The Best Wild Rice Recipes

Is it my imagination or do the best wild rice recipes always seem to go hand in hand with some type of fowl? Chicken and wild rice pilaf, Cornish hens with wild rice stuffing, turkey with wild rice pudding, duck fried rice-the list of wild rice recipes is long and varied, with chicken wild rice recipes topping the list.

Wild rice recipes that include chicken or turkey are also great for the holidays. The following recipe makes a wonderful addition to the holiday table, alongside or inside the turkey, chicken or Cornish hens.

Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients You Will Need:
2 cups wild rice
4 cups water
1 small cooking pumpkin, hollowed out (reserve the top and the pumpkin seeds)
2 cups mushrooms, diced
6 green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons butter
Sea salt
Ground pepper

Rinse the wild rice and set aside. Pour the water into a medium pot and bring it to a boil. Add the rice and cook until it is tender but still somewhat chewy. Drain the rice and sprinkle the garlic powder over it. Stir the rice to blend the garlic powder. Cover the pot and set it aside.

Using a medium sized pan with a cover, dump the chopped onions into the pan and sauté in the butter. As soon as they begin to sizzle, add the mushrooms. Pepper generously. Stirring often, keep the pan covered until the mushrooms start to pop. Remove from the heat, salt lightly and immediately dump the mushrooms and onions in with the rice. Mix to blend.

Spoon the still hot rice into the pumpkin. Add a dollop of butter to the rice and replace the top on the pumpkin. Bake the pumpkin in a preheated oven for about 50 minutes on 350 degrees. (Ovens vary. Make sure you adjust your time or temperature according to your own oven).

Wash the pumpkin seeds and place them on a cookie sheet. Generously spray non-stick olive oil over the seeds, stirring to coat both sides. Sprinkle sea salt on the seeds and pop the pan into the oven along with the pumpkin. Remove the seeds when they begin to turn golden brown.

Remove the pumpkin when it is tender on the inside. Depending on the type and size of the pumpkin, the outer skin may still be slightly tough when the inside is done. Serve the pumpkin as is, encouraging diners to scoop out some of the pumpkin meat along with the rice. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds in with the rice or serve as a garnish.

Chicken Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients You Will Need:
1 ½ cups wild rice
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup seasoned croutons
½ cup celery, chopped
½ cup onions, chopped
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon sage
½ teaspoon rosemary
1 to 1 ½ cups chicken broth
1 small chicken

This recipe makes about 3 ½ cups of stuffing-less if you like stuffing very moist, as that will compact the croutons. If you're serving a larger chicken, double the recipe accordingly.

Place the croutons in a small bowl and set aside. Parboil the rice in one cup of chicken broth with the spices, celery and onions. Cook until just tender. Drain the rice, pouring the liquid over the croutons. Stir two tablespoons of butter into the rice mixture and set aside. Stir the croutons until moistened. If you need more liquid, use additional chicken broth and the remaining two tablespoons of butter.

Mix the rice and croutons together. Make sure the stuffing is quite moist before you stuff the chicken. During the baking process, baste the chicken frequently, allowing some of the liquid to drain into the breast cavity, as well.

This recipe is delicious and makes a wonderful stuffing for any type of bird, especially Cornish hens. For variation and color, toss in a handful of frozen sweet peas. Salt and pepper according to your own discretion.