WILD RICE

I have always wanted to try wild rice but never got around to buying it until last week. I have recently been spending a lot of my free time at my local organic store, as food is a real passion of mine (if you haven’t already worked that out!). I saw some wild rice for $45 a kilo, not cheap but not too expensive to put me off it. I purchased a decent amount of it, enough to fill exactly one cup and skipped on home with my puppy in tow to cook. When I got home I faced a dilemma; what to eat wild rice with? The cooking is easy enough, I assume that it is similar to cooking white/ brown rice, however since I had no idea what wild rice tasted like I decided to go for the less is more approach and just added doongara rice & fresh chives. The vegetable stock gave the wild rice a creamy flavour, which juxtaposed nicely with the nutty taste of the wild rice. Definitely something to try if you have not experienced wild rice before. A friend of mine recently combined wild rice with cranberries, balsamic vinegar and aioli…maybe not too good on the waistline but it does sound amazing.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained 
• 1 cup doongara rice
• 2 cups Massel vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped

COOKING 

1. Cook wild rice first by placing 1 cup rice and 2 cups stock in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat, simmering for around 30-35 minutes or until the stock is absorbed and the rice is tender to taste. Remove from heat. 

2. Cook the doongara rice by placing 1 cup rice and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil and the reduce the heat, simmering for around 10-12 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat. 

3. Place both types of rice in a large serving bowl and sprinkle with freshly cut chives. Serve as a side. 

Serves / 6- 8 as a side 

Total Preparation time / 5 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 50 minutes 

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