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Wild Rice Pilaf

Final product of Ben Jacobs' rice pilaf recipe in the pan

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried wild rice
  • 1 medium poblano pepper (can substitute with Anaheim or bell pepper)
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1 sweet corn cob (can substitute with 1/4 cup frozen corn — white corn is preferable, but yellow also works)
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 3 sprigs green onion
  • 1/2 cup stock (veggie, beef, or chicken stock)
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • Kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the rice.

  1. Fill a medium stock pot with cold water until it’s about 3/4 full.
  2. Add dry wild rice and bring water to a boil.
  3. Once water is boiling, turn down to a rolling simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until rice blooms (opens). Note: choose your personal preference on texture but make sure rice has begun to open and soften. If you cook rice too long, it may become gummy when sauteed.
  4. Once rice has reached the desired texture, drain in a mesh strainer and set aside. Note: you can cook rice in advance and cool it in the refrigerator. This recipe is also wonderful when you have leftover wild rice from other recipes.

While the rice is cooking:

  1. Wash all produce and set aside. (If using canned products, open and rinse all ingredients well and set aside.)
  2. Dice poblano and red onion and set aside in a small bowl (cut to match the size of a corn kernel).
  3. If using corn on the cob, cut corn kernels off and set aside in a small bowl.
  4. Roughly chop cranberries and set aside in a small bowl.
  5. Thinly slice scallions and set aside in a small bowl.
  6. Measure out 1/2 cup of stock and whisk in chili powder and smoked paprika. Set aside.
  7. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and heat for 30 seconds.
  8. Add poblano pepper and red onion with a pinch of kosher salt. Sweat poblano and red onion for 2 minutes so they begin to soften.
  9. After 2 minutes, add your corn and cook for another minute.
  10. Once corn has cooked, add wild rice to the pan with a pinch of salt. Mix all ingredients and cook for 1 minute.
  11. After 1 minute, deglaze the pan with seasoned stock (add stock to the pan and gently scrape the bottom). Mix well.
  12. Allow stock to fully absorb while mixing periodically. This should only take about 2 minutes.
  13. When stock is absorbed, turn off heat. Mix in scallions and cranberries.
  14. Taste and salt if necessary.

Fun adjustments:

Have fun with this recipe! Try it with quinoa, wheat berries, farro, or similar ingredients. You may need to modify cooking times when using other grains, as each will react differently to the heat and deglazing process.