Karl’s Apple Wild Rice Pilaf

I’m making broiled salmon and steamed broccoli for a week night dinner. Looking for something different for a starch I thought about a wild rice pilaf. I happened to have a bruised apple on my counter—one that I was not going to put in someone’s lunch bag—that I needed to use up. Throwing it into the pot turned out to work very nicely.

Karl’s Apple Wild Rice Pilaf

Karl’s Apple Wild Rice Pilaf

Ingredients

2 Tbs. wild rice
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth (vegetable broth for Vegan)

¼ cup yellow onion, finely diced
¼ cup celery, finely diced, leaves reserved
¾ cup Jasmine rice
2 Tbs. butter (olive oil for Vegan)
pinch thyme
black pepper, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste

Directions

1. Put the wild rice in a small pot with ½ cup of the broth and bring it to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Tip: Wild rice has a thick husk and takes a lot longer to cook than polished rice. Precooking is necessary for the two types of rice to be cooked through at the same time.

3. Stir the rest of the ingredients into the pot.

Tip: I personally prefer to transfer everything to a rice steamer. If you do not have one, you may use the original pot to cook your rice. However, if you make rice more than twice  a month it is really worth the connivance—set it and forget it. You may buy a small one for less than $20.

4. After 5-6 minutes, stir the contents of the pot.

Tip: As the rice is cooking the vegetables and spices will tend to float on top of the rice. After 5 minutes enough starch will have been released that you can mix them throughout the dish without mashing the rice into a paste.

5. Continue cooking the rice undisturbed until the Jasmine rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, another 10-15 minutes.

6. Fluff and transfer the rice to a serving bowl and garnish with the celery leaves.