I liked the sound of serving the roasted pork tenderloin with apple gravy on a bed of wild rice cooked in apple sauce. I thought that just plain wild rice might be a little boring so I tweaked it a bit. I cooked the rice in fresh apple cider from the farmers market and chicken stock to give the rice a nice spiced apple and savoury flavour. I also wanted some more vegetables in the meal and the rice was a perfect spot to put them. Onions, carrots and celery form the base of lots of soups and sauces and I thought they would go well with he wild rice. Given the apple nature of the rice so far I thought that adding some sweet raisins would also be nice. Before serving the wild rice I topped it off with some chopped toasted pecans to add a contrasting texture. the apple wild rice turned out great! I really enjoyed the apple flavour of the tender wild rice. I am going to have to think of other flavours that I can add to rice by cooking it in different liquids. Overall the rice had a nice balance of sweet and savoury and it was full of flavour. I could easily eat a bowl of this rice all by itself. This would make a great side dish for many different meals. Printable Recipe
Apple Wild Rice
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- 1 carrot (chopped)
- 1 rib celery (chopped)
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 handful raisins
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable)
- 1 cup apple cider
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 handful pecans (toasted and chopped)
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the garlic, onion, carrot, and celery and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the wild rice, raisins, bay leaf, chicken stock, apple cider, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
- Simmer covered until the rice is al dente, about 50 minutes. Check at intervals and if it needs more liquid add some.
ree Kevin, why would you want to add anything else to this meal.It is a very clever combination you tried her, well done!
Thanksgiving is coming, and this would be perfect for my side dish. Thanks for your nice idea Kevin!
ohhh. can i come over when you make that dinner?!?! i LOVE apples!!
This would make a great stuffing!
Actually, coming from someone who eats white rice every day, I can’t think of how wild rice can be boring– but I love how you’ve bumped it up a thousand percent! 🙂
Great idea to combine the sweet apple juice with the savory chicken stock. Wild rice is kind of my standby side dish – I’ll look forward to preparing it in apple juice next time.
Kevin ,you’re really challenging!! darn to try everything!!I’m a rice person but never try wild rice b4,dunno how it’s taste..Must buy some and try out since you said it’s good!
I don’t cook wild rice that often, but cooking a simple brown or white rice with some well steeped black tea is a nice variation. Your apple rice sounds great!
A marvelous dish! Very healthy and delicious! I love it!
Cheers,
Rosa
oh fantastic Kelvin. This is a healthy side!
Very healthy. Love the addition of apple to it.
Amazing dish!! You’re always so creative when it comes to flavour combinations and add-ins.
Love the mix of sweet and savory, which always speaks to me of Thanksgiving!
Thanks for the apple cider idea! I might finally turn my child around on wild rice…but then I’m not sure I want to share.
Oooh, now that’s MY kind of side dish!! 🙂
Apple Wild Rice? I have to say that it’s the first time I’ve ever heard that.
I’ll have to try it! It looks great!
This looks wonderful! I love the combo of apple with savory dishes. Once again, such a great idea. The perfect Thanksgiving side for ours coming up next week.
I see you used your favourite fall plate! Where did you get it can I ask?
Looks like this rice has it all!
You are definitely on an apple kick! Apples are my favourite part of the cool weather season.
What a great idea to use cider in the rice, you are so creative!
love it!! i’ve heard of people using tea to make rice… i was thinking green tea to make rice to be used in rice pudding would be nice 🙂
i’m passing an award to you, kevin… you deserve it.. 🙂
I love the rustic look of this. How beautiful it would be on my T-Day table…thank you kevin. I always find so much inspiration here!
Fantastic recipe! I am most definitely going to make this for thanksgiving – I’ve been looking for something different to do with a wild rice side, and this will be perfect! Thank you!
Looks beautiful, Kevin. Wild rice is such a delightful treat!
Wild rice is my favorite. With the pecans and the apple cider, this looks incredible.
I am so making this. Maybe should be in my Christmas brunch menu.
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I love the addition of apple cider.
I will like to try cooking wild rice one day! But they ain’t cheap here man!
What a fantastic dish!
fantastic! This is something I can easily do as well. Thanks 🙂
Dana McCauley: I got the plate at Pier 1. Now I am going to have to look for some holiday plates. 🙂
WOW…I just made this recipe, and it is brilliant – best wild rice dish I’ve ever made. It took all my willpower not to dig into a bowl of it right now, but it is long past the dinner hour.
I’ll be bringing this to my Thanksgiving table tomorrow…thanks for the wonderful recipe! I’ve blogged about it as well:
http://thewholekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/11/opb-kevins-apple-wild-rice.html
Is there a reason you don't have a print button?
kathrynwitte: Most of my recipes do have a printable button but I am still adding it to some of my older ones, like this one. It is there now!