Looking to make your Thanksgiving meal full of vitamins and minerals?
Thanksgiving might not seem an obvious day for healthy eating, but adding one or two healthier dishes can help prevent the ‘food coma’ or stomach ache many people get from overeating. It’s also a perfect opportunity to enjoy vitamin and nutrient-rich herb and vegetable dishes that taste delicious, showcase Fall produce, and make a welcome addition to any Thanksgiving meal.
This healthy, vitamin-rich herby wild rice side dish recipe created by Traditional Medicinals is full of seeds and dried fruit, and makes the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving. The recipe contains Astragalus Root, a type of legume which is used in traditional Chinese medicine and is known for its nourishing and immune-system boosting properties, which makes this recipe especially good for the colder months.
Celebrating with a small group of people this Thanksgiving? This recipe can easily be halved or quartered.
Source: Traditional Medicinals
Serves: 8-10 people
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups of wild rice
6 cups of water
½ cup of toasted seeds (pumpkin, chia and/or sunflower)
2 cups of toasted nuts (cashews, pistachios and/or almonds)
1 cup of dried fruit (raisins, cranberries or whatever you have handy)
2 handfuls of chopped herbs (like fennel, rosemary or parsley)
Dried herbs to taste (such as 1 bay leaf or ½ star anise pod)
Salt to taste
Directions:
- Fill the pot with rice, water, astragalus sticks and dried herbs. Star anise pods and bay leaves are very strong flavors, if you do end up using these it is better to go light and use the whole herb.
- Cook on medium, and allow the mixture to simmer until the water is cooked out. Should take 20-30 minutes.
- During this time, chop the nuts and toast them along with the seeds and a couple pinches of salt.
- Lightly chop your fresh herbs of choice.
- Once the rice is done cooking, remove the astragalus root pieces.
- Place the rice in a serving tray with salt to taste. Toss and garnish with the nuts, seeds, dried fruits and freshly chopped herbs.
