Sunday, February 5, 2012

Wild Rice Oatmeal

Welcome to another recipe swap! By now, most of you know the drill, I take a recipe from a vintage cookbook, release it to our fantastic group of bloggers, and we each remake the recipe in our own way, posting the results below. We are almost 30 strong now, and starting in March, we are splitting into two groups of 15. Twice the fun, twice the recipes, twice a month. Just like a Doublemint commercial! (Sorry, had to.) Half of us will continue posting on the first Sunday of each month, and the other half take over the second Wednesdays, so keep a watch out for us.

This month's recipe was Wild Rice Dressing. Be sure to check out all of our links below to see how we each reinvented it!

This year, one of my mantras is to simplify. Everything. From errand-running to my exercise routine, my question of the year is "What can I subtract from this moment, this project, this idea to add simplicity?" (Thanks, Coco Chanel and Buddhists everywhere for your inspiration.)
Morning, pot a'twitter.

Botanists help me out here, but wild rice isn't actually rice. It's an aquatic oat. Rice is a reed that grows in water-soaked fields, and oats are typically a dry-land plant. Wild rice is a version of an oat that grows not in dry fields but in wetlands, traditionally along riverbanks and the shallow parts of bodies of water. So, I decided to treat wild rice like its brethren, and make a bowl of oatmeal.

The combination of nutty, earthy wild rice and sweet, toasty maple syrup stopped my blog brain cold in the quiet of a late morning. No running the bowl and props to a window full of light with a bounce card to photograph. No DSLR to document. None of the other things we do as food bloggers. It was just a moment, halted by the discovery of wild rice, butter and maple syrup as a wonderful weekend-morning hot breakfast. I filled the bowl twice, sat, and enjoyed my new discovery. Sorry, oatmeal. Oh, wait, you are oatmeal.

Wild Rice Oatmeal
Burwell General Store

Serves: 2

Since there are few ingredients that make this dish what it is, I suggest using the best you can afford.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup organic wild rice
6-8 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp really, really good butter: I recommend Plugra unsalted
2 Tbsp grade B maple syrup (it's cheaper, and I think tastes nuttier and fuller than grade A)
cream
raisins and pecans (optional)

Method:
Place wild rice into medium saucepan of boiling, salted water, and cook for 45-50 minutes until grains are completely split open and apart, checking after 30 minutes to make sure the grains are free-moving in the water. Add more water if necessary. When done, drain the wild rice, split into bowls, top with butter, maple syrup and drizzle with cream to taste. Enjoy your morning, perhaps with a side of fruit and cup of coffee.


23 comments:

  1. Um, YUM! This sounds absolutely fantastic. This winter I have been eating a bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast, and while I love the way it fills me up and keeps me going through the day, I have begun to get a little tired of the same ol' oatmeal-y taste. I love, love LOVE this adaptation-- totally trying it tomorrow morning!

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    1. I didn't even think about that... all of us with extra wild rice can use it up! If you're the "oatmeal" type, that is...

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  2. I think I would love this version of oatmeal! I am sure it tastes much better than its cousin!

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  3. What an original breakfast! I love it. I can't wait to check out the rest tonight.

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  4. I am all about simplifying as well. Your recipe is delightful, and fits within the spirit of simplicity. This looks healthy, comforting, and wonderful.

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  5. Simplify life...ah ha moment. We should all try that. Seems to spiral out of control most days. This is such a great take on the recipe. Simple but stunning. Can't beat that.

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  6. I really like a nice and hearty oatmeal. It's been too long since I've had a bowl and can't wait to give your wild rice oatmeal a try. Thanks for another great swap:)

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  7. What a great mantra - with all this wedding planning stress I think I really need to simplify too.

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  8. What a great idea Christianna...I'm sure like many I have never once considered using rice for my morning breakfast routine but I love warm oatmeal and can see how this would also be tasty. Nice, simple swap. Perfect.

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  9. There is a Swedish dish called Ris-a-la-Malta which is a porridge made of rice, but never thought of making it with wild rice and maple syrup. Your version for sure is healthier, and sounds really good. Going to try this one!

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  10. I love this! I found a recipe around the holidays for Breakfast Quinoa which is very similar though pumped up with more odds and ends. I love the idea of using different grains for breakfast. I'm not big on traditional breakfast foods especially during a busy work week and bet you could make this ahead of time and reheat. I too think constantly about simplifying and appreciate that often the best of foods are really more simple and direct. I really love the sentiment of this recipe. I will definitely make this. Thanks as always for all your work on the swap Christianna!

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  11. As a person that can't have gluten and usually find gfree oats to be a bit "off" in most recipes, wild rice sounds just crazy enough to work. Definitely going on the to do list. Thanks.

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  12. I had no idea wild rice and oats were such close cousins! I recently discovered I really like legit, real wild rice. Not a blend, but the real earthy chewy stuff. Cooked like oatmeal, I'm gonna have to try this!

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  13. Loved your post! I felt all warm and cozy reading it:) I can almost imagine the bite and texture of wild rice when it's rendered like oats for oatmeal (cousin love!)
    I might try using farro and freekeh this way! Cannot hurt, even though they are not related to oats:)

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  14. Yuuuum...I am an oatmeal addict and I'm happy to find other things to enjoy hot and sweet in a bowl on a cold morning! I love that you concentrated on simple wild rice. Really, we don't need to dress things up and fuss over them to make them good!
    Great swap and thanks a thousand times for keeping us all organized and inspired!

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  15. simple is good. i like this a lot. thanks.

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  16. I actually tried this for breakfast yesterday. Only I didn't have maple syrup, so I just used some of those packets of sugar from the cafeteria. It was still a warm and satisfying breakfast! Putting it on my regular rotation.

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  17. I had no idea that wild rice was an oat; I'd always just heard grass. So cool. I am a big fan of warm grains for breakfast. I love your idea of simplicity and taking away, a fantastic reminder.

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  18. I love how you mentioned keeping things simple! sometimes the pressure to be "bloggy" can be too much...better to just sit back and enjoy the food! thanks for another great swap!

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  19. Thank you for giving us information on wild rice...I really didn't know much about it, except that I don't cook it nearly enough. I like the breakfast route you took with the recipe, and I will be trying this very soon :)

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  20. I love oatmeal for breakfast and your recipe sounds like a great idea to bring a little change to the day! Thanks as always for a great swap recipe!

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  21. Hi CM - I'm late but I'm here!!!!

    This looks DELICIOUS! I didn't know that about wild rice but it makes sense, and I love switching up grains for breakfast cereals. I do that with amaranth too - because it particularly tastes like dessert to me :) Cheers to the final step and new one coming with the next swap!

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Stay positive!