Wild and brown rice with dried cherries and pumpkin seeds

 Today I decided to make some room in my pantry since it is overcrowded like crazy. I reached in and pulled out a bag of brown rice. I knew I was going to make country style pork ribs so I figured that would work perfectly. My next stop was my stash of nuts, fruits and other power busters. I grabbed some dried cherries, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), and hemp hearts.  My final stop was the fridge. I found the last bits of a veggie tray leftover from thanksgiving. 

There was also some carrots and celery in the tray. I thought they would work as a base for the rice and I could roast the broccoli and cauliflower while the rice and pork cooked. 

I started by chopping the carrots, celery and onion. Then I added them along with 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to my hot rice cooker.  I sautéed the veggies for about five minutes. 

Next, I added the brown rice, wild rice, 1/4 cup dried cherries, 1 Tablespoon of chicken bullion and water to the cooker.  I chose the brown rice setting and let it go.  

When the rice was done, I added 2 tablespoons of hemp hearts and 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds.  I gave it a quick mix and voile.

The rice was very tasty. A little sweet from the cherries with lots of crunch from the wild rice and pepitas. This was definitely a winner.

Wild and Brown Rice with Dried Cherries and Pepitas 

Ingredients 

1c Brown rice

2 T Wild rice

2T Chicken Bullion 

1/4 c Dried Cherries 

2T Hemp Hearts

1/4 c Pumpkin Seeds 

Diced carrots, celery, and onions (about 1/2 c each)

2T Butter

1 T Olive Oil

2 1/2 c Water

Directions:  Add butter and olive oil to rice cooker. sauté carrots, celery, and onions until tender and rice cooker. Add brown rice, wild rice, chicken bouillon, dried cherries.  Add water. Turn rice cooker onto brown setting and wait until it’s done. After Rice is finished, add hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds and stir well.  Serve hot...or maybe cold, I haven’t tried that yet😜

Now let’s talk a little bit about this power packed dish.

*First, the brown rice:  brown rice as an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of selenium, phosphorus, copper, magnesium, and niacin (vitamin B3). 

*Wild rice:  Here are the top 10 amazing health benefits of wild rice.

*Dried cherries:  8 incredible benefits of dried 

*Hemp hearts:  Evidence based health benefits of hemp seeds.

*Pumpkin seeds:  Science based health benefits of pumpkin seeds