Not your mother’s wild rice

Worth the effort, this savory-sweet rice dish has great taste and texture.

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Some recipes you know are keepers the minute you take that first mouthful. This one has a glorious mixture of flavors that work perfectly together. What’s remarkable is that despite a rather long list of ingredients, the tastes remain delightfully distinct once mixed.

Having never before made Wild Rice with Pecans, Mint, Yellow Raisins, Scallions, and Orange Rind, I gathered and measured all my ingredients beforehand, making the process quite simple.

Right off the bat, I made minor adjustments. For instance, the recipe called for using only wild rice, but I substituted Lundberg’s Wild Blend — which includes long-grain brown rice, sweet brown rice, wild rice, red rice, and black rice — that I found at Cronig’s Market.

The first step is important. Rinse the 1¼ cups of rice in a colander with small holes for two minutes, in cold water. Since the holes in the one I have are a bit large, I placed the colander over a dish to catch whatever little grains fell through. Then, when done, I scraped them into the pot along with those in the colander.

I started with 2 cups of boiling water. (The recipe calls for chicken stock or water. Being a vegetarian, I used water, and the dish was immensely flavorful.) Cook the rice at a low simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes, adding more liquid if needed in about ¼-cup increments. Keep checking for doneness. You want the rice to be slightly crunchy, and all the liquid completely absorbed.

While keeping an eye on the rice, I measured out 1 cup of yellow raisins. Then I sliced four scallions and finely chopped the ¼ cup of mint. After grating the rind of an orange, I chopped the pieces to make even smaller bits. In retrospect, I didn’t need to have chopped it after grating. The rind is not overpowering once all the ingredients are mixed together.

I baked the cup of pecans in the toaster oven until richly browned, to bring out the oil and enhance the nutty flavor. The nuts were large, so I thought about breaking them in half, but then decided to leave them alone. I’m glad I did, because their size added the perfect crunch and nutty taste in every spoonful.

As soon as the rice was done, I scraped it into the bowl and added all the aforementioned ingredients, along with ¼ cup of olive oil, ⅓ cup of orange juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

The recipe says to let the mixture stand for 2 hours and serve at room temperature, but we were too anxious to taste it, and it was already late for dinner, so we dug in … and I’m glad we did. It was insanely delicious. I can’t wait to see how the leftovers taste tomorrow, when the flavors develop even more.

Wild Rice with Pecans, Mint, Yellow Raisins, Scallions, and Orange Rind
Serves 4.

1¼ cups raw wild rice (or blended wild rice mixture)
2 cups water or chicken stock (plus a bit more during cooking, if necessary)
1 cup shelled pecan halves
1 cup yellow raisins
grated rind of 1 large orange
¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup olive oil
⅓ cup orange juice
1½ tsp. salt

Put rice in a strainer. Run under cold water for about 2 minutes; rinse thoroughly.

Place rice in a pot of boiling water (or chicken stock), and lower the heat. Simmer for roughly 30 minutes, checking after about 20 for doneness. (If the liquid is absorbed but the rice is not yet done, add extra water while cooking, if necessary.)

Keep checking until done, but not too soft. If there is any extra liquid when the rice is ready, drain before pouring it into a mixing bowl.

Add remaining ingredients, and toss gently. Season to taste.

Let the mixture stand for 2 hours for flavors to develop. Serve at room temperature.