This Fall Harvest Wild Rice makes a great side dish or even a week night dinner all by itself. Filled with vegetables and even apples for a bit of sweetness, it’s makes a satisfying dish.
And on the cooking front, I was sticking to quick and easy. Which is how this rice dish came about. I cleaned out the fridge and found all these ingredients to put this together!
I had zero expectations, but it turned out delicious and I may have eaten about four portions through the entire day on Friday. Which was just as well because the kids didn’t care for it too much. Well, their loss.
Let’s take a little look how it’s done.
Making The Fall Harvest Wild Rice
Now, let’s take a little look at this Fall Harvest Wild Rice and see how it comes together.
I diced all the vegetables pretty much the same size as you will see here in the photo below. They are probably about 1/2 inch in size, more or less. I would keep it small but it doesn’t have to be exact. The mushrooms we’ll get to after as we’re not using them just yet.
I heated a large skillet over medium heat and added 1/2 of the oil, garlic and bay leaves. You just stir this for a minute or so until it’s a bit fragrant. I like frying bay leaves and it adds a bit more flavour to the dish.
Cook The Vegetables
Then you just toss in the carrots, celery and onion. Give it a good stir and cook until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Don’t add the apples yet, as we don’t want to turn them to mush.
Add The Apples & Mushrooms
Now you add those apples. I pushed my vegetables out of the way to get the apples in the pan. Then just stirred them for a minute and incorporated them into the rest of the vegetables. This isn’t really necessary, just what I did.
I sliced up the mushrooms as I didn’t want them too tiny. Push all the vegetables to the side of the pan and toss in the mushrooms. Give them a really good stir and cook them for a few minutes until they start to brown. Incorporate them into the rest of the vegetables.
Add The Uncooked Wild Rice
The vegetables will now look something like you see here. So, it’s time to add the rice.
Push all the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the remaining oil. Add the rice and completely coat in the oil and fry it for about a minute. Then stir the rice into the vegetables.
Add Stock
Add all the stock at once and give it a quick stir. Reduce heat to low, cover and leave to cook for a further 15 minutes or until the liquid has all absorbed and the rice is cooked. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.
This is a great make head dish for a pot luck as it can easily be eaten at room temperature.
Fluff with a Fork and You’re Done
I like to garnish a lot of my dishes, just because it looks pretty….ha! It’s totally not necessary, but if you have a bit of parsley you can toss a bit on the top.
In the recipe below I say it serves six people. Well, servings are always suggestions as you never know how much or little people call a serving. This was a large pan and filled to the brim. You could probably easily get eight servings out of it as a side dish though.
I know you can buy pre packaged rice dishes with everything, but why not make your own? Plus, it works out much cheaper and you get to control what you put in the dish.
So, next time you’re in the pre-packaged rice isle, why not think about making your own. It’s easy!
I have a few other wild rice recipes on the blog that you might like to try out or just try creating your own by using the same method. A few years back I made a Wild Rice Pilaf with Cranberries and Pine Nuts. And my Quinoa Salad with Orange and Pistachios is also great. It was so good and pretty festive looking as well. With American Thanksgiving coming up and Christmas just around the corner, it could be on to keep in mind.
What To Serve with This Rice Dish
Looking for something to serve with your Fall Harvest Wild Rice? Well, I can think of so many dishes off the top of my head. I think something like Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken or the Maple Glazed Chicken would be fantastic. Chicken dishes always go well with rice and if you have a little sauce to drizzle over the rice, even better!
I’ll have a few more new recipes out this coming week ahead of the start of the December rush. And then all eyes will be on Christmas. And this year, I’ve got something fun to share on the blog. So, keep your eyes peeled for the 1st of December to see what I’ve got up my sleeve.
For now happy cooking friends and have a great Sunday. Cook something delicious today.
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Fall Harvest Wild Rice
Ingredients
- 2 Cups wild rice
- 4 Cups vegetable stock
- 2 Celery ribs diced small
- 2 Carrots diced small
- 1 Small onion diced small
- 1 Apple diced small
- 5 oz white mushrooms sliced
- 3 Garlic cloves crushed
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 1 Teaspoon black pepper
- Parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- In a large skillet set over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil with the garlic and bay leaves. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 1 -2 minutes.
- Add the chopped carrots, celery and onion. Stir well until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the apples, stir and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Push all the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the mushrooms. Stir the mushrooms and let them cook for about 3 -4 minutes until they start to brown
- Push all the vegetables to one side of the pan. Add the remaining oil and rice. Give the rice a good stir and coat it completely in the oil and fry it for about a minute. Incorporate the rice into the vegetables. Add all the stock at once and the salt and pepper. Give it a quick stir. Reduce heat to low, cover and leave to cook for about 15 minutes. Stock will have absorbed and rice will be tender. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork before serving.
- Can be served hot or at room temperature.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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