It’s funny how much the types of food I eat and the recipes I prepare have evolved from when I was a child. I basically grew up on a chicken farm. My dad wasn’t a farmer, but my grandfather was. And my grandparent’s home and the chicken coupes were on the same piece of property as my parent’s home. My grandad raised the chickens for the eggs he sold to the local coop. So I ate eggs practically every day as a child and still do as a mature adult. (Mature in years that is!)
Also, my grandparents had the largest vegetable garden I have ever seen. They also had every type of berry imaginable, as well as apples, peaches, plums, grapes, rhubarb, and mint. They grew everything. And my grandmother canned every single vegetable and fruit she could get her hands on. In retrospect it was truly amazing.
And of course there were usually a couple of cows around both for the milk/cream (think home churned butter) and to keep the meat locker well stocked. And yes in those days, we rented a meat locker a few miles from our home. (Freezers in private homes came along in the 1940s. But they were usually very small and would never have accommodated a large amount of beef.) Grandpa would visit the locker about once a week to retrieve meat for grandma and mom to cook throughout the following week. Often in the summer I would ride along, and I can still remember the cold air and the unique smell (not bad) associated with opening the big exterior door that led to our own private cage of meat. Wonderful memory.
But what has all this to do with this recipe. Well as I was looking over the ingredients, I realized that my mother and grandmother wouldn’t have had the faintest notion what to do with 2/3rds of the ingredients listed in this recipe. The only ones they would have cooked with routinely would have been the onion, celery, salt, and pepper. I don’t even think they knew about sage unless they used poultry seasoning, which frankly I doubt! Of course, as we all grew older, more products were introduced and my mom especially would have used some of them. But I doubt she ever bought wild rice, brown rice, olive oil, fresh garlic, marjoram, or fresh parsley. She just was not that inventive a cook. For her cooking was a necessity rather than a pleasure.
Yet this is such a simple recipe. And it includes ingredients that are readily available in most of the grocery stores in America. So why am I telling you this. Well, not to overstate the obvious, but this recipe includes ingredients that are readily available in most of the grocery stores in America! Also this dish is easy to prepare and is really tasty. Pretty healthy too.
So even though my own mother would never have looked twice at this recipe from The Spruce Eats web site, I’m hoping you will give it a try. And who doesn’t need a healthy, delicious side dish recipe that everyone in the family will love. Just sayin’!
2¾ c. vegetable broth
½ c. wild rice
¾ c. brown rice
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
8-10 mushrooms, halved and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ tsp. dried sage
½ tsp. dried marjoram
¼ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1/3 c. slivered or sliced almonds
Bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a large covered saucepan and add the wild rice. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times while wild rice cooks. Add the brown rice. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for another 45 minutes or until the rice is tender. Again, give the rice a stir or two during the cooking process.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until it is very soft and just starting to brown, about 20-25 minutes. Add the celery and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms start to brown. Add the garlic, sage, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
When the rice is done, add the onion mixture along with the fresh parsley and almonds; stir well to combine. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes or until all of the ingredients are just heated through. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning.
Set aside for about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork just before serving.
