Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
- ¾ cup wild rice
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Always wash the rice first and drain off the excess water.
- Bring 4 cups water to boil then add ¾ cup wild rice. Bring water back to boil. Cover, reduce heat and maintain a steady low simmer. Allow 55 to 65 minutes to cook. If you are not familiar with cooking wild rice, you may want to start checking after 35 to 40 minutes. Cooking time can vary depending on how long the kernels are, how the rice was cured, and how old it is.
- When cooked, the kernels will be split open and will be curled. The inside layer will be soft and the outer layer will have a bit of texture.
- Drain off any excess cooking water. Consider saving this water as it is full of nutrients and flavor and can be used in soups. For convenience, freeze this water and use later.
Note
- Do not add salt until grain is cooked. Adding salt at the beginning will harden the outer bran and prevent water absorption.
- Wild rice will triple to quadruple in volume. 1 cup wild rice will yield about 4 cups cooked. Use a 1 to 5 water ratio.
- Wild rice is low in fat, high in nutrients and offers good quality protein.
- Wild rice has a distinctive flavor and chewy texture. It can be enjoyed in soups and salads. It also pairs well with other grains as well as mushrooms, squash and vegetables.
- Wild rice is freezer friendly.
- Take note when purchasing. Look at the kernels. With low quality wild rice, the kernels will be shorter and there will be more broken kernels. In high quality wild rice, the kernels will be longer and there will be few broken kernels.