Did you know that when you eat an apple, there’s a strong chance that it’s a Washington apple? The state of Washington grows almost 2/3 of all the apples in the United States, which is the 2nd biggest national producer of apples behind China. September and October are the peak of apple season, so I think this texturally awesome Wild Rice Recipe with Apples and Pecans of a rice dish really celebrates the bounty of autumn. The mix of brown and wild rice is healthy, but has crisp tart bites from the apples and butteryness of the pecans. Though I make it most often in the fall and winter, I just like this all year round as a side dish.

The original recipe calls for 1 cup of brown rice and 1/8 cup of wild rice, but you can save yourself making that mix by purchasing packaged blended rice (I used Lundberg Wild Blend, a mix of Long Grain Brown Rice, Sweet Brown Rice, Wild Rice, Whole Grain Wehani Rice, and Whole Grain Black Japonica Rice). Lundberg Farms are family farms now owned by 3rd and 4th generation of the family and they have always been caretakers of the land. They have a strong philosophy of sustainable, organic, eco-farming.

“Leave The Land Better Than You Found It.”
– Albert Lundberg

They didn’t sponsor this post or ask me to do anything: I just really like this mix as an alternative to the Thai Jasmine rice I normally have as a staple or Seeds of Change Brown Rice + Quinoa. The Wild Blend has the best texture with its blend – you can find it nationally at Whole Foods, and locally here in Portalnd I see it at New Seasons and Zupans all the time. Plus, I appreciate their commitment to the earth while still providing healthy and delicious products to consumers.

I’ve made a version of this with quinoa, but I added a lot more herbs and used walnuts instead and it turns out a little dryer to go with dishes that are already a little buttery or have a lot of sauce (say Chicken Kiev), while this original version is more on the buttery side and I stuck with a mix of brown rice and wild rice here.

The original recipe also calls for adding salt to the broth when making the rice but I did not, plus I used low sodium vegetable broth. You can easily get away with just using water to make your rice instead of broth as well, but using broth can add extra flavor (though I think you get the most depth if you use chicken broth but then it wouldn’t be vegetarian).

The yield of this is enough for four – six people as a side dish (six if they only get about a cup of cooked rice each).

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 cup brown and wild rice blend
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped apple
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat the vegetable broth to a boil and then add the rice. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer to cook the rice for the next 40 minutes or so, stirring every once in a while so there is never rice that gets burnt at the bottom. You can substitute this with other packages of wild rice, brown rice, even quinoa if you would like – you will have to adjust the ratio to grain ratio accordingly.
   
2. Meanwhile , as the rice is simmering and cooking, in a medium sized skillet, melt the butter. Saute the pecans in the butter until the pecans are golden brown and smell nice and toasty. Remove pecans from the pan and set aside on a paper towel to cool. I admit I usually make twice the amount in the recipe because I keep snacking on half of it before I put it in the rice…
   
3. In the same pan that should still have a bit of butter, now add the olive oil, and sauté the chopped onion until the onions are translucent. Add the chopped apple and saute for a few more minutes based on your preference of how cooked or raw you want the apples to be. Add the nutmeg and if you’d like, more salt and pepper to taste.
4. When the rice is done, stir in the apple onion butter mixture as well as the pecans and serve hot, warm, or even room temperature – they are all good.
   

I like this dish as a savory way to enjoy apples instead of what you usually find, which is in dessert. Do you have a savory apple dish you like – what is it?

Looking for another savory apple loving recipe? Check out my previous post: Apple Slices with Brie and Walnut and Honey or Agave Nectar, easy and pretty and awesome for a party (I made mine for a women’s wine get together!)

Besides the regular fall apple picking opportunities that abound now, this weekend also is the Hood River Valley Harvest Fest outdoors along the Hood River waterfront and for an indoor festival option at the Portland Expo Center is the Portland City of Cider Festival.