild. If you drive through the Borreal forrest areas of Northern Minnesota, every mile or so you see a sign saying, "Wild Rice, 5 lb for $8.99." Or at least that's what it cost when I was 18 and driving up to Thunder Bay; perhaps there has been inflation.

It's one of the things I try to bring back with me when I visit the states, as it's tough to find here, but lately I have seen it popping up here and there as food markets experience a sort of variety explosion here in Sweden.

The award for most delicious use of wild rice has to go to Byerly's Wild Rice Soup, in my opinion. Byerly's is a kind of special phenomenon in St. Paul -- if you've ever walked through the grocery store and thought "This experience could be made better if the floor were carpetted and there were crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling," then you'd like Byerly's.

The following is a side dish I devised to mimic the sort of ready-made blends of spices, white and wild rice (Uncle Ben's, Rice-a-roni, etc.) that are commonly available back in the States.

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White and Wild Rice Pilaf

1 T. parsley (1 msk persilja)
1 t. thyme (1 tsk timjan)
1 t. tarragon (1 tsk dragon)
½ t. onion powder (½ tsk lökpulver)
½ t. garlic powder (½ tsk vitlökspulver)
½ t. basil (½ tsk basilika)
½ t. marjoram (½ tsk mejram)
½ t. white pepper (½ tsk vitpeppar)
½ t. salt (½ tsk salt)
½ cup uncooked wild rice (1 dl okokt vildris)
1 T. butter (1 msk smör)
1 small yellow onion, chopped (1 gul lök, hackad)
2 ½ cups broth (7 dl buljong)
¾ cup uncooked long grain rice (2 dl okokt parboiled ris)
1 can green beans, drained (250 gram haricot verts konserv utan lag)
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained (250 gram champinjoner konserv utan lag)

Mix all the spices and the wild rice together.

In a medium-sized pot, cook the onion in butter until soft and clear. Add the broth and the wild rice and spices mix. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the white rice; cover and simmer for 20 more minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the green beans and mushrooms. Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.

Servings: 4
Calories per serving: 277
Fat: 5 g
Protein: 5 g
Carbohydrates: 52 g

Comments: You might find that there are two types of wild rice available: whole and cracked. This recipe assumes you use whole wild rice, because that's the only type I can find around here. If you use cracked wild rice, it gets easier and takes less time: blend in the white rice at the beginning with the wild rice and spices, and the whole thing only needs to be boiled for 20 minutes total instead of 40.

I serve this side dish with ham and apple sauce, and the hubby gave it a score of 7 out of 10. With 4 oz of lean smoked ham and some low-sugar apple sauce, this meal has only 445 Calories.