Wild Rice with Cranberries & Pecans

P4's Note:

I love this dish! It is one of my favorite side dishes. It's modified from a recipe by Diane Morgan in her book, The Thanksgiving Table. It can be a side dish, or a stuffing for poultry. It is not sweet at all, but the cranberries give a nice contrast with the rest of the ingredients.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 3/4 cup wild rice
• 3/4 cup medium barley
• 1 3/4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped (about 12 oz.)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leave
• 1/2 cup minced parsley
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries (the sweetened kind)

Directions:

1. Combine the rice, barley, salt, broth and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender, about 40 minutes.
2. If any liquid is still remaining after the rice is cooked, drain the rice.
3. Heat the olive oil and saute the onion, garlic, celery and carrot until slightly soft but not brown about 3 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with the salt, cover the pan, adjust the heat to med-low and cook the vegetables until crisp-tender, 5 minutes longer.
5. Add the sage, thyme and parsley and saute 1 minute more.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Mix in the rice, the pecans and the cranberries.
8. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
9. Note 1- substitutions: you can substitute any nut for the pecans (try walnuts or hazelnuts).
10. You can use all wild rice or all barley.
11. Note 2- this recipe was originally a stuffing recipe, but I like it as a side dish.
12. You can certainly use it to stuff poultry, though.

Reviews

[miss gracie]

If I could give this recipe 50 stars I would! PetitFour posted this in response to my request for a Christmas side dish. It was absolutely WONDERFUL! I used a combination of long and short grain brown rice instead of the barley as that is what I had on hand and added a bit more butter when I adjusted the seasonings at the end. I served it with Cornish Game Hens for Christmas and served the leftovers with ham steaks the next night. Both combinations were terrific. This recipe will be our holiday tradition for many years to come, but I'm not going to wait untl just holidays to serve it! Thanks, PetitFour!

[lauralie41]

Loved this rice as a side dish and would enjoy it used for stuffing also. I used chicken broth, matchstick carrots, and dried herbs instead of fresh. The cranberries and pecans are wonderful, sweet and earthy flavor combination. Dont wait until the holidays to give this recipe a try! Thank you P4 for posting!

[pattikay in L.A.]

A great combination - color and texture and flavor al blend beautifully. Thanks for posting!