Feeling Wild

 Dinner tonight was light and basic which is how I like it. I really needed a break from frying things which has been, I'm sorry to say, the go to method here as I have no broiler and nothing crisps up or seals well in my tiny oven. Tim and I love fish, Elliot not so much but he will eat it if I make it. I try to strike the balance between his willingness to battle through his dislike and my need for fish several times a week! I bought a small piece of pacific salmon and set about making a knockout fresh base for it to sit on, using one of his favourite grains, wild rice.We recently discovered or rather finally got round to trying wild rice. Wild rice isn't actually a rice, rather it's the seed of a wild grass grown in the Great Lakes region of North America. It's a longer thinner, looking rice shaped seed, almost black in colour and once cooked has a nutty flavour and chewy texture which brings real interest to a meal. It's also very high in folic acid, something most of us don't get enough of so is a good choice when looking for an alternative grain.

Recipe

Salmon with Wild Rice in a Ginger and Tamari Dressing
 serves 3-4

400-500g salmon or similar meaty fish of your choice.
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
fresh or dried Tarragon, approximately 2 tsp dried or a small hand full chopped fresh.

Dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp tamari
1-2 tsp freshly grated ginger
salt and pepper to taste

Rice and Veg
1/2 cup wild rice
1/2 English cucumber, washed, seeded and cut into small cubes
1 sweet red pepper, roasted and chopped into small pieces
1/2 small red onion, peeled and finely diced
pea shoots or sprouts to garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Mix all the dressing ingredients together and set aside.

 Rinse wild rice and place in a pan with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, covered for about 40 minutes. You'll know when it's done as the seed will open up and expose it's soft purple inside. Drain and rinse any remaining water from the rice, toss with the dressing and set aside.

While the rice is cooking place the fish on a parchment lined  baking sheet. Make sure you have enough parchment paper to be able to wrap the fish in a parcel. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fish, sprinkle on the salt and pepper and top with the tarragon. Wrap the fish in the parchment paper so it's tightly sealed to keep all the moisture in. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes depending on the type of fish used.

Add the chopped veg to the wild rice and dressing and mix well.

Serve the fish onto top of the rice and vegetables, garnished with the sprouts.


The veg kept things nice and fresh and complimented the chewy earthiness of the wild rice. I roasted my pepper which you can do but I think it would work just as well without the labour involved with that. Of course you could just buy a jar of roasted peppers too, I'm all for the simple life! Tamari by the way is a Japanese soy sauce which unlike other soy sauce is not made with wheat so is gluten free. It also has a richer taste and although, like most soy sauce, has a huge amount of salt in it's ingredients list, doesn't have the same salty flavour.